Building A House

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

DH and I have been looking for a new/bigger house for over a year now and aren't finding what we want. So now we're entertaining the idea of building a custom home.

Who has built a home (whether in a planned community or custom)? What tips/advice would you give?

What kind of experience did you have? Would you do it again?

How long did the process take?

[mickeys_princess_mom]

DH and I have been looking for a new/bigger house for over a year now and aren't finding what we want. So now we're entertaining the idea of building a custom home.

Who has built a home (whether in a planned community or custom)? What tips/advice would you give?

What kind of experience did you have? Would you do it again?

How long did the process take?

Yes, I would do it again--I'm dying to!
Do you and DH have the same tastes? (We do not, lol). Think way ahead to the things that are important to each of you and be prepared to compromise---lots!

Think ahead also to what your needs will be later in life, if you plan to stay awhile. For example, my son was four when we built this house, so it is definitely not 'infant/toddler-friendly', which makes for challenges w my grandprincess. Stairs? Wish we hadn't...

Be careful about the people you hire. My DH was in the construction business, so we were fortunate that he knew good people, and we had no problems with workmanship. Others I know have not been so lucky. Find someone to run the job for you whom you can trust.

You'll have many decisions ahead of you. I'm about to start a binder of ideas I like, with high hopes that one day I'll get to use them. It'll be easier if I've done the agonizing and perusing ahead of time!

Absolutely do it! Good luck!

[buzznwoodysmom]

Good luck to you!

We had plans to build a custom home on a lot we purchased in a new subdivision in the town we were living in. Our bid came out way over our set budget and we also had second thoughts about the location of the subdivision.

Long story short, we started looking and found a home that met most of our wants/needs. The home was in a great location, safe neighborhood with young families like ourself, so we ended up buying instead of building. The home we bought was only 3 years old, so it was fairly new and in excellent condition, but I did have tiny regrets of not being able to build what I wanted. We have been slowly redoing one room at a time to make the house more ours. We couldn't be happier with our decision.

It's a huge decision so my best advice is to take your time. We are happy with our purchase, but we still have that lot in the other subdivision that we've been unable to sell. We also wasted a lot of money on custom house plans. Live and learn! LOL.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

And it took us about four months.

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

Thanks for your comments, ladies!

DH and I do have similar tastes so we're good there. Anytime I see a picture online I like or am looking at houses online, I save the picture on my computer. So I do have an inspiration collage going! DH and I are decisive people. We're particular, not picky, but basically we know what we like and what we don't like.

We want to start a family in the near future, so yes, we will have young kids in this house and do plan to live in our next house a long time - - - probably till said future kids graduate high school!

The whole "kid" issue has got me thinking that I would prefer to have all of the bedrooms on the second floor, as opposed to the master suite being on the first floor. I don't want to be running up and down the stairs for late night feedings or to fight monsters in a closet!

We also want an open kitchen and family room. If I'm in the kitchen preparing something, and my little ones are in the family room, I want to be able to keep an eye on them. Additionally, open kitchens and family rooms are great for entertaining.

I have researched some available lots and priced them; now we would just need to meet with a builder to see how much they house we would want to build would cost! That's where we're a little lost. We have a decent budget but don't want to be blindsided by costs either.

I really love the idea of building a home and having it look the way we want and having everything just so!

[buzznwoodysmom]

I really love the idea of building a home and having it look the way we want and having everything just so!

Here is another little tip my mother in law once told me. No matter what you think you want now, or how much planning goes into building a house, there will always be something you'll want to change/wish you did different down the road. My MIL and FIL built several houses when their children were young. MIL said everytime she thought she had it "just right" a few years later there was something she wished she'd done different or could change. As your family grows your wants/needs will change. Not trying to discourage at all. Just passing on advise my in laws gave us that I thought were great points.

Another tip I've heard from a home designer/decorator. Never plan your house around babies and toddlers. They are only babies/toddlers for a very short period of time.

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

@Denise: Great advice!!!

[AgentC]

We built our house on a lot we purchased. We are not in a planned community.

I would not consider my house custom. We did not meet with an architect and have plans drawn. In my area building is very big. We visited a large number of builders and toured their models. We narrowed it down to the models we liked best and then had some customization done.

My first advice is you must have a trustworthy contractor and be comfortable with the contractor. We had good luck with ours but there were many people in our area who signed up with builders that either went bankrupt or spent the funds without building.

I also agree with buzznwoodsmom that there will be things that you aren't happy with later be it 2 days after you close or 5 years. We built a 3 bedroom house not planning on having children. Now I have 2 and really wish I had built a 4 bedroom.

