Building a new house?

[agturkey]

I have looked for five years to find a house with land (30-75 acres) with little luck and lots of frustration.  We find houses to be poorly built, no up keep, and crazy floor plans.  At 34 for I am ready to get serious about building for several reasons.  Would like any and all advice you have on this...the general things such as contractor, floor plans, etc I understand....I am wanting to build a ranch style house around 2400 square feet main floor and finish the basement for guest room, gun room, and have a large metal building 1000-1300 sq ft.

Sure wish I could find something to match what I need already in place but I have about come to the understanding Im going to need to build in order to get what will work best for family.

Now finding the land seems to be another hard task...I am to the point I am going start asking if people would sehatband that is not up for sale.

[Spring_Woods]

My first question to you would be: are you married? Happily married?

Building a house is extremely stressful even if you contract out 100% of the work.

IMO NOW is the time to buy land. In the private market, I'm noticing private land prices on 50< go for around 500 to 1000 per acre. Maybe not prime land, but nothing a dozer can't fix up.

My wife and I let a general contractor do the sub contracting. If I could do it all over again I would do it a lot differently. I would be the general contractor and sub contract all the work. Sure it would take longer, but I think you could save 10-20% of total building costs. Then there are things you can do. We painted our entire inside and saved around $3,000 alone.

Make sure if you pick a contractor they are open to showing you their previous work. Make sure they are insured. Some things are worth payin a little more for. There's so much to it. When I get home ill add more with some pics.

[Gobblerstopper]

If you think you want to build, then build. My wife and I looked for a little over a year for what we wanted and had no success. I had always wanted to build on land that I already have, so we decided to do that. At the last minute we found a house with a few acres that we really liked. We've been in it about two months now and although I love it, I still think I may have been happier building. You really start to notice the little things you would like different after a short while in a new home.

I'd like to find some $500-1000/acre land around here.  and we are not as bad as some other places in the country.

[TNTOM]

If you contract yourself I would suggest you do some research and hire a good architect that will be on site regularly.  You'll pay more but the good ones will help to ensure your subs build to plan and code. 

[chcltlabz]

Now's definitely the time to build too.  We've been in our house for about 4 months now and don't regret one second of it.

Check out having a general contractor do the whole thing now too.  Around here at least, they are offering huge discounts on upgrades.  We got 45% off all upgrades with ours.  We couldn't buy the materials to finish the basement ourselves for what they finished it for us.  These guys are begging for work and doing it at crazy prices to keep the doors open.

[savduck]

I build houses for a living. Where are you at that you can't find land? Have you checked with the bank on foreclosed properties. You can get land and real estate here in GA for pennies on the dollar. Its the best time ever to build or buy property.

Building on your own can be tough. Just don't pre pay anyone. Make sure they sign scopes of work. When budgeting add 10% to everything to cover cost you don't think about......like fees or problems that come up.

PS..I wouldnt pay architect to watch over a house...they are desk people, not field people. Just because they can draw something doesn't mean they know how to manage it in the field. Here an architect isn't anything other than an artist, a structural engineer has to sign off everything and design all the structural components of the house.

PM me. I'll be glad to send you the schedules I follow. It will at least give you an idea for the correct sequence of events...you can use it for a guide and then modify it for foundation type, material, or vendors.

[jhcats10]

I'm beginning the build of my second house in 2 years. It's really not a difficult process and with a little work, the savings can be huge! In my opinion, if you can manage your time, people, and money; then building is for you. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.


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[DirtNap647]

me and my wife just built a new house on 20 acres a year ago very stressful... i built it mostly myself glad its done...to be honest the codes is what puts the stress in it ...but it truly is nice to have a house designed the way we wanted it

[stone road turkey calls]

Find a property you like, tear down the old house and build a new one

[agturkey]

Any land here that just holds the earth together is 1800 bucks an acre.  Most 20-50 acre size tracts 2000 acre.  Any crop ground is 4200-6800 acre.  My hardest task has been funding a quality builder.  So far no luck!

[savduck]

try the better business bearu. They will have a list of builders with good and bad reviews.

[agturkey]

My first question to you would be: are you married? Happily married?

Building a house is extremely stressful even if you contract out 100% of the work.

IMO NOW is the time to buy land. In the private market, I'm noticing private land prices on 50< go for around 500 to 1000 per acre. Maybe not prime land, but nothing a dozer can't fix up.

My wife and I let a general contractor do the sub contracting. If I could do it all over again I would do it a lot differently. I would be the general contractor and sub contract all the work. Sure it would take longer, but I think you could save 10-20% of total building costs. Then there are things you can do. We painted our entire inside and saved around $3,000 alone.

Make sure if you pick a contractor they are open to showing you their previous work. Make sure they are insured. Some things are worth payin a little more for. There's so much to it. When I get home ill add more with some pics.

Pretty happy! In this world with my wife...be happier walk out back of house to hunt!

[Spring_Woods]

 Right on brother! Should be good to go! Lots of good advice in this thread so far. GL

[TNTOM]

PS..I wouldnt pay architect to watch over a house...they are desk people, not field people. Just because they can draw something doesn't mean they know how to manage it in the field. Here an architect isn't anything other than an artist, a structural engineer has to sign off everything and design all the structural components of the house.

I would generally agree with savduck's comment and most architects are better off behind a desk.  We happened to find an architect that had been a project manager before trading his hammer for a pencil.  He was a unique combo but invaluable for a first-timer with a full-time job.  Great if you can find that kind of guy but may be a challenge.  It probably wouldn't be a huge savings with most GCs so hungry these days. 

That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee.