The IMC 4-Step Onboarding Process
The IMC Process Overview
Our Client Experience Team qualifies and prepares serious House-in-Hand* leads.
Our Sales Team provides the Preliminary Price, adds approved customizations, and obtains the signed contract.
IMC then moves the client through permitting, production, set, finish, and keys-in-hand
What “House-in-Hand” Means:
- A serious, prepared buyer with a clear plan direction, land path, budget range, financing approach, and readiness to move forward.
- The goal is to protect the client’s time and ensure our teams spend their sales time with qualified prospects who are ready for a real Preliminary Price discussion.
How The 4-Step IMC Process Works
Step 1
Discovery & Lead Qualification
Step 2
Preliminary Price, Customization & Contract
A qualified House-in-Hand prospect moves from our Client Experience Teams to our Sales Team for price, scope, customization, and contract discussion.
Step 3
Permitting & Production Lock
Step 4
Build, Set, Finish & Keys
Step 1
Discovery & Lead Qualification
Owner: Shirley – Client Experience & Permitting Coordinator
Important: Step 1 does not include drawings, detailed pricing development, factory engagement, or contractual commitments. It exists to confirm alignment and readiness.
• Receive website inquiries, selected home plans, custom sketches, or third-party plans submitted for review.
• Make first-touch contact and clarify the prospect’s vision, priorities, land status, budget range, financing, and timeline.
• If the project appears aligned, our teams will help coordinate the preliminary site visit so we can prepare a more realistic turnkey Preliminary Price.
• Help determine whether IMC is the right fit before deeper pricing work begins, so serious prospects receive focused attention and clear next steps.
• A qualified project-ready prospect moves forward for Preliminary Price, scope clarity, approved customizations, and contract preparation.
Once complete, our Client Experience Team delivers the client to our Sales Team as a qualified project ready for Preliminary Pricing.
Step 2
Preliminary Price, Customization & Contract
Owner: Richard Jr. – Chief of Sales
Important: The Preliminary Price is designed to be clear enough for a contract decision. Pricing may need to be updated if too much time passes, factory pricing changes, site conditions change, or the client changes the selections.
Why We Price Turnkey
A lot of traditional stick builders quote around $300 per square foot, but that often excludes site costs. Once you add clearing, grading, foundation, utilities, driveway, septic or sewer, water, and power, the real all-in number is often closer to $400 per square foot, and sometimes even $500 per square foot.
With IMC, we generally plan around $200 per square foot for the home plus $100 per square foot for the site, or about $300 per square foot all-in, subject to land conditions, selections, and final scope. That means a 2,000 sq. ft. home is roughly $600,000 all-in with us, compared to $800,000 to $1,000,000 in many traditional stick-built scenarios.
• Review the qualified project summary and confirm the selected plan, site assumptions, budget expectations, and desired timing.
• Provide a turnkey Preliminary Price that combines the selected home with the site visit findings, known site conditions, factory pricing, site-work assumptions, and allowances available at that stage. This gives you a real decision point: the home, the site, the known assumptions, and the expected turnkey path before you decide whether to customize and move toward contract.
After reviewing your turnkey Preliminary Price, and before moving into customizations, IMC requires two readiness items:
- PAL – Pre-Authorization Letter: If financing is required, the client provides a lender-issued pre-authorization or pre-approval letter confirming the project is financially viable.
- PROJECT DEPOSIT – After reviewing the Preliminary Price, clients who want to move into customization submit a $3,500 Project Readiness Deposit. The deposit is non-refundable because it reserves IMC’s deeper pricing and customization time, but it is fully credited toward the project at contract signing.
• Add approved customizations and major selections that affect price, scope, or schedule.
• Obtain the signed construction agreement when pricing, scope, and client readiness align.
Step 3
Permitting & Production Lock
Owner: IMC Team, led by Client Experience & Permitting Coordination
Important: This is where the project becomes operational. Changes after contract may affect price, permitting, factory timing, and the six-month keys-in-hand target.
• Confirm final specifications, signed contract documents, and required client information.
• Coordinate factory package, permit documentation, jurisdiction requirements, and site preparation inputs.
• Track permitting progress and keep the client informed so confusion is reduced and momentum is protected.
• Move permits faster than the ordinary two-month standard whenever possible through disciplined follow-up.
• Prepare construction for a clean, ready-to-build handoff.
Step 4
Build, Set, Finish & Keys
Owner: IMC Construction & Operations Team
• Factory production and site preparation move in coordinated sequence.
• Home delivery, set, finish work, utility coordination, inspections, and punch-list completion are managed toward Certificate of Occupancy.
• IMC’s operating standard is keys-in-hand approximately six months from signed contract, subject to jurisdiction, weather, client changes, and other project-specific factors. For safety, scheduling, and quality control, site visits during construction must be scheduled in advance with Chris, Chief of Construction.
• You will receive clear bi-weekly updates throughout permitting and construction so you know where the project stands and what happens next.
Simple Client Path
Qualify
We confirm customer fit and your information moves to our Sales Team.
Price + Contract
We provide Preliminary Price, add
customizations, and obtain a signed
contract. The 6-month path to keys
begins at contract signing.
Permit & Lock
IMC coordinates permits, factory
package, site inputs, and production
lock. Target: approximately
2 months.
Build & Keys
IMC executes build, set, finish,
inspections, C.O., and keys-in-hand.
Target: approximately 4
months.
Ready to get started?
A Final Word from the Founder
Building a home is personal. It deserves a process that is clear, structured, honest, and built around trust.
That is the way we build. If that is the kind of experience you are looking for, we would be honored to build your home.
— Richard Parker Sr., Founder