Construction Loans

Yes people still get them. Not all mortgage companies do them anymore. You will need land, blueprints and bids. Usually a title company releases fund (draws) when needed. Many limit the amount of draws that you can do. Also, shop around for the amount of time you can have the loan before it has to be complete - although most will give extensions. Some allow for "self builds" and other don't. Talk to a reputable financial institution and they can give you more specifics based on your needs.

Good luck!

We did about 6yrs ago too. I remember the interest rate being much higher so as soon as the house was done we switched to a conventional loan.

People still get them. Like any loan you have to be able to put out there what the collateral will be. Pretty sure you need to have the land and blueprints so they can approve you for an amount but I am not 100% sure.

Dad on Purpose just built a house so maybe he will know. I went through a builder so I put 20% down and had a set price to be financed when it was done.

We did, but it has been about 6 years. With the collapse of the housing market and banking/mortgage scene what it is/has been in recent years, I am not sure how that has affected construction loans.
We had a substantial amount of savings in my husband's TSP, plus about $80k in cash from the sale of our previous home when we went to the bank for the loan.

Shop around and see what the banks tell you. You can always contact them a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) time for follow up questions if you discover something you didn't think to ask the first time.

Unless you have $300K+ in cash, I don't think you can get away with building a house without one. First you have to get bids from contractors, then you take them to the bank to get approved for the loan. The contractor or subcontractors will issue liens for the work, once completed. Then the bank handles the payment of them - these are called "draws". You will only pay interest on the loan until the house is completed. After that, it rolls into a traditional mortgage.