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Hi, as alot of you guys know we’ve been house searching and now we’ve had 3 houses snatched out from under us by other buyers… 😥 We’re considering trying to build a home after purchasing some land now, has anyone else done this? I’d be grateful for any advice on any aspect of having a home built and things to look for in any part of this endeavor. 😀 THanks!
The best advice I can give you is, research! Check out contractors get reffs talk to other people that have built homes in your area. You will need someone you can trust.
thanks! I hope something works out…bleh, it’f frustrating trying to find a buyer for our current house…that’s been our biggest problem. Every time we find a house that we like they keep getting snatched up while our house stays on the market…We thought we might just build once this place sells so we don’t have to worry as much about ending up somewhere that won’t work out…It’s really hard finding a five-bedroom with a workshop area that’s in our price range…and each time one goes up on market someone else grabs it quick (I can’t really blame them either).
I agree with wolflodge — definitely do a lot of research! I haven’t had a house built myself, but I’ve looked into this kind of thing a little bit because I’ve been thinking of getting some remodeling done. One of the basic things that I’ve found out is that there are 3 basic ways you can get a house built — hire a design/build firm, get plans drawn by an architect and hire a general contractor, or get plans drawn by an architect and hire individual contractors and coordinate/supervise all of the work yourself. The first option is usually the most expensive but requires the least amount of your own time, since they take care of everything. The last option will take a lot of your own time and you need to either be knowledgeable about house building or willing to do a lot of research. But for all of the options, its essential to hire someone who’s proven and trustworthy to avoid a lot of headaches.
By the way, there are various websites that offer pre-drawn architectural plans. I’m not sure how good those plans are, but its helpful to take a look at those to get an idea of the different kinds of features/floor plans/etc. which are posssible.
Oh yeah, do your reasearch and don’t rush into it! My sister and brother-in-law built a house last year, though he’s a house framer and they bought into a developers “community”. They still had issues. depending on what construction starts in your area are like, it could be awhile before they can start. Also, it’s a good idea to plan for the completion to be late. Of all the people I know who’ve built houses, they are never ready on time. Have a back up plan for when this happens. Also, don’t let your developer bully you into things you don’t really want. 😀
Good luck!! I hope things work out for you!!
purplecat wrote:thanks! I hope something works out…bleh, it’f frustrating trying to find a buyer for our current house…that’s been our biggest problem. Every time we find a house that we like they keep getting snatched up while our house stays on the market…We thought we might just build once this place sells so we don’t have to worry as much about ending up somewhere that won’t work out…It’s really hard finding a five-bedroom with a workshop area that’s in our price range…and each time one goes up on market someone else grabs it quick (I can’t really blame them either).
I know how that is. My mom is trying to sell her condo and it has been on the market for 1-2 months now. Of course she is selling by owner and not agent. I have heard that the market is slow tho. My one co-worker sold her house within a week, so I would say do lots of avertising and if you have a agent…make sure they are doing their job.
dragonessjade wrote:I know how that is. My mom is trying to sell her condo and it has been on the market for 1-2 months now. Of course she is selling by owner and not agent. I have heard that the market is slow tho. My one co-worker sold her house within a week, so I would say do lots of avertising and if you have a agent…make sure they are doing their job.
It’s definately important to have an agent whose doing their job trying to sell your house. When my parents moved in 1994 they gave the job of selling the house to a friend from church. He did a piss-poor job of selling it (never showed it to anybody) and they eventually had to take the job to someone else. I think it ended up taking 8 or 9 months to sell the house, during which there was a hurricane that made it far enough inland to reach Montgomery, AL, and cause minor damages that had to be repaired.
pegasi1978 wrote:dragonessjade wrote:I know how that is. My mom is trying to sell her condo and it has been on the market for 1-2 months now. Of course she is selling by owner and not agent. I have heard that the market is slow tho. My one co-worker sold her house within a week, so I would say do lots of avertising and if you have a agent…make sure they are doing their job.
It’s definately important to have an agent whose doing their job trying to sell your house. When my parents moved in 1994 they gave the job of selling the house to a friend from church. He did a piss-poor job of selling it (never showed it to anybody) and they eventually had to take the job to someone else. I think it ended up taking 8 or 9 months to sell the house, during which there was a hurricane that made it far enough inland to reach Montgomery, AL, and cause minor damages that had to be repaired.
That is horrible, I hope they didn’t have to pay him anything. I hope it doesn’t take my mom that long because she is buying a house and would need the money for it.Mom and Dad built our first home in California, but that was 20 years ago and things have changed since then. Still, all the best, purplecat!
I agree with everyone about the whole do your research thing… Whatever you don’t think that you, family and friends can do it… maybe you can but chances are you will figure you can get it done in a year and it like take 2 or 3… my dad is a carpenter and has other carpenter friends, and we built one of our house, cabin, and HUGE barn in 2 years… just know this, it will probably cost more then you expect and take longer then you thought, but it is the best way to go if you need a lot of room or need certian aspects… like 5 bedrooms and a shop… also if you can find land where you can do a walkout basement I find that best for a shop area.. may I ask why you need 5 bedrooms?
tc_cat333 wrote:I agree with everyone about the whole do your research thing… Whatever you don’t think that you, family and friends can do it… maybe you can but chances are you will figure you can get it done in a year and it like take 2 or 3… my dad is a carpenter and has other carpenter friends, and we built one of our house, cabin, and HUGE barn in 2 years… just know this, it will probably cost more then you expect and take longer then you thought, but it is the best way to go if you need a lot of room or need certian aspects… like 5 bedrooms and a shop… also if you can find land where you can do a walkout basement I find that best for a shop area.. may I ask why you need 5 bedrooms?
yeah, we’ve got 3 kids plus I’d like to foster parent. I also wouldn’t mind having one more kid someday in the far future. Where I was so alone growing up in an abusive family and left, I always wanted a real family of my own. I have no relations of my own that have any interest in me and my husband’s family has never liked me (they don’t visit much either). My two girls will probably continue sharing a room (that’s one), then my son will need his own room (that’s two), then there’s me and my husband (three) and a room for a foster kid (four) and one more room in case one of the girls ends up needing her own room or perhaps another baby…(five). We can afford that much house, it’s just hard FINDING one without it being designed all mansionish—which I don’t like, plus it raises the price hideously. I have a home designed which I’d like to build, I had one contractor say it was a good design and we could call him for a quote when we were closer to ready to build. I talked to the mortgage company and he says we can do this with no trouble but we need to plan carefully before starting. I hope this goes well…I’m really excited! Right now the plan is to get quotes and refine my plans into square footage and make sure we have all the details lined out, hopefully we’ll start building in the spring…We may rent this house out, that’ll take some more thought though…
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