Considering to build instead of buying.

[Fred W]

I have owned 4 homes in my life, but (helped) to build only one. It wasn't one of mine.

When my folks semi-retired from Taxachusetts to live in SW Maine, they bought a 40 acre unimproved lot in the woods. We moved from our suburban Boston tract house to 200 year old farmhouse rental while we built their dream home just down the road. It was a good size White Cedar log cabin and we built a huge post and beam gambrel barn style outbuilding for my Dad to relocate his (now 1 man) woodworking business into.

What made the project enjoyable was that we worked on it together. Me, my younger brother when he wasn't in school, my Dad, a friend of his who happened to be between jobs, and even my Mom had a hand in it. And we hired in a couple of local 20 year old locals with some building experience for the 2 jobs (house and barn) as slave labor.

He had electricians, plumbers and foundation guys contracted for all of those jobs, and the inspectors up in in Maine weren't nearly as picky as the butt heads to the south are, so long as you are "regular folks" and not some arrogant city know-it-alls.

This was back in 1976. My folks lived in that house for 20 something years and loved every minute of it. It gave me great pride to know that I had helped them in achieving their dream of country living, even in a small way. If I could figure a way to finagle it I would follow their footsteps in a second. But I can't. Not with what I do for a living.

My advice is not to build this time. As others have said it's just your first home.

The one that you want to be building is the last one...

 

[Draggon Rider]

My brother decided to build his house 22 years ago, he just started phase two.

He wanted to build a big house so his family would have plenty of room, the house is part is finished.

The Kids are grown and gone, and he started phase two which is adding a garage.

I use to walk up to his house thinking "you maybe a red neck if your house you're living in

still has the power connected to the contruction Utility pole". :lol:

So I'm at a juncture where I'm considering buying a home and nabbing the $8k tax credit, or continuing to rent cheaply and save money in order to build a home in about 2 years. I'm fully aware there are a lot more headaches involved with building, and a lot more homework. But I sense the reward could be more than worth it. Anyone here been through the process and can offer wisdom or help narrow down the plethora of web sites? Thanks.

 

[Patriot]

I'm just fixing the damage from a broken drain pipe now and previously had claims and damage from the local May '95 flood and Hurricane Katrina in Aug/Sept '05.

That was trying enough on the marriage with wants, desires, have to have, and $$$ available and crystal ball suprises.

I don't believe I'd jeopardize the marriage with the stress of building.

And with lotsa pets and teen kids, I know I wouldn't do it with dependents around.

 

[dwhartwell]

My ex and I built our 1st home, and did the majority of the construction and finishing ourselves. We saved a TON of money doing it, and it was very satifying in the end. We were young, had no kids and could spend all our free time on the project without much impact to the rest of our lives. A short time blip lost.Would I do it with young kids? NEVER. Would I do it now that my kids are late teens? Probably not....

I could not give it the time necessary in order to reap the cost benefits, so....no net gain for me.

Do I plan eventually to have one more custom built home before I die? Yep.....

I want what "I" want, just once in my life, just to say I had it...*L*. NO compromise, just comfort. I wouldn't be as able to be as hands on this time around, but with a good trustworthy contractor I would have zero hesitation.

Yep, there have been many divorces following building a custom home. Much stress is involved. Me? I've built 2. Was the GC on the first along with a ton of sweat equity. Learned a good lesson on that and hired a GC on the 2'nd with me doing less work.

SPEC EVERYTHING.... For example, for plumbing spec the exact brand and model number of each one. Sinks, toilets, faucets, etc.

Spec plywood or OSB board. Spec the counter tops, kitchen/bath cabinates, windows, heating system, interior doors, exterior doors, garage doors, garage openers, all flooring materials including if carpeting the exact padding used. Spec the type of light switches as there are cheap and better quality switches. You will end up with a massive list. DO NOT SKIMP ON WINDOWS, by brands like Anderson and simply pay the bucks. Spec roofing materials, spec how much ice and water dam shield must be used. Unless you have no choice, stay away from skylights. They all to often leak. The goal is to level the playing field so that when you get a bid, all bidders are working from the same list. This way you get the best price and don't get screwed later by materials that are inferior. Take interior doors for instance. There are wooden panel doors that can be stained, masonite panel doors that are pain only. Then there are hollow core doors (real cheap and light) and solid core doors. Figure out what you want and spec it.

 

[vabrzn]

I built a Lincoln Logs home back in 1990. I hired various contractors to do such as putting the roof on, etc. It was a good experience and I'm glad i did it. I sold seven years later after getting a job promotion.

Some thoughts: In my current position I don't think I would have time to do it. If you have regular work hours and most weekends off go for it. Get numerous references for sub contractors. Don't pay for anything other than materials up front. Have a contract with each sub contractor that has a penalty for late work and a bonus for work completed ahead of schedule. Spec every thing out in detail. The Lincoln Log house came with a manual which was very detailed in regard to specs and I used those specs for my contracts. For any subcontracted work, meet with the contractor daily and go ove the work they have done; complement the good and require the bad to be redone ,referencing your specs.

It was fun to do and the house can be modified to your individual needs. For instance I left enough room on each side of the toilets to be able to get a vacum cleaner down both sides

Have 10 inches of snow on the ground this morning, so out to the garage to strip the FJR down for maintenance!

 

[zzzzip]

Sure, go ahead and test the strength of your marriage by building.

My wife, who is off the farm, had no desire to leave the 2 story big porched 1918 house we had in a small town for the place I wanted to build in the woods outside town. She took very little interest in the plans or construction, and didn't even know there was a second sink in one of the master bedroom closet/dressing room, until construction was almost complete.

Now you can't drag her away from the place, and after 15 years she still comments how she loves it every once in a while.

Actually it wasn't much stress on the marriage (other than all the nights and days off I put into the sweat equity-- I suspect she was glad I wasn't under foot), but I know of several who got divorced shortly after the new house was built.

I think everybody should try it if they are interested. If you do a lot yourself, you can learn a lot, or at least be able to spot good construction from bad when you look for another place someday.

B)

 

[sonicspeed]

if ya decide to build in west tenn. just call me. i am a licensed contractor and with our new store you have a wonderful place to pick out all of your supplies

and here is our website

https://www.coleshomesolutions.com/

yes i am proud of my new store :thumbsupsmileyanim:

 

[High Desert Rat]

Having work the LA County Assessor's Office in the rural part of Los Angeles County (yes there are places in the LA area where people are not growded together) I have seen many owner built homes that have failed. Some of my obsevations are: A divorce rate of owner builders, under estimating the true costs of construction, over estimating of one's abilities leading multiyear projects, lost of friends and family (burned out cheap labor),and lost opportunity costs. The successful home projects were well capitalized, well planned, understood that using certain tradesmen can be cheaper (and almost always quicker with better results), and took less than a year to complete. Additionally consider building your own should be a fulltime job during construction. By building your home you might save money on taxes but most taxes are based on market value, not costs of construction. Homebuilding can be like practicing medicine. A person may read the vast materials found in the world and may perform a few common low risk procedures yet I doubt most people would be willing to perform a heart opperation after reading about it and watching few programs on the Discovery Channel. If you care for your family and want to remain economically viable build bookcases and shed in the backyard. If you want a divorce and lose half your assets build a house.