Building Your Own Home?
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
I haven't done it, but a friend has. He did it in stages. The first stage built a two-car garage/shop area, with a second floor office space. He did most of the construction himself, with the help of friends (including me). The garage took a couple years to build. Stage two built the actual house. A fair amount of this work was done by a contractor, leaving smaller detail stuff for himself and friends. Basic construction on the house went fairly quickly (about a year), but he spent two or three years finishing things after they moved in. Neither of these were small projects. My friend threw a party for his volunteer crew after the garage was completed, where he served lobster and steak, along with suitable wines and beer. I asked him later about the expense for the party (I guessed $50-$75 a head), and he said the volunteer crew saved him $10,000 in construction costs, so the party was a cheap thank you :cool:. By the way, I thought he was certifiably insane the whole time. It takes an incredible amount of motivation and patience to do this, not to mention skill. While you can save money building it yourself, you can also lose money if you make poor choices and have to redo work.
Software Zen:
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The wife and I... 1. Found a house plan we liked (with a couple minor tweaks). 2. Hired a contractor to build it. (It wasn't part of some cookie-cutter development) 3. Bought some land to build it on. 4. Applied for and received a bridge loan for construction. 5. Made frequent inspections during construction. 6. Picked out all electrical / plumbing / HVAC fixtures as well as flooring, cabinets, etc... Approx. 5 months later we moved in. BTW - All this took place over 10+ years ago. As for cost... there are too many variables to answer that.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
Mike Mullikin wrote:
6. Picked out all electrical / plumbing / HVAC fixtures as well as flooring, cabinets, etc...
Minus the ones I picked out. ;P
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Approx. 5 months later we moved in.
Probably would have been a little faster if the tornado hadn't knocked it down mid-construction...
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
Done it twice now..... Both times in a subdivision where the builder was constructing the homes in the subdivision. One thing about the homes built this way is that generally you won't have to worry about stuff breaking and having to pay for it yourself. At least in our case that was true. Both homes had a 1 year warranty. That said, you will also get done and say, "I wish we would have....". All in all though, once it is done, it is nice to have a brand new home. As a piece of advice, string ethernet everywhere you can especially before the walls are up, because it is a lot cheaper to do it then. I put CAT5 in our house 9 years ago, and it has served me well....
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The wife and I... 1. Found a house plan we liked (with a couple minor tweaks). 2. Hired a contractor to build it. (It wasn't part of some cookie-cutter development) 3. Bought some land to build it on. 4. Applied for and received a bridge loan for construction. 5. Made frequent inspections during construction. 6. Picked out all electrical / plumbing / HVAC fixtures as well as flooring, cabinets, etc... Approx. 5 months later we moved in. BTW - All this took place over 10+ years ago. As for cost... there are too many variables to answer that.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
Mike Mullikin wrote:
As for cost... there are too many variables to answer that
Let me put it this way. I'm hoping to someday retire to a place that has homes that start around $2,000,000 (and those are the cheap ones... say, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1,500 square feet). I'm thinking if I buy the land, maybe building the home would be cheaper (a 50% reduction from $2,000,000 would be quite nice).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Applied for and received a bridge loan for construction
You and your wife are trolls? :confused: Kidding :) (though I don't know what a bridge loan really is).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Approx. 5 months later we moved in BTW - All this took place over 10+ years ago.
Congrats. :thumbsup:
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
6. Picked out all electrical / plumbing / HVAC fixtures as well as flooring, cabinets, etc...
Minus the ones I picked out. ;P
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Approx. 5 months later we moved in.
Probably would have been a little faster if the tornado hadn't knocked it down mid-construction...
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
Colin Mullikin wrote:
Minus the ones I picked out.
You are Mike's wife? :confused:
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Two weeks ago we moved into a house we had built. We found a company that builds homes and picked one of their floor plans. It was on land we bought a couple of years ago. There are a lot more costs and a lot more things you have to think about. You have to pick out the paint colors, carpet types, cabinets, door knob types, etc, etc. If you buy land that is not part of a subdivision you'll have to get involved with getting water, electric, gas, etc, setup and depending on where the land is at, than can cost a lot. We got a well and a septic because to hook up to the nearest water and sewer would have cost a lot more. The more cash you have the better because costs keep coming up. We just found out a month ago we'll need to put a water filter on our well and that alone is $1,500. That being said, if you can do it, do it. It's worth it.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
ryanb31 wrote:
a water filter on our well and that alone is $1,500
I could probably feel comfortable paying at least $500,000 someday for a home, if I could take out a loan. Not sure if that's possible when building a home... if not, might have to take that down to $200,000 or so.
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ryanb31 wrote:
a water filter on our well and that alone is $1,500
I could probably feel comfortable paying at least $500,000 someday for a home, if I could take out a loan. Not sure if that's possible when building a home... if not, might have to take that down to $200,000 or so.
