jeeptj99
Well-Known Member
TBItoy said:
got any pictures? That sound like a pretty cool deal. Is it 1 or 2 story?
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Help Support Hardline Crawlers :
building a home vs buying
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got any pictures? That sound like a pretty cool deal. Is it 1 or 2 story?
TBItoy
Well-Known Member
jeeptj99 said:
http://www.hardlinecrawlers.com/forums/index.php?topic=17593.0
There are some pics in here, along with a lot of other people's and ideas
Neal3000
Well-Known Member
I acted as my own general contractor when we built our home, and did a fair amount of work myself (cleanup, plumbing, insulation, interior walls, doors, stairs, and trim, painting, yardwork) we saved a lot of money that way and i would do it all again without thinking twice about it!
BustedKnucklefilms
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Garage Apartment for the WIN! 
jeeptj99
Well-Known Member
BustedKnucklefilms said:Garage Apartment for the WIN!
yeah thats a great idea that i hadnt thought of.
TacomaJD
I LIKE CHEAP STUFF.....
BustedKnucklefilms said:Garage Apartment for the WIN!
Yeah your pad is def ballin'!
gasman
Well-Known Member
I'd get your own deal on lumber and have them Amish guys come in and build you a shop/house cabin. They do great work at a fair price and they can build it about as fast as you design it,lol. Then save up and build your dream home next to your kick ass shop/man cave.
highrolrcustoms
Well-Known Member
Mine and my xwifes family got together and build us a house.....we did most of the work ourself so we saved a bunch. Appraised at 200k when we moved in and only borrowed about 120k to build and that included all new furniture for every room. Needless to say we split up a month after we moved in....on a good note......I let her keep the house but she had to give me half the equity so I walked away with 40k to put down on a new house
Building a house was terrible. Fought non stop about it so I recommend buying unless you need some extra $$$ from a xwife. Haha
Building a house was terrible. Fought non stop about it so I recommend buying unless you need some extra $$$ from a xwife. Haha
jeeptj99
Well-Known Member
highrolrcustoms said:
thats why you dont get the wife until after it's built!! haha
But yeah i know i can save doing some of the work myself and knowing the guy I'm going to get to do it he will help me cut cost where i can
jeeptj99 said:
I'm going to guess that the experience was different for every person on here who feels the same way that I do. It was not one thing that made the experience suck. It was the culmination of MANY very stressful situations all happening back to back and sometimes at the same time. Then it isn't over when the house is finished and you move in. We have been in the house four months, and are still battling with the builder to repair things. I think it is one of those things that you just can't understand until you live it. EVERYONE told me not to build, but I didn't listen.
Blase
Well-Known Member
drkelly said:
Exactly....to the Tee. Had to take off work tomorrow to let the builder in to do repairs! BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY
Oh and modern "double wides" we call them modular homes are a lot nicer and hold up better than they used to. My boss built his first house brick and morter. divorced his wife months after it was complete (maybe before it was done) and did a triple wide modular home. If I posted pictures you would think it was a site built peir and beam home!! Super nice inside and out.
Blase said:
That is another thing, the taking time off work. I work for the man, so am expected to be at work ALL day. Any time I need to meet someone at the house, I have to either take a full or half day of vacation. ALOT of that has happened over the past 2 yrs.
I've heard that if your marriage can survive building a house, that it can survive anything.
This is a buyers market, not a sellers market. Buy in a buyers market, build in a sellers market. Use your land to borrow against for your down pmt. And buy a deal somewhere, there still out there. When it's a sellers market again, about five more years, depending where you live, sell and build on your land. And if you guys have jobs you need to find a GOOD contractor, there are some. Building a new home is supposed to be enjoyable. I have built 300 custom home over the past 20 years and ANY of these people will invite me over supper. If you don't have jobs you might save some money by doing the contracting your self. Get a contract, price and a materials list of items used. Make your contractor set allowances for certain items, it will keep any surprises from happening. HOLD retainage. If you hold 20,000 on a 200k house he WILL finish it. Make progress draws through the project, NO money up front. If he is any kind of a busyness man he will have no problem building un till the first payment. Got to have a contractors license, workers comp and GL. and builders risk ins. Honestly guys the way I buy material and work all the same subs, I dont think you as your own contractor could save much money. If you stay on your job and work like your supposed to. I'll bet you negative guys will chew this up and spit it out! Good luck
Re: Re: Re: building a home vs buying
15 houses a year/1.25 a month. Not saying at all that you didn't do this. Just saying that's an ass load of houses. You make a lot of very good points.halcat said:
TBItoy
Well-Known Member
halcat said:
Wanna build my house in a couple years? :****:
tyldyl12 said:
Don't most general contractors have at least 2-3 or more projects going on a the same time?? Seems like the only way to make money.
