Be realistic when planning your new home's construction schedule.

With new housing developments inching ever outward from our urban centers, many Americans are choosing to build new homes from the ground up. But before you put your present home on the market or notify your landlord that you want out of your lease, you should know that few homes are built in a day, or even in a year, for that matter. About how long can a homebuilder spend designing and constructing a new house?

Bob Hale, President of the Los Angeles chapter of The American Institute of Architects, is an expert on what it takes to build a new home, from the first design sketches to the moment the moving trucks arrive with furniture. He offers the following basic timeline to prospective homebuilders:

• A year for design.
  The design process moves in stages, and each stage is important. A builder must consider the building site and how the structure will sit on the land, as well as spend time planning the spatial qualities of the house and general design style. A decision in any of these areas could have an effect on the others, so it's important not to rush through the design process. According to Bob, design can take a full year from first ideas to finished blueprints.
  
• A year for construction.
  Considering everything that must go into a modern home, the construction of a four, five, or six thousand square foot house can easily take a full year. Combined with the design phase, this brings the total time to build up to two years.
  
• Your personal schedule.
  Discuss your personal schedule with your architect, and be realistic. Depending on what else you've got on your plate, your total construction time can be longer than average.