Every client has one question front of mind when considering a custom home: "How do I get from where I am to where I want to be with the least disruption to life and within budget?"
This question reflects both excitement and anxiety. Excitement about creating a home perfectly suited to your family's needs. Anxiety about navigating an unfamiliar process filled with countless decisions, potential pitfalls, and horror stories you've heard from friends who've built homes.
At Moderno Construction Management, we've guided over 800 families through this journey across Prior Lake, Lakeville, and the South Metro over three generations. We know the process inside and out—where confusion typically arises, which decisions matter most, how to prevent costly mistakes, and how to keep your project on schedule and budget while maintaining quality.
This comprehensive guide walks you through exactly what you'll experience building a custom Moderno home, from initial consultation through the day you receive keys and beyond. Our goal is to demystify the process, address common concerns, and help you understand how our transparent construction management approach creates a smoother, more satisfying building experience.
Your journey begins with conversation, not contracts. Before we discuss budgets, timelines, or architectural styles, we want to understand you, your family, and your vision.
Third-generation owner Jake Tupy takes great care in understanding your family and your lifestyle to create spaces that complement you. This discovery process explores:
How Your Family Actually Lives:
Your Priorities and Non-Negotiables:
Your Property or Homesite Selection:
This patient, thorough consultation establishes the foundation for everything that follows. We'd rather invest extra time in understanding your needs correctly than rush to design and discover misalignments later.
Unlike traditional builders who provide a single bottom-line number, our open-book pricing approach means we develop detailed budgets that show exactly where your investment goes.
During initial consultation, we'll discuss:
Realistic Cost Expectations: Based on our experience across 800+ builds, we can provide guidance on what different quality levels, sizes, and features typically cost in the South Metro market. This helps you calibrate expectations before investing significant time in design.
Budget Categories: We break down costs into major categories—site work, foundation, framing, mechanical systems, finishes, etc.—so you understand the cost structure of your home rather than just seeing a total.
Our Management Fee: We explain our fee-based compensation model transparently. You'll understand exactly what we charge for our project management services and what that fee covers throughout your build.
Financing Options: If needed, we can connect you with our partner Bell Bank to explore financing options appropriate for your situation.
This financial transparency—typically saving clients 10-15% compared to traditional contractor markups—sets the tone for the entire relationship. You're not guessing what things cost or wondering if you're overpaying. Everything is documented, explained, and open for review.
We develop realistic timeline expectations during initial consultation, accounting for:
Rather than providing aggressive timelines to win your business and missing them later, we give you realistic expectations from the start. If your timeline has constraints (school year, job relocation, etc.), we work backward to understand what's feasible and what accommodations might be necessary.
With vision understood and budget parameters established, we move into comprehensive design and planning—the phase that prevents expensive mistakes and changes during construction.
We work with trusted architects and designers to translate your vision into detailed plans. This collaborative process includes:
Conceptual Design:
Design Refinement:
Material and Finish Selections:
Throughout this process, we provide guidance informed by our three generations of experience. Which design trends age well? Which materials perform best in Minnesota's climate? Where do premium upgrades make the most difference? How can design decisions impact both initial costs and long-term maintenance?
Our transparent pricing means you understand the cost implications of different choices, empowering informed decisions rather than guessing whether upgrades justify their cost.
As one of Scott County's largest acreage developers with deep local relationships, we understand permitting requirements and processes intimately. We handle:
Our established relationships with local authorities mean smoother processes and fewer delays. When questions arise about code interpretations or requirements, our experience and relationships help resolve them efficiently.
Before breaking ground, we develop detailed project plans covering:
Construction Schedule:
Budget Finalization:
Communication Protocols:
This comprehensive planning, informed by our experience across hundreds of projects, prevents the confusion and conflicts that plague poorly planned builds.
With permits approved and plans finalized, construction begins with site preparation and foundation work—critical phases that establish the literal foundation for everything that follows.
Site Preparation:
Foundation Construction:
Your Role:
Our quality control inspections verify foundation work at multiple stages, catching any issues when they're easiest to correct. Our experience with Minnesota soil conditions and climate-specific construction techniques ensures your foundation provides the solid base your home deserves.
Framing brings your home's design to life in three dimensions—the phase where abstract plans become physical reality you can walk through.
Structural Framing:
Building Envelope:
Your Role:
The framing walkthrough is an exciting milestone—the first time you can actually walk through your future home and experience how rooms relate, how views frame, and how spaces feel. Our team guides this walkthrough, answering questions and addressing any concerns before we move into mechanical rough-in.