My last advice is probably going to sound contradictory. First, watch your budget carefully. Things like lot grading, tree removal, landscaping and more add up fast and you can quickly be above where you thought.

Second, don't cut out the things you really want. For some reason we decided we were getting too high and cut out both the jacuzzi we were going to have by our pool and the jetted tub. Over the course of our mortgage, those two items would have cost me about $3 additional dollars a month and they are way more effort to put in now.

Our house took about 7 months. We used a small local builder which did add some time on.

I would really consider building again. It was a lot of work but very satisfying.

[dnickels]

While I haven't built a house I would keep in mind two things that people almost always throw out there when discussing a house they've had built.

The final house almost never....
-comes in under budget
-gets finished early (or on time).

So if your budget is 200k don't plan on spending 200k, you'll probably overshoot that number. 10-20% over does not appear to be uncommon. When you talk to people and read about these things something extra always seems to come up, even for those who think they have things pretty well settled before breaking ground.
If you plan to move in by a particular month of a particular year, make sure you're not going to be between houses with nowhere to go if it's not done. If something does come up (supply shortage, manpower shortage), I'd rather have my builder finish it up correctly than rushing to finish it up because I need to move in by a certain date.

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

More great advice, yay!!! I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. Keep them coming...

One of my husband's (and my) concerns is that a builder will go bankrupt in the middle of the process. That's on our "con" list anyways (as opposed to buying an existing house). We have started looking at builders and getting recommendations people we know. We are obviously doing our homework before we even meet with anyone about this process.

My husband is also concerned with conceptualizing a house verses being able to tour an existing house. You can't walk through a blue print. I did remind DH that we've been in a lot of houses and so we sort of know what we like and what we don't. I can appreciate what he is saying though. Although you can tour similar homes that that particular builder has built to get an idea of what our home would look like upon completion. I guess he is a little afraid that we design a house and then when it's finished he won't like it.

A little more about us and our wants... we want a traditional 4-5 bedroom home with around 4,000-5,000 square feet. Plenty of room to grow! I completely agree on not skimping on the amenities we really want. Like you said, 2 years from now we would have wished we would have gone with that great master bath or built ins. And you're right, it doesn't really do much to your mortgage every month. We have been saving for a long time and will try and plan for the unexpected or splurges. I watch a ton of HGTV and so I know there are always surprises that come with a house (i.e. Property Brothers - happens every episode).

In terms of time, we really don't have a timeline. Although we want to start a family and I would like to be in a new home by then, we could stay in our current house if need be. We plan to move into a new home before even putting our current house on the market, so we won't end up homeless, hehe. So I guess you could say time is on our side. I initially was thinking it would take about 9 months to a year to build a house. It sounds like that is pretty realistic.

[WRWDisney]

Couple of thoughts. You are talking about quite a large home. Our house is a 5 bedroom, 3 full bath house is 3,000 sq. ft. 4,000-5,000 is large. With that, comes a large cost. Excluding land, you are looking at at least $100 sq. ft. (The National Association of Home Builders in their recent report shows the current average cost to build a house is $79.67 per sq. ft., excluding land, builder profit - 12.5% and overhead - 12.5%, financing costs, and marketing and sales costs-not really relevant on a custom home build). So, you are easily looking at $500,000 or more when you figure in land. If you can afford that before kids (and better yet, after , more power to you).

One thing that is hard to wrap your head around, is that your builder will give you allowances for everything. No matter what you tell them when they work up your numbers, they tend to run low, thus, you run into overages. Also, if you don't know what a change order is, learn before you do anything and try to avoid them at all costs (by planning, not by obstinately refusing one when it would really be in your best interest).

This is not to discourage you, but to encourage you to continue to do your homework. Good luck

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

Great info, WRWDisney! In terms of $$$ per square foot, I was also finding the average to be $100. I'm glad to be finding consistent info.

[SBETigg]

You've gotten some great advice. Especially on cost management. We considered building but some friends of ours went way overbudget and had to sell their house almost as soon as they built it and it scared us off. It was mostly for little things adding up. The contractor quoted them prices with basic fixtures, countertops, flooring. They wanted the high end- more expensive fixtures, granite/marble countertops, hardwood floors vs laminates or carpeting-- their costs quickly skyrocketed out of control. I think good planning can make that a non-issue, so we shouldn't have been scared but... we found something we loved anyway, built in 78 (much older than we planned on buying, but perfect for us).

