Building or Buying your house

walksalone

walksalone

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Anybody have their house built rather than buying one already on the market? Any suggestions or tips? My wife and I are thinking about having our new house built rather than searching for that perfect house.

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14 Jun fro daddy

I did, but I bought mine through one of the cookie cutter builders. I got to customize some, but not anything with the floor plans. I have heard if your doing it all (finding a builder and working with them to select everything) that it can be a pain. So make sure you have a good builder lined up. That way you are more likely to have a more reliable time table and trusted contractors doing the work

14 Jun HuskerInLostWages

Make sure you're going to all of the inspections as well if buying like Fro did as they will attempt to cut corners to save money on their end. During the walk through definitely show them everything and have the contractor sign off as the parts are completed to YOUR satisfaction, not theirs.

14 Jun knapplc

Jock, I've had several friends build homes, and the common theme coming from all of them is that you HAVE TO visit the worksite daily. You have to walk through with a tape measure and a copy of the plans and check everything every single day.

14 Jun fro daddy

To touch on what Lost and knapplc said, Ultimatly its your home and your the one stuck with any problems that you sign off on. Be solid on what you want or need. Dont be afraid to have them redo it if its wrong and make sure of all the p's and q's. I documented every little issue I had and wrote a small book of things to be fixed within my warrenty. They probably hated me, but there is no way I am paying for something twice.

14 Jun Blackshirts007

my parents built there own, the process was fun to go through with the designs and watching the progress etc. It will probably be more expensive to build but it's nice to have a custom house. One positive is that usually your builder can hook you up with deals from previous co-workers..for instance the guy who built ours was good friends with the owner of a tile company, thus we have lots of tile in our house because of the price

14 Jun HuskerInLostWages

Also be sure to have your plan of what you want done before you agree on the price. You add something after that and they charge you an arm and a leg because it wasn't in the previous plan.

14 Jun krc1995

I am getting ready to begin this process as well. I wish this could be converted to a thread without everyone having to retype.?

 
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I'm considering the same thing. The wife and I are moving back to the homeland (Rapid City, SD) in about 3 years. We're saving up, and I keep checking the market for houses, and it's not too bad. But would I be better going home, finding a good plot, and going from there...

 
My parents built their house. Just make sure you get what you want, and sort out all of the possibilities. Above all, get testimonies of other clients for contractors. Find the best one that will put time into building your home.

 
I am self general contracting the build of our new house...which will save us a nice chunk of change. As long as you stay on top of things, and do your homework on the builder (if you are in the Omaha area I can offer some advice there), you should be good. All the info posted above is pretty spot on as well. Good luck!

 
Research, research, research.

I built houses for 8 years. Make SURE that you know as much as you possibly can about your contractor's reputation. Read reviews, contact the BBB, etc. Visit the home site each day and if something looks wrong to you (or sloppy) make sure that you raise the issue. Don't let him bully you with jargon. If it looks wrong . . . there is a good chance that it IS wrong.

Finally, if possible within your budget, avoid the mass producer homebuilders. (Celebrity, Hearthstone, etc.) They are built extremely cheaply. Low grade materials. Shoddy insulation. Siding that won't last. Etc. You are much better off buying one of the hundreds of those homes that are already on the market than building your own. Think of those homes almost like a new car . . . they will take a $15,000 to $25,000 hit in resale value the second that you buy it. Plus the market is flooded with homes identical to the one that you are trying to sell . . . so you're competing for buyers instead of buyers competing for your home.

Final tips: don't skimp on your shingles, windows, or siding. If necessary go with lower grade interior finishes to be able to get mid to upper end exterior finishes. Your wallet will thank you over time.

 
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I have done both and, probably counter to most peoples experiences, I had better luck custom building than I did simply purchasing an already built new home.

The key to all of this was the builder in both cases. The guy I had custom build cared, did/assured really good work, and wasn't concerned about nickle and diming me for ever little variance. The other guy was only interested in moving the house from his ledger sheet to mine. He promised a bunch of punch list items to be corrected and only dealt with a few of them. Also, make sure that the builder you select is calling the shots and not his realtor. The guy I had do the custom build was very helpful and didn't want to cut corners. However, the realtor he/we worked with was constantly wanting to override him, nickle & dime me, and cut corners. Luckily, the buck seemed to stop with my builder and not the realtor. One more piece of advice; Don't close on the house until you're completely satisfied and happy. Assume that once you sign that piece of paper that you will never see that builder or his subs again. This may be obvious to most but a guy that starts out like your best buddy can easily transform into the spawn of satan.

