Having Your House Built

I am considering buying a very nice lot, with just stunning views, and having a home built on it for me. Somehow, this idea just seems like a big pain in the butt. Has anyone done this? Any major hints that you would give looking back? Was it worth it to get "your" house?

I think it's a wonderful idea. zipj83 did this, but no idea whether he still frequents the forum.

always worth it, do yourself a favor, and find an Architect and builder who are really in the buisness, not just a designer and a guy with a truck, triple check refrences, plan on spending 15% more than you thought! research research research! - when you pull the trigger, dont look back, and watch Cary Grant in Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream house, great movie and in many cases you will see many things that hold true today! and see great mens suits and outfits in the process. Also check with the AIA with respect to your architect. I've built two of mine own and two for spec, and i would do it again tomorrow!!!

Originally Posted by ccc123

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always worth it, do yourself a favor, and find an Architect and builder who are really in the buisness, not just a designer and a guy with a truck, triple check refrences, plan on spending 15% more than you thought! research research research! - when you pull the trigger, dont look back, and watch Cary Grant in Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream house, great movie and in many cases you will see many things that hold true today! and see great mens suits and outfits in the process. Also check with the AIA with respect to your architect. I've built two of mine own and two for spec, and i would do it again tomorrow!!!

Thanks for the movie recommendation! I will Netflix it tonight Agreed on the builder. In fact, if I do it, I will be going with a builder that has a 20 year history in my community and is very well respected. I know several builders through sitting on non-profit boards with them, etc. I toured the exact floorplan I want this weekend in a nearby town and will just have some custom features done for me (like a bar to rival some folks here ). I suspected on budgeting for over runs, thanks for confirming that.

Originally Posted by johnapril

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I think it's a wonderful idea. zipj83 did this, but no idea whether he still frequents the forum.

Not for a while now. He is missed.

Jon.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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I am considering buying a very nice lot, with just stunning views, and having a home built on it for me. Somehow, this idea just seems like a big pain in the butt. Has anyone done this? Any major hints that you would give looking back? Was it worth it to get "your" house?

I used to work with home builders for years.

There are varying degrees of having a custom home built. You can use your own plans which is rare and then have an architect go over and certify the plans and finally find a builder.

The next level would be finding a custom home builder that has a variety of plans and would let you modify the plans to exactly what you want. In this case the custom home builder would be the actual builder.

Next you can go to what is essentially a production home builder with a build on your lot program. Where I live in Houston, Tx., David Weekly or Powers Homes come to mind (though there are many others).

Back when I was in the industry, Weekly would build one of his plans (some of which were very nice) on your lot and allow minor but not major modifications. Powers will build on your lot and allow greater changes to their plans. I'm not sure if they would build a home if you provided the plans.

As I said there are many variations on the above. A good friend of mine was very experienced in construction and he built a home in the Memorial section of Houston by himself. This does not mean he was a brick-mason or handled a hammer. But he bought some plans from an architect he liked. Then he made some modifications to the plans. Then before he started he got all of the permit and code issues addressed (though some of these are ongoing). And then he acted as the general contractor of the home and it came out beautifully.

He saved about 30% over having a custom home builder do the building. But he was capable of being the GC and had experience. He said he thought it was worth it because he enjoyed the building process, but he didn't know if he would do it again. The time he spent being a builder (a lot) could have been used at his day job (Insurance Exec.).

Also, good luck if you buy the lot. If the lot has stunning views that is very desirable. What part of the country are you in? How active do you want to be in the building? Do you want to be very involved and make ongoing changes? Or do you think you could be happy with a builder putting one of their plans on your lot while you have little interaction?

If I remember, zipj83 had 2 houses simultaneously. An older home which was gorgeous and he was going to eventually sell, and the new home that he was building.

I'm pretty sure that he was an example of the first scenario. He had picked some plans(either from an architect or modified by an architect) and then went to a builder.

also check out The journal of light construction -JLC.com its a great on line resource

I would be going with your second option rnoldh, a custom builder with several plans that I can modify (somewhat) to my own needs/wants. I have known him for a few years and know several of his past customers. He has a spec house built in a nearby town with the floorplan I want, with some (non structural) modifications. I will also have him look at the lot, but my wife is a civil engineer so she has a pretty good handle on it to begin with, although she is no contractor/builder.

