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We've been looking at land to retire in NC. The more we research, the more we are finding that building a home can be much more costly than original estimates. We don't have a limited budget so are reconsidering. I really don't want an existing home but we may have to go that route.
I would love to hear from other people who have built their home and what type experiences they have had. Were your costs way more than anticipated? Would you do it again? And any other information you would like to give.
Having just bought here after months of looking, here are my thoughts:
1) buying existing is more "green" in that it avoids cutting trees, making more trash, etc.
2) existing homes are cheaper right now and readily available in this market almost everywhere.
3) location is important - very important - building might give you a better choice at location, but it may not; this is worth looking at from your perspective.
4) we built our home in AZ 18 years ago and sold it last Fall before moving here in Jan. Building issues were numerous, including:
get ALL promises in WRITING. Builders "forget"
inspect the construction every day - EVERY day. We found cheap laborers skipping details, installing broken parts, stapling thru electric wires, using PVC underground where copper was paid for, changing the oil from their truck and dumping the old oil under our foundation or elsewhere on the property, etc.
if borrowing, building requires two loans: a construction loan and then a mortgage. The construction loan requires funds to be released as stages of the home are completed and is a pain. But even if you don't need a construction loan, I would never release funds to the builder for the next stage until you are certain things so far are correct.
Bottom line is that we looked for existing and did not want to build again. BUT - we bought a brand new house that is almost perfect without any of the construction hassles and we got it for about 19% below the original asking price.
I just posted some info on things to look for in an other thread - Something on homes is Fairview.
I am finding that building a house is going to cost me more. But I'm coming from a place where housing is cheap and I expect to pay more for a house in AVL. I'm also willing to pay more for the house/location I want too. I do have a budget but I increased it. I could likely find a house for similar prices but the house would not be what I'm looking for. My wife and I plan to spend the rest of our lives there and want it to be what we want so are willing to spend a bit more. Since this is long term, I'm considering it to be a portion of my assets as a long term investment and I'll be moving some of my money from the stock market to real estate. Maybe good, with in the next 20-30 years it should do fine.
The biggest issues I've run into is trying to get an idea on the cost of the house. This is rather hard to do since I don't have a design yet. But in talking with some builders and excavation contractors, I was able to assure myself that the house won't be a total waste. I'm looking to build something that has a value near the median of the other houses in the area.
I'm in the process of finding a builder/architect to design my house and then I can get a better idea on the actual cost, hopefully sooner than later.
And to GuyFriendly - great comments, I'll keep those in mind. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for the house - I have a combination of cash, equity in my current house and money from a 401K. In the end, I'd like to get through this without any mortgage, but was considering a construction loan just to bridge the sale of my current house and accumulate some cash from the 401K at a lower tax rate and also so they will meter out the money.
Having just bought here after months of looking, here are my thoughts:
1) buying existing is more "green" in that it avoids cutting trees, making more trash, etc.
That's not necessarily true. Building a new home is going to consume more resources in the short term, but over the course of many years, building a new home with state of the art, energy efficient technology is going to be greener in the long run.
You might also buy an existing home and update it, although there is only so much you can do to an existing house in terms of efficiency, and there are always budgetary constraints. (this is what I have done, and have mixed feelings about the "greenness" of it all . . . it's leaps and bounds more efficient than the original house, but not nearly as efficient as a new home built with SIPs, for example).
That's not necessarily true. Building a new home is going to consume more resources in the short term, but over the course of many years, building a new home with state of the art, energy efficient technology is going to be greener in the long run.
You might also buy an existing home and update it, although there is only so much you can do to an existing house in terms of efficiency, and there are always budgetary constraints. (this is what I have done, and have mixed feelings about the "greenness" of it all . . . it's leaps and bounds more efficient than the original house, but not nearly as efficient as a new home built with SIPs, for example).
So it's a tricky question.
Of course, there are also many existing homes that were built in the last few years that already have all the updated efficient upgrades.
I just think that everyone has to keep in mind that most of us move here for the beauty of the mountains, and that if everyone who moves here rips down a half acre of trees to build their dream home, we'll have big mounds of houses and treeless land instead of the beautiful landscape we see now.
Of course, there are also many existing homes that were built in the last few years that already have all the updated efficient upgrades.
