Folks who built a home-tell me what the process was like.

Looking for a 4-5 br home within beltway 8 and our budget is ideally $500-700k (with some wiggle room). Options are limited for existing homes and we were wondering if we could stay in budget and get all our wishes with a home builder. What was the process like from inquiry to closing? At which points did you have to put money down? Also who do you recommend in this range?