Top Ten Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much will it cost?

That depends on you.
a) How big a home do you need to meet your wants/needs?
b) How fancy do you want it?
c) How tough (expensive) is your lot to develop?

• Once we have our initial meeting with you (no obligation) we can give you a ballpark idea of what it will cost to make your dreams come true.
• As we refine your selections and the home plans we also refine your costs
• Before a contract is signed we will see to it that you understand exactly what you are getting for your money.
• Once our customers finish their selections, they average $135 to $155/sq. ft. for the top 2 floors with basement finishing at about $45 /sq. ft. Here is where we can really help because without cost controls, bulk purchasing discounts and careful budget review, a home can easily go to $200 to $300/sq. ft.

2. How long does it take?

That depends on you (again).

• How big is the home?
• How fancy is it?
• How difficult is the lot?
• What time of the year will it be finishing?
• Are you going to make your selections on time?

Once the contract is signed, our average time to modify a plan

• To be ready to submit for permit is 3 weeks
• Permit approval in the county is usually 6 weeks
• From permit issue we will start in 1 week
• Once we start it usually takes 1.2 to 1.5 months per 1000 finished sq. feet on top 2 floors;
• 4000 to 4500 sq. ft. home = 7 months ±
• From contract signing = 9 months ±

3. Who are your clients?

Our typical customer is a first time custom home client that has a busy schedule and comes to us with no idea of how to make their dream into a reality. They are willing to pay a reasonable price for good quality and want to be treated fairly and kept abreast of what is going on with their home.

4. Where do you build?

Home Builder Will Travel. We are not locked into any particular lots or area.

• We build anywhere in Northern Virginia.
• Most of our clients in the last two decades have been in McLean, Great Falls and as far as Middleburg.

5. What do you build?

If you can dream it – we can build it!

• We have built homes from 1300 sq. ft to 20,000 sq. ft.
• We have built houses ranging from radical cliff-hanging contemporaries to ultra traditional center hall colonials on estate lots.
• Most of our customers come to us because they want something different to fit their family’s particular needs in a high quality fashion.

6. We’ve never built a custom home before. How can we possibly make all the decisions?

Most of our customers have never built a home before, so we know how to simplify a complicated process by going step by step.

• Once our customers move in they consistently tell us that everything was a lot more fun and a lot simpler than they had anticipated.
• Once you tell us what your tastes are we will suggest selections for every thing in the home but you make the final decision.
• We have had customers make 95% of their decisions in 2 meetings.

7. We can’t find any home plans we really like. How can you come up with a plan we will like?

Wayne Foley has been the president and designer for Foley Construction for over 30 years. In that time, he has been skillfully interviewing customers, listening to their answers and quickly coming up with unique plans that fill their design needs and budget.

• We are Custom homebuilders so we expect unique requests and have the willingness and skill to meet even the most unusual requests.

8. Who will we be dealing with?

Foley Construction is a small family owned business that only builds 6-9 houses a year.

• You will be working directly with Wayne Foley in the design stage and throughout the construction process.
• Lyn Foley (Wayne’s wife and partner) personally works with all our clients to help pick out the pretty things that make a house a home, and still keeps things within the agreed upon budget.
• Terri Sutton is a certified accountant and runs all the office operations; she will be giving you detailed cost summaries so you know exactly where you are at all times financially. Terri has been with Foley Construction since 1988.

9. What happens if we have a question or a problem during construction?

• We have a 24-hour fax line and recommend that you install one as well.
• We will answer any question within 24 hours if possible.
• You will have Wayne’s 24 hour a day NEXTEL in case of emergencies.
• Wayne and Lyn’s home telephone number is on our business cards and listed in the phone book in case of an emergency.
• Ask any other builder for his home phone number and watch for the reaction.

10. We’ve heard all homes go over budget and that “change orders” are to blame. How can we be assured this will not happen to us?

Before the contract is signed we will walk you through every cost aspect of your home. We will work with you to assign descriptions and prices for all variable costs such as appliances, carpeting, plumbing fixtures, tile, etc.

• Once all this is done (before the contract is signed), you are provided a very detailed description of everything that is budgeted into your home.
• With your contract you will be given a detailed cost summary that shows the cost of each of your selected item.
• If you don’t surprise us with a drastic deviation from your original decisions, then you will stay within your budget.
• We give you a guaranteed price for you home and we will deliver it on time for that price unless you choose to change it.
• When you choose to make a change once construction starts (change order) we contractually guarantee that you will be charged the same rate that you paid for the rest of the home.
• No custom home customers should be discouraged or penalized for making changes as long as it is done in a timely fashion.
• Our customers have an average of 20 to 30 change orders.
• Most of our customers (even with 20 to 30 changes) stay within 2 to 3% of the initial contract price.

Contact us for our references, and feel free to ask these sort of questions of our previous clients.