Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show Landmark Home and Land Company

Show Notes: Exploring the intricate world of predrawn plans, this post delves into the crucial aspects of accuracy, completeness, and uniformity to navigate the complexities of building department approval and ensure buildability.







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: And what happens is sometimes people will go through and they’ll say, hey, my builder can adjust it on site and I’m like, well, you probably can, but you’re just opening your wallet up in your schedule.







Interviewer: Hello everyone and thank you for joining us for episode 53 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. With me as always 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. Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, how’s it going, buddy?







Steve Tuma: It’s a great day. Another great day for people to start building a house. Always a good day.







Interviewer: Always a good day. And if I sound a little stuffy or even if Steve sounds a little stuffy, I think we both went through a cold thing and everybody’s been getting this, whatever this seasonal cold thing is. So hopefully we sound pretty clear. I think we’ll survive. Yeah. So you had brought up a subject you wanted to talk about today and that is standard plans, store and online bought plans and are they any good? And I’m sure a lot of people have questions about this. So is that something you’d be up for getting into right now?







Steve Tuma: Yeah, that’s kind of an interesting topic. It’s actually the whole plan situation is interesting because a lot of people will say, hey, I bought these plans. The local guy did them and he wins the awards in town or hey, I found them online or whatever. There’s a plan service in town or a plan book or whatever and they buy the plans and that was for your, hey, everything’s taken care of. Well, it kind of depends on what your situation is of the land because most of those plans are set for a house to be built on a flat piece of land. They don’t have considerations for slopes in the land, different situations, showing mechanical drawings, plumbing and electric that are relevant to your actual building site. So they might be a decent starting point for the concept, but the chances are you’ll need more details to really go through and build. So if you were just to go buy a set of plans and these people say, hey, they’re good for building permits.







Well, you got to wonder where they’re good for because most of them have a lot of disclaimers on them. You must go through a structural engineer. You must verify all the codes. You must verify the mechanical design. You must verify the dimensions. There’s so many things that you have to verify that you’ve really got to take the concept but start from zero to make sure that it’s put together. So if you were building a simple home in an area where there aren’t as many regulations on a flat piece of land as well, they might work if it’s a simple home. But if you’ve got a home that’s more complex, a Victorian, a modern design, a home with a lot of corners, a home with a lot of ridgelines, you might see that the plans have to be adjusted, especially if you get into higher snow loads, earthquake zones, high wind speeds, because those plans in general have been designed for areas where the building code enforcement is relatively simple. Say a 20-pound snow load, which is a lot of the United States, but then you go take this into Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Northeast, anywhere in the plains states, anywhere in the West Coast,

Show Notes: We discuss how our 30 years of experience will assist in building your dream home.







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: Something which is interesting, a lot of people think, well I’ve never built anything, I’ve never swung a hammer. We have a lot of extremely successful customers that have been successful in building because they understand the management of a project.







Interviewer: Hi everybody and thank you for joining us for episode 52 of the panelized prefab kit home building show. With me as always 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. Mr. Steve Tuma and Steve you must be proud this is the 30th anniversary of Landmark, that’s pretty cool.







Steve Tuma: Yeah yeah a couple weeks ago it’s kind of weird I woke up and I was like something’s up today what’s going on and then like oh it’s a birthday you know and it’s kind of interesting because I remember starting the company and working through different growth phases, coming up with new products, expanding across the country, working internationally in different places and you kind of look back and go this is cool. Yeah. It’s amazing and just the knowledge and attitude we’ve developed to help people really get their house projects going.







Interviewer: You know it’s one thing I found kind of interesting is that sometimes it seems like the companies that are family-owned, family-started, are the ones that last forever. What do you think that is?







Steve Tuma: Well there there’s more of a desire for long-term planning. It’s not like you know let’s do something today and hurt us tomorrow. It’s like let’s do something today that benefits our customers today, next week, next month and tomorrow. And when you’re in for the long run it’s just like compounding money. You’re compounding goodwill, you’re compounding knowledge, you’re compounding the methods of helping customers and refining your product and services as you move along. So I think that’s the difference is we’ve had some customers, I’m not suggesting anyone try to break this record, but took ten and a half years of working with us before they actually signed the contract. Because they had to go through this, then they had to go through this, then this happened, then a little bit of this happened, and then they had to get their land and you know so it goes through. So this isn’t something where you’re like hey honey on the way home pick up a gallon of milk. You know people think about it. It’s a big step, big step. Yeah but it’s a big step but it’s also a beneficial situation. It’s a situation where you build and get a new home, save some money, get some equity, control the quality and get the house you want instead of someone convincing you that you need a house. It’s kind of like sticking a square peg in a round hole type of thing. It’s like why not just get the house you want.







Interviewer: I wanted to start off this episode by asking you about something you have listed on your website. Something called standardized plans and I think what that is, is plans that are generic but still they need to be updated for local building departments, code applications, specific building sites. Can we get into that with you exactly? How standardized plans start from a certain space and how they can change along the way?







Steve Tuma: That’s something what happens. There’s websites all over and some of them are actually decent but p...

