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Hilton Head Builders

843-892-6227
843-892-6227

New Home Construction

If you own a homesite in Hilton Head Plantation, Palmetto Bluff, Colleton River, Berkeley Hall, or one of the other Lowcountry communities across Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Okatie, building a new custom home is a different project than a renovation or a resale purchase. You are working with a specific lot, a specific set of soil and elevation conditions, a specific architectural review process, and decisions that get made once and live with the house for decades. Hilton Head Builders has been building new custom homes in this market since 1995. Ed Flynn owns the company and runs projects directly, and the work stays concentrated in a defined price range, generally $1.5 million to $2.5 million, so attention does not get spread across a large volume of unrelated jobs.

What New Home Construction Covers

New home construction, as we build it, runs from the first site work to the final walkthrough. It does not include kitchen or bathroom remodels, and it is not handyman-scale work. Substantial renovation projects, generally $500,000 and above, are a separate category we take on, but this page is specifically about building a new house from the ground up.

  • Site preparation, grading, and drainage suited to Lowcountry soil and water table conditions
  • Foundation systems built to flood zone and base flood elevation requirements
  • Structural framing, roofing, and a complete building envelope
  • Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, sized and routed for coastal humidity and storm exposure
  • Interior finish work through cabinetry, trim, and final fixtures
  • Coordination of your community’s architectural review submission and approval process
  • Final walkthrough, punch list, and closeout documentation
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How Projects Are Run

Ed Flynn is involved in every project his company takes on, not as a figurehead but as the person who reviews the plans, walks the site, and answers when something needs a decision. Building on Hilton Head Island, in Bluffton, or in Okatie means dealing with conditions that do not show up the same way inland: elevated foundations, wind load requirements, drainage plans that satisfy both the county and the community, and review boards that have their own submission calendars. None of that is unusual to a builder who has worked here for a long time. It is unusual to a national builder or a crew new to the coast, and it shows up in change orders and delays when it gets missed.

Our office is at 222 Halyard Dr on Hilton Head Island, and most of our clients are relocating from a larger market and building either a second home, a retirement home, or a primary residence they intend to stay in. They are not price shopping. They are trying to figure out who will actually manage the project the way they were told it would be managed.

A Flat Builder Fee, Not a Percentage of Cost

Most custom builders charge a percentage of total project cost as their fee, often called cost-plus. On paper it sounds simple. In practice it means the builder’s compensation goes up every time the project cost goes up, whether that increase comes from a client upgrade, a site condition, or a subcontractor’s number. There is nothing dishonest about that structure by itself, but it does not give the builder a reason to hold the line on costs, because a higher total project cost means a higher fee.

Hilton Head Builders works on a flat builder fee instead. The fee is set for the project and does not move when the underlying construction costs move. That changes the incentive: keeping costs accurate and controlled no longer works against the builder’s own compensation. Alongside the flat fee, clients get full visibility into every bill that comes through the project, and project funds are held in a separate project account rather than commingled with the company’s general operating funds.

This is not a claim that the company is less expensive than a percentage-fee builder. It may or may not be, depending on the project. What the flat fee changes is visibility and alignment, not the price of the house.

  • A flat fee for the builder’s services, set for the project and not tied to a percentage of cost
  • Full access to project invoices and subcontractor bills as they come in
  • Client funds held in a separate project account rather than the company’s general accounts

The Build Sequence

Every lot and every community is different, but the general sequence of a new custom home follows a consistent order.

Site walk and review of the lot, including elevation, drainage, and any existing survey or geotechnical information

Coordination with your architect or designer on plans that meet both your program and the site conditions

Preparation and submission of plans to the community’s architectural review board

County and municipal permitting once community approval is in hand

Site work, foundation, and framing

Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in, followed by inspections
Interior and exterior finishes, cabinetry, and fixtures

Final walkthrough, punch list completion, and closeout

We are not publishing a fixed timeline on this page. Every community’s review process, every permitting office, and every site condition affects the schedule differently, and we would rather give you an accurate answer specific to your lot than a generic number that does not hold up.

Building Across Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Okatie

Each community in this market runs its own architectural review process, with its own submission requirements, deposit structures, and rules about contractor access during construction. Some of that is documented publicly, and some of it only shows up once you are in the process. We have put together a separate page that walks through what to expect from these review boards community by community, including what gets submitted and in what order, because getting this step wrong is one of the most common sources of delay we see on projects that did not start with us.

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Large-Scale Renovations

We take on substantial renovation work, generally projects at $500,000 and above, where the scope is closer to a rebuild than a remodel. This might mean a full second-story addition, a structural reconfiguration, or bringing an older coastal home up to current elevation and wind load standards. We do not take on kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, or general handyman work. If your project is smaller than that, we can likely point you toward someone better suited to it than we are.

Licensing and Verification

South Carolina requires residential builders to hold a license through the state, and we would rather you verify that directly than take our word for it. You can look up any South Carolina contractor’s license status through the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which maintains the state’s contractor licensing records.

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FAQs

Do you build outside Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Okatie?
Our work is concentrated in these three areas because that is where we know the soil conditions, the permitting offices, and the community review boards well enough to manage a project without surprises. We do not take on projects far outside this footprint.
Most of our new construction projects fall between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. That range depends heavily on lot conditions, finish level, and the specific community’s requirements, which is covered in more detail on our cost page.
We are not giving a general timeline on this page, because it depends too much on your specific lot, your community’s review process, and permitting timelines to be useful as a single number. Once we have reviewed your site and plans, we can give you a realistic schedule for your project specifically.
Not necessarily. The flat fee changes how the builder is compensated and how much visibility you have into project costs, not the underlying cost of construction. It removes the incentive for project costs to inflate the builder’s own fee.
Ed Flynn is directly involved in every project the company takes on, from the initial site review through closeout. This is not a company where projects get handed off to a rotating cast of project managers you have not met.
No. Many clients come to us early, before plans are finalized, so we can weigh in on site conditions, elevation requirements, and community review expectations before the design is locked in. Coming to us earlier tends to save time later.

Yes. We coordinate the submission and manage the back-and-forth with your community’s review board as part of the construction process, working alongside your architect.

Talk to Us About Your Homesite

If you already own a lot, or you are close to closing on one, the earliest useful step is a direct conversation about the site itself. Call Hilton Head Builders at 843-892-6227, or reach us at our office at 222 Halyard Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926. Ed Flynn takes these calls directly.

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Let's Build Your Dream Together

Start your custom home journey with Hilton Head Builders Inc. Contact us today for a consultation and discover how we can make your dream home a reality.