The guy I used to rent from back in college is a big general contractor here in Cookeville, he'd have the framing crew, plumbing crew, electrical, int. finish, etc crews all move from job to job as they got finished so everyone could stay on working consistently.
Quote from: halcat on Today at 06:55:02 AM
This is a buyers market, not a sellers market. Buy in a buyers market, build in a sellers market. Use your land to borrow against for your down pmt. And buy a deal somewhere, there still out there. When it's a sellers market again, about five more years, depending where you live, sell and build on your land. And if you guys have jobs you need to find a GOOD contractor, there are some. Building a new home is supposed to be enjoyable. I have built 300 custom home over the past 20 years and ANY of these people will invite me over supper. If you don't have jobs you might save some money by doing the contracting your self. Get a contract, price and a materials list of items used. Make your contractor set allowances for certain items, it will keep any surprises from happening. HOLD retainage. If you hold 20,000 on a 200k house he WILL finish it. Make progress draws through the project, NO money up front. If he is any kind of a busyness man he will have no problem building un till the first payment. Got to have a contractors license, workers comp and GL. and builders risk ins. Honestly guys the way I buy material and work all the same subs, I dont think you as your own contractor could save much money. If you stay on your job and work like your supposed to. I'll bet you negative guys will chew this up and spit it out! Good luck
Wanna build my house in a couple years? :****:
Quote from: tyldyl12 on Today at 07:34:05 AM
Don't most general contractors have at least 2-3 or more projects going on a the same time?? Seems like the only way to make money.
The guy I used to rent from back in college is a big general contractor here in Cookeville, he'd have the framing crew, plumbing crew, electrical, int. finish, etc crews all move from job to job as they got finished so everyone could stay on working consistently.
15 houses a year/1.25 a month. Not saying at all that you didn't do this. Just saying that's an ass load of houses. You make a lot of very good points.
I agree with everything stated here even with the 15 houses per year as I have done this and more per year with the help of good superintendents and positive banking relationships. Not all General contractors/ builders are a$$holes, but there are lots of wannabes's out there that give the rest of us a bad name. Ive been in the commercial/ residential building business for better than 25+ years and have seen tons of good and bad builders go belly up over bad times and bad customers. Check into your local Homebuilders associations and BBB's before building or buying. In my time, I have built everything from 1400 sq. ft. homes that the owners treated me like I owe them the world and usually within the year, the house is up for sale due to foreclosure, to 14,000 foot houses where the owners have been repeat clients and still see them frequently. Part of the answer is treat your contractor like he is there to help you and not screw you and he will usually return the respect and enjoy what your hard earned money is doing for your future. Due your homework ahead of time and save yourself a lot of headaches and remember, you get what you pay for...
This is a buyers market, not a sellers market. Buy in a buyers market, build in a sellers market. Use your land to borrow against for your down pmt. And buy a deal somewhere, there still out there. When it's a sellers market again, about five more years, depending where you live, sell and build on your land. And if you guys have jobs you need to find a GOOD contractor, there are some. Building a new home is supposed to be enjoyable. I have built 300 custom home over the past 20 years and ANY of these people will invite me over supper. If you don't have jobs you might save some money by doing the contracting your self. Get a contract, price and a materials list of items used. Make your contractor set allowances for certain items, it will keep any surprises from happening. HOLD retainage. If you hold 20,000 on a 200k house he WILL finish it. Make progress draws through the project, NO money up front. If he is any kind of a busyness man he will have no problem building un till the first payment. Got to have a contractors license, workers comp and GL. and builders risk ins. Honestly guys the way I buy material and work all the same subs, I dont think you as your own contractor could save much money. If you stay on your job and work like your supposed to. I'll bet you negative guys will chew this up and spit it out! Good luck
Wanna build my house in a couple years? :****:
Quote from: tyldyl12 on Today at 07:34:05 AM
Don't most general contractors have at least 2-3 or more projects going on a the same time?? Seems like the only way to make money.