Another thing to consider. New parents want to be close to kids. You will probably want their bedrooms close for years. But a first floor master would be great in your future, when the kids are teens. In a house the size you're planning on constructing, maybe not a bad idea to have a space on a separate floor from the kids that can become a future master bedroom, once they're more grown and you all actually want some space from each other. Or to just make sure there's enough space separating your bedrooms. Maybe a bedroom close to your master that can be a kids room when they are young but convert to an office and move the kid's room down the hall when they're older. Something to think about-- family needs change so fast. If it's your forever home, make sure to plan in some potential adaptability.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

Another tip I've heard from a home designer/decorator. Never plan your house around babies and toddlers. They are only babies/toddlers for a very short period of time.

I do understand this theory, but things like trim w sharp edges, hard tile floors, giant stone hearth, stairs w no railing, kids' bedrooms upstairs, are things I will do differently in my next home, just to make the place a little safer, and give me peace of mind.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

We plan to move into a new home before even putting our current house on the market, so we won't end up homeless, hehe. So I guess you could say time is on our side.

You're getting lots of good advice in this thread!! Yes, that can be an issue. Sometimes people say there's no rush to move out, then change their mind! Moved a completely decorated Christmas tree one time--that was an adventure!

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

More great comments and things to consider... Thank you all so much!

[2Epcot]

The home we are in now was already built, but growing up, my parents had 3 homes built. My mom got very good at figuring out what she wanted, and I think with each home the results turned out better.

You've already got a lot of good advice. I would add don't forget the little things that you might want to add in the future. Anything in the walls or ceilings, get that wiring done from the start.

My mom was big on having ceiling lights/fans in all the rooms. Even though in the beginning she didn't have the fans, she made sure each room was wired for a ceiling light. That is one of those things many new home don't even automatically do these days.

Pre-wire for vaccums, security, sound systems, flat screens, internet if these are things you want, even it it is something you may not add till later down the road.

I forgot how many rooms total you wanted, but one good thing to think about, especially for a two story home is to have at least one bedroom, and full bath on the first floor. Not necessarily the master, but at least one room.

This come in handy for two reasons. What is someone gets hurt and can't climb stairs for a while. Also, it is great when you have guests, it kind of gives you more privacy for both you, and your guests.

I can't remember how long it took my parents houses to be built, but it seems like it was between 4 and 6 months more than 20 years ago.

[Disney Doll]

We did a custom build about 4 years ago and it was a great experience. We did a good deal of homework and checked out several builders before we decided. We had a very reputable builder and a smooth experience.

I think it's important to look at lots and lots of existing homes so that you know exactly what you want. We knew from the beginning that we didn't want carpet so that extra expense was always part of the estimate. When you have a list of ammintities you are certain you want to include there's less chance of blowing the budget.

I think its' also important to be decisive. DH and I visited a builder showroom and picked out almost everything for the house in one afternoon. I've seen a lot of people blow their own timeline trying to make a decision. The buidler often has a strict order in which thihngs are done that the average home buyer doesn't think about. Trying to decide on one thing could hold up your entire house.

[January-2007]

I love home planning and it's a dream of mine to have a home built. Just wishing you some extra pixie dust that all your dreams come true.

[j2k]

You are getting lots of great tips here. My DH and I are planning to build a home. We have been in this planning process for over 3 years now and still are approximately 2-3 years away from actual construction.

Our first step was to decide on the location for our home. After 18 months of searching, we found the right property for us and decided we will build once the loan to purchase the property is paid off. We started attending "home and lifestyle" trade shows in our area and also touring Parade of Homes in our area. These have given us ideas of what we want but mostly what we don't want.

It's been nearly 2 years since we bought the property. In that time we have researched floorplans and building materials and have put together a binder of design ideas and sketches. We have decided that we want a custom design and met with an architect a few months ago. Our experience with this architect has been somewhat of a disappointment and we recently decided to look for someone else to design our home.

We are trying to pay for the architect design, site preparedness, permits, etc. out of pocket and therefore when we actually construct our home the property loan will also be paid off so our construction loan and resulting mortgage will strictly be for construction costs.

The process can be much shorter depending on your level of involvement and research/planning. Decisions on where to build, design of the home, building materials, contractor/builder to use, etc. These decisions take time.

This home will likely be our "forever" home so we are planning it with the future in mind. One story, wider hallways/doorways, along with features that can later be modified if we're still here in our "golden" years. Also, we're planning to have wiring for internet/electrical/phone etc. that will allow for expansion and addition of areas on the grid. (a wired home is the home of the future, all appliances will be "plugged in", although we may not need it or use it initially we plan to have the capabilities).
I also agree with previous posters: don't plan around your kids being babies/toddlers because they won't be like that for too long.

Good luck deciding!!!