I just think that everyone has to keep in mind that most of us move here for the beauty of the mountains, and that if everyone who moves here rips down a half acre of trees to build their dream home, we'll have big mounds of houses and treeless land instead of the beautiful landscape we see now.
AMEN! We took a drive South on the Parkway yesterday. Amazing how many views are already spoiled. Have to get all the way to Mills Gap before there isn't ugliness in the view.
Here in Riceville, we are working hard to preserve things as they are and stop development. Probably just spitting into the wind, but we can try.
Barb,
We built ours in 2000-2001. We like the house, love the view and area, but in hindsight, I think we would have bought an existing house, or would buy one, now.
-there are lots of quality built/recently built homes for sale, even up "here" at altitude, above
Waynesville. The current selection is larger than ever, in my memory, over the past decade.
$200Gs won't get much altitude or much house, but in our price range there are dozens, currently.
-We built long distance, eg NY to NC. I don't rec'd that. As others mentioned, one should be on site every day, otherwise costs increase, things get skimped on, etc.
-If you build at "altitude", select a builder who has experience doing so, (and uses subs that have the experience). Chugging building materials up narrow, winding, mtn roads adds costs & time, and more costs...
-If you are looking to build a ~"half million dollar" home, be sure the builder is "cert'd" for that kind of build, and can prove it.
-We built on materials, time and a certain % GM; friends have built on a "contract". Not sure which is better as change orders will mount, and there will be change orders. Our costs came in about 15% more than originally spec'd and agreed to. Goof ups, by the builder, were buried in their next bill, and the ensuing arm wrestles became "weekly", near the end of the build.
-Any kind of true "mountain/high elev. build" will take 20-30% longer than most builders will estimate, initially, to get the biz. Winters at elevation bring work to a stop.
-A new build also requires a large expenditure on shopping for all the "stuff" most existing houses have: washer, dryer, stove, ref, etc. etc. All those appliances and "stuff" quickly add up.
-New does allow for finding your specific site; that part, for us, would be very difficult to reproduce.
-Landscaping, letting the land "grow back" and "recover" is another 1-3 years, depending on altitude, in a new build.
We had lived in "new houses" for 30 yrs prior to this build in 2K, so we chased the new build again...
other than our home site, which is very difficult to reproduce, I would shop the dozens of nearly new homes in any given area, here in western NC. My 50Cts...
GL, mD
We were looking for an existing home for a longer period of time with several visits and no success.
we wanted several, but smaller rooms, great insulation, modern design, smart layout, contemporary kitchen, 'healthy' materials ... and just could not find the right one.
5 bedrooms always ended up in mc mansions with huge family/living/dining room ... the sometimes brand new kitchens were just not our style but to expensive to throw out .....
and getting these homes on an energy saving level, building in solar and good insulation etc would have cost more than building a certified healthy home - and we still would not have had the home we wanted.
we now ended up with building a fully customized modular home, 5 bedrooms, three bathrooms, one home office (skipped living and dining room, since we never used these ...), 2500 sqft., wood stove, solar water, 2 ac units, custom kitchen, wooden floors etc and will end up under apr. 360.000 (including the lot).
there are lots of smaller floorplan available for of course less money.
we did not find anything comparable - but since the house is not finished yet, I can't say anything about the quality. we did a lot of research regarding the modular company and are working with a local builder.
house should be done around dec. 2010 - I will keep you posted if and how happy we are
if you are interested in the company, please send me a message.
PS we were happy when we found a lot in an existing neighborhood, partially cleared, so we hopefully won't leave a huge footprint. our view won't be breathtaking, but seeing so many houses built on totally cleared mountain sides .... made us just sad.
for the views we will go for hikes and bike rides and share it with thousands of other people
Back in 2005 our intent was to build a house. We had a floor plan we liked, talked to a builder we liked, etc. The cost of doing that then was rather salty. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it did cause us to reconsider. We wound up buying a spec house in 2006 from a small builder that was close to what we wanted in every sense, maybe better in some ways and not as good in others. But it was "close enough." While I would love to have the floor plan and house we were considering building, given the cost difference I'm glad we did what we did.
What the cost considerations are today is probably a completely different issue. Builders aren't building (many are are gone) and if you shake the trees, existing homes and spec homes that have never been sold fall out.
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