In all fairness to builders, they have “alot” of time and energy to perform the process of building & selling a home and they don’t get paid until they’ve finished….
Average Time to Build a House: 6 Months per Wall Street Journal article
- Deciding what style and square footage of house could go on lot you haven’t purchased yet
- Searching for the right property to place the home on
- Obtaining the local building/development permits & appropriate sign-offs
- Working with a developer or developing the property (underground installation of sewage, water and utility lines, etc)
- Clearing the trees, grading & preparing the property and getting the property ready to pour a foundation footing and construct the foundation
- Ordering & control of building materials to: frame the home; install the plumbing & electrical; install roofing; sheet rock the interior; install doors, windows, flooring, cabinets, fixtures, and appliances including the HVAC and water heater
- Masonry work on exterior
- Painting the exterior
- Pouring the driveway and front sidewalks
- Install vegetation – seeding/sodding/watering lawn
- And all the other details of marketing, selling, repairing, tweaking and getting a property sold including the final C/O to allow occupancy.
…and probably alot more in between!
Here’s more news about what builders need: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/06/18/real-estate-news-what-home-builders-need/