The guy I used to rent from back in college is a big general contractor here in Cookeville, he'd have the framing crew, plumbing crew, electrical, int. finish, etc crews all move from job to job as they got finished so everyone could stay on working consistently.
15 houses a year/1.25 a month. Not saying at all that you didn't do this. Just saying that's an ass load of houses. You make a lot of very good points.
I agree with everything stated here even with the 15 houses per year as I have done this and more per year with the help of good superintendents and positive banking relationships. Not all General contractors/ builders are a$$holes, but there are lots of wannabes's out there that give the rest of us a bad name. Ive been in the commercial/ residential building business for better than 25+ years and have seen tons of good and bad builders go belly up over bad times and bad customers. Check into your local Homebuilders associations and BBB's before building or buying. In my time, I have built everything from 1400 sq. ft. homes that the owners treated me like I owe them the world and usually within the year, the house is up for sale due to foreclosure, to 14,000 foot houses where the owners have been repeat clients and still see them frequently. Part of the answer is treat your contractor like he is there to help you and not screw you and he will usually return the respect and enjoy what your hard earned money is doing for your future. Due your homework ahead of time and save yourself a lot of headaches and remember, you get what you pay for...
All right guys, I dont know what year it is. I licensed in building in 1989, this is 2014. I guess that's more than 20 years. And there are a lot of cellphone contractors( guys that ride around in there truck and talk on the cell phone). I had my own framing crews, backhoe, dozer dump truck. I could start a house any day of the week. not any more. I still have a subdivision under const. But not much happening. Doing a lot of pipeline now. Like chaseman said, do your homework work with your contractor, there are thousands of parts making up a home, not every one piece can be called out. There will be misunderstandings. Be reasonable about the changes. If it is a real misunderstanding, the contractor should not suffer, he won't be living there you will, you should pay for it. Ask for turn key building. If you have a good contractor, the project will go much faster. In the 90's we were turn keying golf course houses in two months. But I did have more than one house at a time. Usually six or seven. Follow the advice I stated earlier and you will still be friends with your wife and your contractor!
I built my own house about 3000 square 5000 total. I like porches.lol. I have about half in it if I had to buy it.
Make sure you have some cash on hand because bank draws do not keep up with paying your subs. Your bank draws are paying you back.
One more thing..........build your shop first if not you will end up putting all your $ in house. I started both foundations at same time and then busted out my shop quick so it was done.
Its not rocket science but there is procedures and when you get done you will find stuff you wish you had done different kinda like building a buggy!!
Good luck to ya.
Make sure you have some cash on hand because bank draws do not keep up with paying your subs. Your bank draws are paying you back.
One more thing..........build your shop first if not you will end up putting all your $ in house. I started both foundations at same time and then busted out my shop quick so it was done.
Its not rocket science but there is procedures and when you get done you will find stuff you wish you had done different kinda like building a buggy!!
Good luck to ya.
Markrobinson
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halcat said:
Glad to see someone post up defending the building position.
I have worked for a general contractor doing full service remodeling in the middle Tennessee market for the last 10 years and can also say that we get invited back. I just finished a $40,000 master bathroom for a former client and she allowed us to bring a photographer in and use her project in our marketing. I don't mean to pat myself on the back, but I think that many contractors don't know how to manage client expectations. When you do it, you get invited back, when you don't you not only ruin your name, but also end up with clients in divorce court.
Make sure you are using someone who sets you as a client up for success. The right contractor can save you money and headaches, the wrong one causes them.
That being said, what about a third option not listed: buying a house that is due for updates and making it your dream home.
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