Things are done a bit differently as far as self build and mortgages go, and I believe not all banks are happy to give a mortgage, possible a large deposit is needed.

We were cash buyers, and out real estate agent did try to explain how things are done. They had not come across any one who was a cash buyer building from new.and they adapted the contract we had to accommodate this fact.
What I think happens is the mortgage lender lends the money. The are a stake holder and hold this money to be released in lump sums as and when each build stage reaches satisfactory completion. They send in an independent appraiser on their behalf to check. Our lawyer did this as we had no mortgage.

As far as the house build. We used a real estae agent that drew up a contract that stated when each stage of the house build was to be completed and any penalties incurred if it did not reach this stage. Also how much money was to be released at each stage. Every last detail was put into this house build, Unlike here where people seem to get esimates for the house build and work direct with the builder ( who can decide to bump the price up each step of the way) We agreed a total price. There was no going over additional costs etc. If anything went over it would be our builder that footed the bill.

Problem with UK as we are all sheep, we just accept what builders mechanics etc say. If you are a professional, you will be able to say exactly what somthing costs to build if you do it day in day out.
Our builder new exactly what it would cost, and would no doubt build his excess into the price to cover things , he is also insured.

You do need a good builder you can trust that has a good reputation, comes recommended and hopefully honest. he needs to be licenced and bonded so you have some come back if things do go wrong. You will want a house waranty at the end of it. Not all belong to these schemes.

In our case we paid all the money to the lawyer who held it in trust for us to pay over the build period. Our builder knew we had the money to pay for the job. He had a lawyer too and it was all done between the two lawyers.
We only contacted our builder a couple of times to choose tiles and colour of flooring, and ask for a couple of additional things. W e never talked money we did not have to, we paid price for job.

We started build in June , and final completion was December.
Canada is a big place so it is difficult to say how things vary from one place to another.
Also trusting and finding good work men is hard, when you dont know people.
We were extremely lucky and had a good team, in a small network of people who all knew each other. Even our bank manager knew our builder.
I would personally recommend you work with a real estate agent to find land, and possible recommend a builder, and do the same way as us and try and get a contract drawn up for a final price, not "extras"
Dont find a builder and get him to estimte costs. You will not get a mortgage this way I dont think

Anyone got an idea of what the "extras" other than GST will be if you are building a new house in Alberta

Our neighbours are about to replace their house. They rented one up the street and moved out so that demolition could start on May 1st; they expect to move back in for the winter. I don't know if the builder took on the job expecting to meet that date or not but that's the plan. They've already run into unexpected costs, the first thing they did was to take a chain saw to the trees in the yard. They had no permit and someone grassed them, the fine is $10,000 per tree so they were lucky they'd only got as far as the upper branches. Last I heard a deal had been struck whereby they agreed to plant something to replace the trees but they, and the house, were still there this morning.

Thanks for the replies on mortgages on custom builds and length of time. The tips have been very useful.

Cheers, daisy

Land (lot) cost, Build price (agreed with builder). An 'offer to purchase' is written up by the buyer and agreed to by the builder. MAKE SURE everything is covered in this document, if it isn't in writing, you can get into deep water. An excellent line to use on everything is "Subject to buyers lawyer approval'. Get your lawyer to check everything BEFORE you commit.

Only other extras would be landscaping, decks, and any other 'upgrades' you want doing inside - that is finishes etc like wood, or tile as opposed to vinyl floor etc. Even a change in in paint colour will involve an extra charge.

If I ever do it over again, I would invest in the things that are too difficult/expensive to change later. Such as radiant in floor heat throughout the house, better insulation, or much longer lasting roof etc (this could involve a truss change, so essential that it's decided up front). Paint, carpet, or appliances can be changed/upgraded easily when you've settled in and maybe have the cash available

By the way, Posidrive, you can bring in ANY builder you choose on a development, you dont HAVE to use those on the developers list

Under floor heating is a really good idea - we rented a house with that installed and wow it really worked well! Another good thing these days is that many provinces &/or utility companies will give incentives to 'go green' for instance using geothermal energy and installing energy efficient appliances. Sometimes, if your house passes the 'green test' you may get a rebate on your hydro bill or a free front loading washing machine! Cool!!

Our neighbours moved out of the house and into a rental on April 30th. They intend to demolish their house and to build from scratch and had warned us that the house would be coming down the first week of May. Yesterday the neighbour was around doing some odd jobs (stripping the copper, taking out trees) and I asked why the house is still there. They can't demolish until the gas is cut off. They had asked that this happen on May 1st but it didn't and the gas company is now talking about doing it in mid-June. That unhurried pace is usual for utilility companies here.

Permits for demolition and construction have cost $20,000 so far. Completion is promised for next February but the neighbour was clearly taking that with a bucket of salt.

It's not for the faint hearted, building a house.