Show Notes: Customer service does matter when designing and building your new home!







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: Yes, we get to know our customers well, we talk, we spend time on the phone, we talk about details, whatever questions they have we’ll take the time and through that, you get a great understanding of what people do.







Interviewer: Hello everyone and thanks for joining us for episode 51 of the panelized prefab kit home-building show. With me as always 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, Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, how are you, my friend?







Steve Tuma: Life is good, it’s another good day. You know I was listening to this, he said around the globe since 1993, we’ve been doing this 30 years.







Interviewer: Yeah, you’re just babies in the industry.







Steve Tuma: Actually, we’re one of the oldest, but it’s amazing, I’ve helped every single customer since 1993. Every single one? Every single one. Wow. And many of them come back and build another one or help a relative or a friend and it’s just kind of amazing to think, you know, all the stuff that we’ve done, the different people we’ve helped, different places around the country, different styles homes, different budgets, it’s an amazing situation.







Interviewer: That 30 years man, that’s a landmark, that’s amazing. So in the industry, and we were joking around earlier, but are there any other panelized companies out there that are as old or as seasoned and experienced as Landmark?







Steve Tuma: I’m not sure that there are any that do exactly what we do, you know, with the complete service where we work with our customers, you know, from the inception of the design, their architectural design, the structural engineering, the energy codes, the site planning, working with the building department, working with the customer on their exact needs to develop their plan. And then actually manufacture, oh, sorry, back up, get them the plan so they could submit for permits, work with them through the complete permitting process, and then also go through and supply the panelized package that matches the approved plans. It’s an incredible amount of work that I know of, we’re the only ones that do it because it’s an incredible amount of work. A lot of details goes over many, many disciplines, and I guess we just enjoy it.







Interviewer: Yeah, well, I mean, if you’re doing something 30 years and you don’t like it, you probably would have gotten out a long time ago.







Steve Tuma: Oh, well, this is fun because we’ve developed a system that works pretty well so we can help a customer with the one-stop shop idea. And that’s what’s really cool about it. Someone could call us and say, hey, Steve, I want this house on that lot, how do we do it? Instead of saying, well, you’ve got to call 20 people, and by the way, coordinate them, it’s kind of like lining kittens up, good luck. It’s hard work with us, we’ll be able to work with someone to make it easier for them and have fun doing it. So we want to work with good people, build cool houses, and have a good time doing it.







Interviewer: I want to get to that one-stop shop idea that you were just talking about later in the podcast. Because I think it’s really important that people understand exactly what the services are that Landmark provides. But for today’s episode,

Show Notes: How detailed building plans will control your schedule, budget, timeline and the cost of your home.







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: Now, a lot of people say, well, I don’t need detailed plans.  I’m like, well, you might not think you need detailed plans, but if you want to control your schedule, your budget, timelines, communication with your subcontractors and your supplier, the better set of plans you have, the less changes, less headaches you’ll have during the process.  So it’s kind of like, do your homework up front, design the home properly, not just for permits, but also the building phases. I think you’ll find that your budget will appreciate it your timeline will appreciate it and it’ll work better for you. 















Interviewer: Hello everybody and welcome to episode 50 of the panelized prefab kit home building show with me as always is the President and founder of Landmark Home and Land Compay 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 and that man is Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve how’s it going?















Steve Tuma: Yeah, things are well. I think we got a lot to talk about today. Yeah. Plans and it’s a kind of a little bit of one of these things that it’ll compound it like a snowball.  It can get big and deep and but we can help. We’ve done it before.















Interviewer: I’ve got plans for to talk about plans and a million other things. I thought for this episode I’d like to go just go back to the basics. I’d really like to go back to the Landmark Home and Land Compay website, and talk about everything you list on there that makes your company, Landmark Home and Land Compay, unique among not just other panelized home designers and builders, but among home construction companies in general. I know it’s a very open-ended question, but I think you might be able to give the listeners and future owner-builders a rundown of exactly how Landmark Home and Land Compay stands out among the rest. If we go the way I want to do this, which is just go through the website and ask you a few things about what’s listed on there. So are you good with that?







Steve Tuma: Yeah.







Interviewer: Cool. Let’s do it.







Steve Tuma: This is an interesting spin on it. I guess a lot of customers find us on the website.  Look at it. So we may as well talk about the details to help them understand.







Interviewer: I was thinking that people could go to the website at LHLC.com and follow this podcast while you’re going through the website and I would actually be a good companion. They would complement each other. Let’s start with what you guys have listed on the website as a complete building plan services company. I’m not exactly sure what that encompasses, but give us a rundown of what complete building plan services means.







Steve Tuma: Well, that’s really interesting because it’s a, it could be very definite or it could be a broad scope type of a situation.  If you go to certain parts of the country, you don’t even need building permits.  They don’t issue permits.  They think you don’t even need plans to do it.  Now, a lot of people say, well, I don’t need detailed plans. I’m like, well, you might not think you need detailed plans, but if you want to control your schedule, your budget, timelines, communication with your subcontractors and your supplier, the better set of plans you have, the less changes,

Show Notes: Discussing the importance of how the building site, location, and actual physical property on which one plans on putting up a house can affect the cost of the home.







