I know there are several threads on the forum about this, but thought I'd ask again as the threads are a couple of years old.
DH and I have, literally for YEARS, discussed buying property and building a house for retirement.
Now we're there.
Have the funds, are zeroing in on property, and have ideas about house size/design, but am beginning to wonder if we're getting into the boat of "too old for this stuff" to deal with the stress of having a home built.
We're looking at something somewhat rural (Piedmont, AL - about 1.5 hours to Birmingham, AL to the west and 1.5 hours to Atlanta, GA to the east. Gadsden AL is about 30 minutes west). We currently live in a northern suburb of Atlanta and I'm really over having people on my elbows. UGH.
There are plenty of builders that are close enough to where we're looking and have, from what I can tell, been in the business long enough (15-20 years) for us to not be uncomfortable with hiring someone.
We've been looking a really long time and do want something somewhat rural but have found (unfortunately) that houses with acreage where we want to be are either: -very over-priced, -very old and need a ton of work, -cobbled together by the not-so-skilled self-styled handyman and will need A LOT of work to un-do/re-do. We'd rather not have a house as a project at this point.
As an example we recently viewed a house that was completely plumbed with PEX by the current owner. It's just not something we're comfortable with. I know - some people swear by PEX, but for us push-on fittings with high-pressure plumbing using plastic piping in an entire house just seems to spell trouble over time. The plumber we hired to do our bathrooms in our current house was lamenting the pitfalls of PEX as well.
The house also was expanded twice - TWO garages had been converted into living space. Lets just say it wasn't my cup of tea. We really liked the property and location but the house was going to be a major undertaking. Down to the studs in a few rooms, unfortunately.
Anyway,
For those of you that have "been there, done that", would you do it again? And what age were you when you did so?
How long have you been in your home now?
Thanks for any thoughts.
DH and I have, literally for YEARS, discussed buying property and building a house for retirement.
Now we're there.
Have the funds, are zeroing in on property, and have ideas about house size/design, but am beginning to wonder if we're getting into the boat of "too old for this stuff" to deal with the stress of having a home built.
We're looking at something somewhat rural (Piedmont, AL - about 1.5 hours to Birmingham, AL to the west and 1.5 hours to Atlanta, GA to the east. Gadsden AL is about 30 minutes west). We currently live in a northern suburb of Atlanta and I'm really over having people on my elbows. UGH.
There are plenty of builders that are close enough to where we're looking and have, from what I can tell, been in the business long enough (15-20 years) for us to not be uncomfortable with hiring someone.
We've been looking a really long time and do want something somewhat rural but have found (unfortunately) that houses with acreage where we want to be are either: -very over-priced, -very old and need a ton of work, -cobbled together by the not-so-skilled self-styled handyman and will need A LOT of work to un-do/re-do. We'd rather not have a house as a project at this point.
As an example we recently viewed a house that was completely plumbed with PEX by the current owner. It's just not something we're comfortable with. I know - some people swear by PEX, but for us push-on fittings with high-pressure plumbing using plastic piping in an entire house just seems to spell trouble over time. The plumber we hired to do our bathrooms in our current house was lamenting the pitfalls of PEX as well.
The house also was expanded twice - TWO garages had been converted into living space. Lets just say it wasn't my cup of tea. We really liked the property and location but the house was going to be a major undertaking. Down to the studs in a few rooms, unfortunately.
Anyway,
For those of you that have "been there, done that", would you do it again? And what age were you when you did so?
How long have you been in your home now?
Thanks for any thoughts.