With structure complete, we install the systems that provide comfort, safety, and functionality—followed by insulation and drywall that prepare for finish work.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) Rough-In:
Insulation and Air Sealing:
Drywall Installation:
Your Role:
These phases include critical work that becomes hidden once covered. Our systematic quality control ensures everything is installed correctly before it's enclosed, preventing the expensive corrections required if issues are discovered later.
Finish phases transform construction site into home, where your design vision becomes tangible reality in every room.
Interior Finishes:
Exterior Finishes:
Your Role:
The finish phase is where your home's personality emerges. Colors, textures, materials, and details that existed only in samples and selections sheets now come together in cohesive design. Our relationships with skilled craftsmen—from cabinet installers to painters to tile setters—ensure quality installation that does justice to your design vision.
As construction nears completion, we conduct comprehensive inspections to ensure every detail meets our standards and your expectations.
Systems Testing and Verification:
Quality Walkthrough:
Final Inspections:
Your Role:
Our thoroughness during this phase reflects our commitment to delivering not just completed homes but homes that exceed expectations. We don't consider projects complete until you're completely satisfied.
Receiving keys to your completed custom home is an exciting milestone—but our commitment doesn't end on move-in day.
Move-In Support:
Post-Move-In Follow-Up:
Long-Term Support:
Our tagline "Here yesterday, here today, here to stay" reflects our permanent presence in the South Metro. We're not going anywhere, so maintaining positive long-term relationships serves everyone's interests. If questions arise months or years later, we're here to help.
Understanding the construction phases helps clarify what to expect, but what actually makes the Moderno experience different from building with other contractors?
Many builders go quiet during construction, leaving clients anxious and uninformed. We maintain proactive communication throughout your build:
Our open-book pricing approach means you maintain financial transparency throughout your build—no hidden costs or surprise invoices:
This transparency typically saves clients 10-15% compared to traditional contractors while providing peace of mind that you're receiving fair value throughout your project.
Our systematic quality control inspections at every phase ensure issues are caught and corrected when they're easiest and least expensive to address:
These inspections, combined with our relationships with skilled craftsmen and our three-generation commitment to quality, ensure your home is truly built to last.
Our transparent pricing model aligns our incentives with yours, so we're motivated to find cost-effective solutions rather than benefiting from expensive change orders. This creates genuine partnership through challenges rather than adversarial relationships.
As a family-owned business, you work directly with family members who have genuine ownership in your project's success. You're not passed between anonymous project managers—you build relationships with Jake, Ashlee, and Alex who remain personally involved throughout your build and beyond.
As involved as you want to be! Our project management approach welcomes client involvement while handling all the complexity so you don't feel overwhelmed. Some clients visit the site weekly and enjoy participating in decisions. Others prefer periodic updates and milestone walkthroughs. We adapt to your preferred involvement level.
Changes are easiest and least expensive during design phases, but we understand that ideas evolve as you see your home take shape. Our transparent approach means we can quickly provide accurate cost and timeline impacts for any changes you're considering, helping you make informed decisions.
Minnesota construction involves weather challenges. We build weather contingency into timelines from the start, so reasonable delays don't derail your project. We proactively communicate about weather impacts and adjust schedules accordingly while working efficiently during suitable conditions.
Communication is key. If you have concerns about any aspect of your build, we want to know immediately so we can address them. Our quality focus and customer-centered approach mean we're motivated to ensure your satisfaction at every phase.
Timelines vary based on home size, complexity, and site conditions, but typical ranges are:
We provide project-specific timelines during initial consultation based on your particular circumstances.
Building a custom home is one of life's most significant investments—financially, emotionally, and practically. Choosing the right partner to guide this journey makes the difference between stressful struggle and exciting adventure.
At Moderno Construction Management, we've refined our process across three generations and 800+ custom homes. We know where confusion typically arises, which decisions matter most, how to prevent costly mistakes, and how to keep projects on schedule and budget while maintaining quality.
Whether you're considering building in one of our exclusive communities—Scenic Bay Estates with its premier Prior Lake location, Cardinal Pass with 15 carefully positioned acreage lots, Harvest Bluffs offering privacy and views, or Holman Addition—or you have your own acreage property or lakefront location, we're here to guide you from where you are to where you want to be.
Our approach offers:
Every client has one question: "How do I get from where I am to where I want to be with the least disruption to life and within budget?" We'd be honored to answer that question for your family, providing resources and a clear roadmap of support to make the home you've been dreaming about a reality.
Schedule a consultation to begin your custom home journey. Here yesterday. Here today. Here to stay.