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: Generally things that are common is there might be easements power easements you know you your utility company may have a power line underground or above ground where they have a right to go in there within a certain distance and maintain the lines now you would still own it but you can’t generally put build your house underneath you know right next to a power pole.







Interviewer: Hello everybody and thank you for joining us for episode 49 of the panelized Prefab kit home building show with me in studio 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. Mr. Steve Tuma Steve. How you doing pal?







Steve Tuma: Hey life is good. We’ve got some interesting topics today I was looking at this a little different though maybe a little bit farther out than normal were items that maybe people don’t alwaysthink about.







Interviewer: Yeah, I actually gave you a little time to let you see what I was going to actually ramble on about today instead of surprising you. So like bam, let’s throw him a curve ball. Hopefully, it makes a little bit of a difference. So today we’re going to have Steve explain some of the ups and downs, difficulties, issues, maybe some of the challenges associated with building site restrictions, something that every owner-builder has to contend with at some point in the scope of their project, and yet just another aspect of building that landmark home and land companies become expert in dealing with over the years. So Steve, to start off with, what are some of the common building setbacks owner-builders have to contend and how how can Landmark help jump these hurdles?







Steve Tuma: Well this is kind of interesting because you know there’s a variety of different restrictions on and in some places and yes there are parts in of America where there is not a building department you know so literally you can go have a piece of land dig a hole put a house in there and you know there here you go some of those areas you just go and register say you’re building others literally you dig a hole and start building a house and then there’s areas that are extremely restrictive and how you can use the land drainage situations can you park in the street can you park in the driveway you know there’s a variety of different things now a lot of people think oh some of those restrictions are good some of them think that they’re bad chances are that there’s already restrictions like some people don’t know that they’re already falling in them like in a city you can’t keep cattle in your backyard mm-hmm you don’t think of it when you’re in Manhattan or Chicago or Miami of hey, let me just bring my bovine in the backyard and you know do stuff like that So there their chances are if you’re in a place where there’s a building department there is and then it’s not always building departments. It’s zoning and sometimes it could be title restriction. So I don’t want to make get to get too complicated But with the the basic situation that we run into is some areas don’t have restrictions and some areas are very restrictive whatever the situation is for your land we can work through it to help someone understand what they are generally things that are common is there might be easements power easements you know you your utility company may have a power line underground or above grou...

Show Notes:







Discussing the importance of how the building site, location, and actual physical property on which one plans on putting up a house can effect the cost of the home.







Transcript:







Steve Tuma: So, what we look at is, you know, they have the idea, the dream. We’re the people that take that idea, put it on paper, get the panelized package so that they can then go through and end up with the house they want, but also control and understand what they’re building.







Interviewer: Welcome everyone to episode 48 of the panelized prefab kit home building show. With me as he always is for the podcast 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. Mr. Steve Tuma Steve. How are you, buddy?















Steve Tuma: Yeah, pretty good. Another day helping people build houses







Interviewer: Pretty good is good. I’d say. Yeah I, since our last episode, I’ve been thinking about what this episode should be all about and I think we’ve been hitting on some things that we probably, I would have thought we’d have gotten to in past podcasts, but here we are on episode 48 and there’s a couple ofthings we haven’t touched on yet.So I want to get into something today that seems to me would have been a very important topic for anyone looking to become a new homeowner and builder, and that’s building sites, the actual physical property on which one plans on putting up a house. So if you’re good about this, let’s talk all things build site today, and I’d like to take these one at a time to be precise about the pros and cons of whatever sort of lot one might choose to acquire for their new home.















Steve Tuma: Yeah, that’s kind of interesting because a lot of people think a piece of dirt is a piece of dirt. You know, hey, I’ll just go buy an acre or city lot or whatever it may be or 50 acres and go build it.But what I found in my own projects, and even as we get in a variety of different building sites, sides of mountains, waterfront, whether it’s lakefront or oceanfront or whatever the plains whatever it may be that there’s always little complication or potential for complications. What I found in my own is if it touches dirt there’s a bigger risk because first of all, you can’t really see what’s under the dirt. There’s also a perception situation like you know we’re going to talk about flat lots. What’s kind of interesting is you could go to what appears to be a flat piece of land Just a perspective from where our eyes are in relation to the ground It may be flat, but where the house is from the front of the back of the house There could be a two or three-foot difference, but if you’re walking on it it may appear to be flat. We also had a funny situation. This is more like you know funny Just a little building humor the person said I have a flat lot, so we asked for some topographical things We asked for some details, and I came out. I’m like this isn’t a flat lot this is a side of a mountain. The customer said it is flat. It’s just on an angle going down. So, sometimes we, we, we need to work on what’s going on with the piece of land. So that, that was once in a, it’s kind of more of just a funny point to, you know, understand what is a flat lot? What is, what, what is a slope? Because it can be very deceiving walking out there yourself to, to really get what’s going on. But it’s, It’s not just the grade, is it flat, is it on an angle,