Process in building a new home

[diamond]

If you have build your home from scratch, what is the process involved? Do you take two loans, one to buy land and one for the actual building? How does it work out? Is it more expensive to build than buy an already built home?

[lalasmama]

It's a three-part (land, construction, house) loan that not every loan company does as it was explained to us. It was a little more expensive, I think, but not insanely bad. We looked into it, but couldn't get what we wanted for what we could afford. Our budget was $200k in a LCOL area, and they wanted $200k for the house to be built, plus land ($75k).

We also looked at having a manufactured home built. $108k for 2108sqft, 4 bed, 3 bath. But, finding a lot that would take a manufactured home, even as upscale as this one was, was impossible.

So, last week, we ended up buying a resale home, built as a model home for the community in 1995. 2000sqft, 3 bed, 2 bath on .37 acre, everything upgraded.

DH and I agree that if we win the lottery, we would have a new home custom built. You may want to find a local company, and meet with them. We have Adair Homes here, and DH and I went to them to learn more about the home-building process. They spent probably 3 hours over 2-3 visits going over the process.

[Kestrel]

We ended up finding a home we liked already built, contacted the builder, and asked where they were building next. We worked with the builder, choose our lot out of the set of seventy they were building on their next project, and then made changes to the plans to make it perfect for us. In my opinion, we got the best of both worlds - exactly what we wanted, without the expense or trouble of a construction loan. The only thing strange is that the builder's project of seventy lots was built over three years, so we had lots of construction activity, sidewalks went in later, streetlights went in later, ect. We were the first completed home in the group. It would take a lot to get me out of this house, but if we did move, I'd do the same in a heartbeat.

[diamond]

Ty for info. Congratulations on your new home, enjoy..

It's a three-part (land, construction, house) loan that not every loan company does as it was explained to us. It was a little more expensive, I think, but not insanely bad. We looked into it, but couldn't get what we wanted for what we could afford. Our budget was $200k in a LCOL area, and they wanted $200k for the house to be built, plus land ($75k).

We also looked at having a manufactured home built. $108k for 2108sqft, 4 bed, 3 bath. But, finding a lot that would take a manufactured home, even as upscale as this one was, was impossible.

So, last week, we ended up buying a resale home, built as a model home for the community in 1995. 2000sqft, 3 bed, 2 bath on .37 acre, everything upgraded.

DH and I agree that if we win the lottery, we would have a new home custom built. You may want to find a local company, and meet with them. We have Adair Homes here, and DH and I went to them to learn more about the home-building process. They spent probably 3 hours over 2-3 visits going over the process.

[diamond]

Great idea, Ty

We ended up finding a home we liked already built, contacted the builder, and asked where they were building next. We worked with the builder, choose our lot out of the set of seventy they were building on their next project, and then made changes to the plans to make it perfect for us. In my opinion, we got the best of both worlds - exactly what we wanted, without the expense or trouble of a construction loan. The only thing strange is that the builder's project of seventy lots was built over three years, so we had lots of construction activity, sidewalks went in later, streetlights went in later, ect. We were the first completed home in the group. It would take a lot to get me out of this house, but if we did move, I'd do the same in a heartbeat.

[diamond]

I find you are more emotionally invested in home if you built it, designed it from scratch. How does one do this in an economy when jobs are not very stable ? Or even if stable not like the one job our parents got in and retired out of? The trend is to move several times in a career? How do you invest financially and otherwise knowing you will probably move, sometimes not in your control?