 
My brother had his house built. It was a nightmare to go through, the builder will tell you anything just to get you off the phone. He would say "I will be there tomorrow at 8", and not show etc. When you buy new, or build, you expect things to be perfect when you move in, this will not be the case. For my brother the second floor bathtub didn't have a strap to hold the drain pipe. Contractor missed it, inspector missed it, and it tore free, causing tons of water damage on the main floor and the basement. He had issues with the roof not being installed correctly, again more damage inside the home. The concrete was not poured properly in the drive and front stoop, now it is cracking and crazing. The entire front stoop will need to be replaced. Just so you know the company who built his home is considered the best in central Nebraska, and they had a budget of around 300k. Money doesn't mean quality. His home is now 6-7 years old, and will more than likely need a new deck in the next 2-3 years, on top of the 20k in concrete work.

I bought a 60% finished home. The floor plan was set, lay out of the kitchen, most flooring and major fixtures in the house were done (ie fireplace type and location, heating/AC installed, water heater type). I got to pick most of the colors, carpet, fixtures in the bathroom, and I had the basement finished before I moved in, in fact that decision was the best choice I made. I kept track of things that were wrong, and used a system of placing post its on things that were wrong, and writing it in a notebook. One thing I didn't do was stick to my guns on a few things. Although in hind site that may of been for the best, if my builder didn't want to do something he did a bad job when he did it. Currently my front porch will need to be mud jacked as it has subsided. I have doors in my basement that will no longer close due to settling (to be fair this is normal to an extent, mine is just inside the "normal" category), various cracks, dents and protrusions around the house because he used an older style of building that nails everything together, instead of allowing walls, floor joists, and roof supports to "float" independent of each other. None of that can be caught unless you are right there when they are building, and you know what to look for (it shouldn't matter but what he did is the easy way not the quality way, a truly good builder will do it right regardless if it's easy or not).

I had a one year warranty, I would only call him when I had 5-10 things to fix. I had him out at one month, and he was happy to do so, around three months, then six then right around the one year point. By six months he has being bitchy and not doing a good job fixing things. I have a light switch that controls nothing (another tip, make sure your switches do things!) and he was to lazy to cal the electrician, when I called I got no reply. All of this to say, I wold not build again, unless it was from a VERY and I mean VERY regarded builder who will stand behind his work and the work of his subs, certain things like concrete really should get a multiple year warranty. As others have said, talk to previous clients, etc. No amount of study will prove you wil get a quality home. My brothers builder had great references, and not just ones provided from him, but also when they asked around, people were overweeningly positive.

On the flip side my folks built once in the 70's, and since then, bought existing homes. The nice thing with existing is most of the big things are out of the way, more than likely the foundation wont settle, water issues should of been solved, some issues you may have are old furnace, interiors you dont like (WALLPAPER!), if the home is older the rooms might be very small, or set up in odd dimensions. Used homes more than likely will need updating, that can run the range of light fixtures (pretty easy to do) to new flooring (not so much), and windows (ahhh!), or god forbid siding.

One other thing that a lot of people dont take into account is generally a new home will not have mature landscaping, it might not seem like a big deal, but my house is in a new development in South Lincoln and my deck is unusable a lot of days (I have a walk out so my deck is 12 feet in the air), large mature trees would help control the wind, but I am 10 years away from that.

Last thing, have you lived in or owned a house before, I know it sounds stupid, but I went from living in a rented townhouse, to this place. With in 3 months I had a list of things I wish I had (from easy things like light switches/plug ins just inside the garage door) to wanting entire rooms set up differently. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I should of been better prepared. If you choose to build, start looking at homes you like, and try to notice the small things that make life easier, then WRITE IT DOWN, ask friends that have homes they like, what little things they added or still wish they had.

 
we are in lot selection phase and we have narrowed our choice of builders down to two. Our preferred builder cautioned me to get your required lot elevation required by either the city or county. Of course we live in south louisiana and some of the lots are in flood zones, but you should know how much dirt work is required pre-building as dirt work can add up in a hurry.

 
I want to design my own home. Who can I hire to draw up the plans? I have done extensive research and I know exactly what I want and I can't find anything similar online.

 
krc1995 said:
I want to design my own home. Who can I hire to draw up the plans? I have done extensive research and I know exactly what I want and I can't find anything similar online.
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I would check with your two builders first. Some builders will do their own design. Worst case they will be able to give you a ballpark figure and a phone number for someone in the area.

 
So would that be a draftsman or an architect? Any ballpark on how much custom plans might cost?

 
krc1995 said:
So would that be a draftsman or an architect? Any ballpark on how much custom plans might cost?
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Both an architect and a draftsman, potentially.

I have no idea on a ballpark . . . totally dependent on complexity, size, local building codes, etc. Also, it will be much cheaper if an off the shelf design can be adapted to your needs.

 
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