Just in the tire kicking phase atm. I spoke with a finance person and have the whole money aspect straight in my mind now. I have to say, part of the motivation is the thought that if done right, I'll get a house that cost me $X to build but should be worth $X+$Y upon its completion. While I do not plan to flip it, indeed, spend the next 10-15 years in this house, it is good to know you have instant non-realized equity in your investment.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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I would be going with your second option rnoldh, a custom builder with several plans that I can modify (somewhat) to my own needs/wants. I have known him for a few years and know several of his past customers. He has a spec house built in a nearby town with the floorplan I want, with some (non structural) modifications. I will also have him look at the lot, but my wife is a civil engineer so she has a pretty good handle on it to begin with, although she is no contractor/builder.

Just in the tire kicking phase atm. I spoke with a finance person and have the whole money aspect straight in my mind now. I have to say, part of the motivation is the thought that if done right, I'll get a house that cost me $X to build but should be worth $X+$Y upon its completion. While I do not plan to flip it, indeed, spend the next 10-15 years in this house, it is good to know you have instant non-realized equity in your investment.

Yes, it sure is nice to have genuine equity.

Hopefully you are buying the lot at a good price. Building costs and land purchases are different items as to negotiating room and luck. While land purchases are always negotiable and are fluid, building costs are more fixed and easier to estimate costing.

The guy I was thinking about in the Houston market is David Powers Builders. If the builder that you about to choose has some completed homes of the model you like that is a real plus. You can walk it and "live" in it and see what little things you might want to change.

I can guarantee you that any change requests that you ask the builder to make prior to or early in construction will be much better received than last minute changes.

If it's a beautiful lot and you've given some thought to the complete scenario, I would say go for it and enjoy it.

Piobare,

We did this, though we put a significant chunk into it rather than having someone build it, i.e., we developed our own floorplan and worked with a GC who arranged anything we didn't want to handle (pouring the foundation, installing the furnace, etc) for a pretty nominal fee. His guys wound up being so reasonable and efficient we wound up doing much less than anticipated, which was great.

It is worth it -- you do get what you want, and even though there is so much fussing, if you are reasonably well-educated on the subject (or can become so), and are the type of people who can dispatch with 'what color carpet in the bedrooms' type questions with relative ease, you'll love it. Builders have different styles in how much creative control they allow their clients and you are going to want to find one that lets you take as much as you want -- do you want to be able to pick every single window (I think we have five styles in 32 windows), or is that going to be part of the 'packaged' set of prints? We had complete control -- from serious stuff like spec'ing where certain utility lines were going to run or choosing the freestanding stairways, to the banal everyday matters like paint, to the myriad of little things like where the outlets and switches would be, and which way the doors would hang.

But even all of that is so much easier than going back and trying to 'rework' an existing structure into what you want. Even doing it fully custom you will still mess up some things! (I still rue one poorly-placed switch and we should have made one hall 2' wider).

But do, do, do, visit many builders and always get a spec sheet --- the list of their standard products used in different situations -- read them, compare, and question them as to their choices. Examples I can easily think of are type of studs, type of roofing material (if asphalt, 240 lb/sq, or 350?), do they use T&G sheathing, or merely butt and wrap, or do they use T&G and wrap? How is the sill plate anchored to the foundation? Is the sill plate pressure-treated to keep out termites? What type of fireplaces do they install? Do they nail the flooring, glue it, screw it, or do two or three? Same with the sheetrock. How many coats of mud? Are you checking the efficiency of the utilities that are going to be installed?

I realize you are going to be working with a reputable builder, but reputations don't mean that his choices are the right choices for you, and unfortunately that means you need to learn a lot!

Bottom line, yes it was completely worth it, and the cherry of the cake is that the place appraised for a quarter million more than it cost. In the middle of the housing boom, Zillow was quoting it at a half-million more. It's a comforting thought.

~ Huntsman

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Not for a while now. He is missed.

Jon.
+1 Unfortunately, building his new house might account for his absence, though it seems that it's been too long for that.

If you do it, post pics. Even though it'll be a long long time before it's done lol. Best of luck!

Thanks again for all the input gents. We are going to set up an office visit with the builder in the second week of June and see if this still sounds like the thing for us.

My father-in-law recently did this, and though he was happy with the end result, he said that he would never, ever consider having a custom house built from scratch again. Just too much of a headache in the long run.

Originally Posted by spertia

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My father-in-law recently did this, and though he was happy with the end result, he said that he would never, ever consider having a custom house built from scratch again. Just too much of a headache in the long run.

What exactly were the headaches? And wouldn't the headaches be in the short run? Or is this house messed up forever?