Before You Build: Smart Questions to Ask Before Becoming a Homeowner

What this episode covers

Show Notes:Let’s dive into the crucial questions every aspiring panelized kit home owner should ask before building. From evaluating build sites on hillsides, in flood zones, or earthquake areas, to understanding how soil conditions and local permitting can affect timelines and budgets, this episode emphasizes the importance of planning and education. Steve discusses how even experienced contractors may not fully grasp engineering or design details, and why people shouldn’t be afraid to ask “entry-level” questions. With real examples and expert insights, Steve shows how Landmark helps simplify the process of building smart from the ground up — avoiding costly surprises and putting owners in control. Transcript: Steve Tuma: There’s a lot of professionals in this business — that might be a pro, they might have been a contractor, they might have been building, they might have been in and around the trades — but they may not have been in the designing and engineering and why was a house built a certain way. Interviewer: Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 70 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show! On the podcast today, as usual, is the president and founder of Landmark Home and Land Company — a company which has been helping people build their new homes, where they want, exactly as they want, nationwide and around the globe since 1993 — the always incredible Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, can you believe we are on episode 70 of the podcast? Steve Tuma: It is kind of amazing. But when you think about it, there’s a lot of topics we can cover. We could probably get a few hundred more. I guess we’ve got to keep going. Interviewer: I wasn’t planning on stopping — I don’t know about you. Steve Tuma: It’s just one of these things. You get in there talking about this and we have a couple ideas, and then it’s like — “Hey, but what about this?” or “What about that?” Or midweek, you come up with other ideas. There’s always a detail. So I think what we’re trying to do is give people an idea of what it’s like to work with us, be an owner builder with our panelized home packages, how we help with plans and everything. So — just a lot of stuff to cover. Interviewer: Well, that kind of leads us into this episode, because I was thinking today — we might address some of what you, Steve Tuma, feel would be questions that anyone considering becoming a panelized homeowner builder would be well advised to ask… before getting started. From the get-go, if you will. So if you’re ready to go? Steve Tuma: Yeah, let’s do it. Interviewer: So, let’s just say we’ll start with building sites. Is there a building site that’s too challenging to build on? Or, I would say there probably isn’t anything too challenging. But when you look at building sites, you look at the more challenging and the simplified ones — slopes, flood zones, hurricanes, earthquakes, snow loads, civil engineering requirements. Interviewer: What would be a good way to start off? What questions would you say that a future owner-builder might want to ask when it comes to those topics? Steve Tuma: That’s an interesting question because as you think about the geography around the country, the Midwest is theoretically flat — compared to the Rockies or the Sierras or Cascades or any of the mountain ranges in the Northeast and Southeast. So there’s a lot of situations that come up with,