At least in my area, banks want 20% down either in the form of cash or in the form of the land already being paid for. Of course it all depends on how the appraisal comes back as to what 80% ends up being.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
As for cost... there are too many variables to answer that
Let me put it this way. I'm hoping to someday retire to a place that has homes that start around $2,000,000 (and those are the cheap ones... say, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1,500 square feet). I'm thinking if I buy the land, maybe building the home would be cheaper (a 50% reduction from $2,000,000 would be quite nice).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Applied for and received a bridge loan for construction
You and your wife are trolls? :confused: Kidding :) (though I don't know what a bridge loan really is).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Approx. 5 months later we moved in BTW - All this took place over 10+ years ago.
Congrats. :thumbsup:
AspDotNetDev wrote:
start around $2,000,000 (and those are the cheap ones... say, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1,500 square feet)
:wtf: :confused: :wtf: :confused: :wtf: :confused: :wtf: :confused: :wtf: Really? Two million dollars for a 2 bed, 2 bath, 1500 ft2 home? Is it made of gold? My house is 3 bed, 4 bath, 1800 ft2 with a full basement on a 1/2 acre lot and I had it built for less than 1/10th of that. BTW - A bridge loan is a term used for the construction loan you get while still paying the mortgage on your first home. Usually you pay only the interest of the amount actually dispersed to the builder on any given month.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
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Colin Mullikin wrote:
Minus the ones I picked out.
You are Mike's wife? :confused:
AspDotNetDev wrote:
You are Mike's wife son
:laugh: :thumbsup:
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
I've bought new homes where you pick from a set of plans, and choose your colors, carpets, cabinets, etc. I've also had an architect draw custom plans, contracted a builder, and participated in some of the easier parts of construction. Contracting took a lot more work, but the cost wasn't much different. However, it's hard to find a builder to do custom homes if the price isn't significantly above the mid range of local home prices.
SS => Qualified in Submarines
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
As for cost... there are too many variables to answer that
Let me put it this way. I'm hoping to someday retire to a place that has homes that start around $2,000,000 (and those are the cheap ones... say, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1,500 square feet). I'm thinking if I buy the land, maybe building the home would be cheaper (a 50% reduction from $2,000,000 would be quite nice).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Applied for and received a bridge loan for construction
You and your wife are trolls? :confused: Kidding :) (though I don't know what a bridge loan really is).
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Approx. 5 months later we moved in BTW - All this took place over 10+ years ago.
Congrats. :thumbsup:
$1333 sq/ft ? that's about 10x what we just paid. i honestly can't see how we could've built the house we just built for $2M. we could have doubled the cost, maybe, by getting top-end everything. but frankly, if we had that money, we would've just bought a bigger lot. is this in a place where the land is really expensive? (on the coast, mid-town Manhattan?)
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
I bought a used house myself. But I have some friends that have built their own homes. And general consensus is that if you want to plan the house yourself you should definitely get an architect to do the floor plan and drawings for you. It's a small cost in the total, and it will probably save you a lot of money or irritation in the end.
"The ones who care enough to do it right care too much to compromise." Matthew Faithfull
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
I bought a house in poor condition; essentially the outside walls and roof were okay; the rest was up for grabs. We drew out how we wanted the house to look and got a surveyor friend to draw up some plans and then hired a contractor to do the work. Took about 6 months. On reflection it might have been cheaper to have knocked it down and started again. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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AspDotNetDev wrote:
You are Mike's wife son
:laugh: :thumbsup:
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
Both!? :omg:
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I hope to do so someday, and I'm curious who among you have already done so. Also, what level of involvement did you have? Did you design it with a computer, lay the foundation yourself, paint it yourself, and so on? Or did you hire a bunch of people and give an architect ideas for what you wanted? And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
Technically, there is no difference in the contractors that a builder would hire vs. the ones you would hire. They could even be the same ones. It's just a matter of you knowing the overall schedule so that you have the next one lined up when the current one is finishing up.
AspDotNetDev wrote:
And how does the cost compare to buying a house that is already built?
It's been many years since I crunched the numbers, but on a roughly $200k home, about $40k of that went to the builder (i.e., you). That's a nice but of equity to have from the get-go.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
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$1333 sq/ft ? that's about 10x what we just paid. i honestly can't see how we could've built the house we just built for $2M. we could have doubled the cost, maybe, by getting top-end everything. but frankly, if we had that money, we would've just bought a bigger lot. is this in a place where the land is really expensive? (on the coast, mid-town Manhattan?)
Yes, one of the most expensive places I've seen.
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Yes, one of the most expensive places I've seen.
save $1.5M and build somewhere reasonable. you could buy a personal jet plane to shuttle you back and forth to the expensive place, if you need to be there often.
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I bought a used house myself. But I have some friends that have built their own homes. And general consensus is that if you want to plan the house yourself you should definitely get an architect to do the floor plan and drawings for you. It's a small cost in the total, and it will probably save you a lot of money or irritation in the end.
"The ones who care enough to do it right care too much to compromise." Matthew Faithfull
I'm considering going into architecture someday, before I ever draw up any plans for a home. If I ever do build my own house, it is going to have some super specific customizations.
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save $1.5M and build somewhere reasonable. you could buy a personal jet plane to shuttle you back and forth to the expensive place, if you need to be there often.
Location, location, location. :)