For most new home construction there are two important steps in the financing process.
- Obtain a committment for a permanent loan or mortgage from a bank or other financer. Although you start by securing this committment, the actual money from this lender is not paid out until after the home is constructed.
- Once you have this permanent financing committment you can obtain a construction loan to actually build the house. The lender for the construction loan has the security of knowing that once the house is built, the permanent lender will advance the money so that you can pay off the temporary construction loan.
The construction financing process is structured this way because there are financing laws that outline what different types of lending institutions are allowed to do. There are some lending institutions that can take on both the permanent mortgage loan and the temporary construction loan, but it is still a two part application process.