Young HomeBuying Question

[REWahoo]

By the way, i live in Corpus Christi, no basements here, I live about a rock throw from the Gulf of Mexico

Bode, you might save a little on your homeowners insurance premiums if you build it on pontoons...

Seriously, if you are really that close to the Gulf, you should look into the cost of homeowners insurance before you make the decision to build. It could be very expensive.

 

[AV8]

AV8,

Well I wouldn't let the fear of stress stop you from your house project (I was mostly kidding when I wrote that). Can't let stuff like that stop you or you'll never do anything in life.

If I remember correctly we were 24 and 22 at the time. We didn't have the advantage of a FIL in the area or in the business (we were both far from our families and truely on our own). Dealt with a mostly good builder who I think helped us along because we were probably about the same age as his kids. It was a great experience, and we learned a lot about home building in the process. We've moved many many times since then, but if we ever build again we'll be pretty darn experienced about it. So I guess I'm trying to say "if it feels right and pencils out, go for it."

AV8

 

[vic]

Wow, thanks for all the help.

I haven't really decided as of yet what to do. My FIL said that you can save (give or take) about 10-20% building a house yourself, compared to buying.

By the way, i live in Corpus Christi, no basements here, I live about a rock throw from the Gulf of Mexico

Yes, you can save 10-20% or more if you are building a custom home yourself. However, if you are completely new at it, some of the learning curve may take some of savings away. I am about to finish building my own house and I am doing three remodels at the time. It is a lot of work. Even if you don't do any of the physical stuff yourself, you will have to be on top of your subs and do all the organizing/planning. If you are renting a place while building, hire folks to work for you and make the building go as fast as possible - otherwise you are paying for two places.

Building yourself makes most sense for a custom home. You wil never be able to beat the cost of building of the big tract builders e.g. Norton, KB etc. that are in the entry level market. Their volume gets material and labor at a fraction of the cost what you can get it for. Even if you do the work all yourself and don't get a single contractor, you probably would not be able to beat their sqft prices.

If you are a starter, you may want to buy an existing house to begin with. Corpus is dirt cheap and lots of choices. Financing an existing house may also be easier and cheaper.

You are really young. You can always move up to something bigger and more expensive as your family gets more additions and you get a fatter paycheck.

Vicky

 

[Rustic23]

In many parts of South Texas, if you build a basement it is called an indoor swimming pool. The water table is about three feet.

We just finished a home in the Lake Livingston area. Used a local contractor, who put us in contact with a 'local boy' who draws plans. Charged $1 psf for living area and $.10 for uncovered area. Never saw any sort of license or certification, but the house is built well. Builder has been inbusiness for 30 years.

 

[gtmeouttahere]

Never been to Texas, never want to go. Did not know for sure where they wanted to build either, my bust, I never knew the whole state of Texas didn't have basements. Sorry for the bad advise!!! Everybody else set me straight though, thanks!!!

 

[gtmeouttahere]

Build a house with a daylight walkout basement and leave the basement unfinished. 

Then again, after further thought, build a one storey house instead, then you don't have to worry about the upstairs (or a flooded out basement in Texas).

Buy some land with the money you saved by not building the two storey house right away.  Sell your house or rent it later and build your dream two storey house then!!!!   

Always thinking!!!!

 

[maddythebeagle]

Some people enjoy doing that sort of stuff. There is nothing wrong with buying an existing house, but for me personally, i'd rather build on my own and plan to. You will definately save money building your home over a comparable home purchased through a real estate agent (real estate commission, builder markup, savings on material purchases, etc).

I think you are missing my point. I am not comparing building new to buying a new house (spec house or whatever). I am suggesting that buying an existing house on the market is an option (lower taxes and less hassle).

 

[bpp]

We built our own house last year, and are pretty pleased with the results. Now, we had a builder do all the work, didn't try to act as general contractors ourselves -- I don't know what that would be like. We left some things to do ourselves later, but only those things we felt competent to take on (basically, landscaping, and will be tackling a deck this year).

As far as the garage, I grew up in houses without garages, and consider them an eyesore. It just doesn't seem right to devote part of a house to an inanimate object, unless you think your cars as pets or something. But that is personal preference, and we are probably in the minority on that one. Plus, as has been mentioned, you might want to consider local preferences when it comes to resale, if that is a consideration for you.

Bpp

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You should try getting into a car thats been sitting outside in Yuba City in August when its 100-110 degrees out.