kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 8, 2012 18:32:10 GMT -5
I don't mean literally built the house, though maybe we have some contractors here who can answer that in the literal way.
DH and I are strongly considering building a home. His friend is building in a development. It's in what we feel comfortable with price-range wise. The location is good. His friend has already signed everything, so it's a done deal for him. We're going to watch his progress, see what their costs end up (i.e., does the builder start piling on "extra" charges), the timeline to completion and we'll see the finished product to see if the work is good.
For those of you who went with a new build, any advice? Things to watch out for? Unexpected costs?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 8, 2012 18:34:21 GMT -5
Don't chAnge your mind after you commit. Every change costs way more than it should because there's a pita factor involved and you pay for being a pita. It will cost more than they say it will and will take longer. Go every day and watch your house being built. It keeps the workers and the contractor on their toes.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2012 18:34:46 GMT -5
I don't mean literally built the house, though maybe we have some contractors here who can answer that in the literal way. DH and I are strongly considering building a home. His friend is building in a development. It's in what we feel comfortable with price-range wise. The location is good. His friend has already signed everything, so it's a done deal for him. We're going to watch his progress, see what their costs end up (i.e., does the builder start piling on "extra" charges), the timeline to completion and we'll see the finished product to see if the work is good. For those of you who went with a new build, any advice? Things to watch out for? Unexpected costs? I don't understand how the builder could start piling on extra charges. I had a house built in a development with a builder building in there. We signed a contract that spelled out exactly what we were purchasing and that's exactly what we paid (well except for the one extra thing I forgot and had to add on). It was a nice smooth experience.
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 8, 2012 18:37:33 GMT -5
I don't know single. We just talked to someone who either A) Didn't understand what they were signing; or B) It was not explained to them, and there were all kinds of extra costs they didn't anticipate.
zib, Good advice about going to the site. DH worked construction for awhile. His uncle is a contractor, his cousin is an electrician and my dad used to be a builder and a mason, so we've got lots of knowledgeable people around to help us keep tabs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2012 18:41:18 GMT -5
I don't understand how the builder could start piling on extra charges. I had a house built in a development with a builder building in there. We signed a contract that spelled out exactly what we were purchasing and that's exactly what we paid (well except for the one extra thing I forgot and had to add on). It was a nice smooth experience. If you put in a change order, costs add up. yes, if you initiate changes, of course the price is going to go up. That's not what was stated - Zib said it will cost more tthan they say....if you have a signed contract that you are getting x for price y, then y is what you pay.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2012 18:42:59 GMT -5
We had ours built. Make sure all permits are drawn. Set up a pay schedule, so you don't end up with an unfinished house and the contractor gone with all your money. I would assume that they will be taking out a mortgage from the bank and the bank won't be giving the builder any money until settlement. I paid a $500 deposit at contract signing that was held in escrow (just like a regular real estate transaction) and the builder got their money at settlement.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 8, 2012 18:45:53 GMT -5
Also, make sure the contractor signs both professionally and personally guaranteeing that he has paid his subs.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 8, 2012 18:46:56 GMT -5
Yes, the contractors are all in bed together. They become the inspectors and the ones who sit on the board at an arbitration. No matter how bad it is, arbitration never goes against the builder.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 8, 2012 18:49:39 GMT -5
Yes, indeedy. Try refinancing with leins on. That's how my girlfriend and her husband found out their kitchen remodel hadn't been paid for.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Oct 8, 2012 18:52:26 GMT -5
I've had two built. One custom and one in a developed community. What we did to make things work out for us: 1. Get EVERYTHING IN WRITING and anything that seems vague on the plans make them initial it and put in what you think it means. 2. Go through the contract and the plans with a fine tooth and comb and make notes on everything that comes to mind or any questions you have. Our sales person hated us and she kept saying "There are over 20 people who would love your house and location if you aren't happy" because we weren't like many (idiots) and just took what they said as truth. We got exactly what we wanted and then some. 3. Show up every chance you get during the building process and do your own walk through. We found a window that was wrong size - one that was not centered - foyer off center and out of balance to the house so they took SF from the dining room to make up the foyer screw up. We made them fix it before we moved in. That's a tactic? they use. They screw shit up and try to say they'll fix it AFTER the house is built. No, no, no!! You don't want these contractors in your house tearing out walls or windows with your stuff already moved in. This is a buyers market and the ball is in your court. 4. Hire a certified, experienced home inspecter that is trained to inspect newly built homes. There is a different certification and training for that. 5. Be sure to do your walk through before closing. Our door was leaded glass and they had a regular door on until it came in. The regular door was removed and there was no door! We happened to check out our house one more time and caught things like that so we were able to get it resolved because I told them they would not get one red cent from me until I have in writing things that were not done that still needed to be. You will never see people move so quick in your life to get things to happen for your closing. 6. Do your due diligence and make sure nothing is going to be built or added or whatever can go wrong before you pick your lot. Some people chose lots with lots of woods/trees and it served as a buffer from a major road. They came home one day to find the entire woods leveled for new construction. We knew about it because we checked that area and asked tons of questions (realtors can't lie or they will be liable) and checked with zoning, etc. in our area. But YOU have to know the questions to ask. They don't have to offer the info. We asked about what buildings were going in those locations outside of our development, where the fire house would be located, soil tests, future road widening projects, etc. We also checked to see what the land was used for before the builder developed it to make sure there was no chemicals leaching in our water. All that can be done at the city/county you are thinking of buying in. I'm sure there are tons of other things but that's off the top of my head.
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 8, 2012 19:32:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice everyone. DH and I talked about things over the weekend and decided we'll probably be in a position to build in about 12 to 18 months. I feel like we've been saying that for awhile but we've got a plan now.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Oct 8, 2012 19:37:57 GMT -5
We built. I did everything the non YM approved way.
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 8, 2012 19:43:02 GMT -5
Yes, the contractors are all in bed together. They become the inspectors and the ones who sit on the board at an arbitration. No matter how bad it is, arbitration never goes against the builder. Where do you get this idea? My dad is a civil engineer with his own firm and most of his work is either litigation or serving as a professional arbitrator. He has often testified against builders in court and ruled against builders as an arbitrator. Builders like arbitration because they can avoid crazy jury rulings where the jury sides with a sympathetic family over a big, bad corporation. Builders also like arbitration because arbitrators are usually experts who know both the building codes and how to read a contract.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Oct 8, 2012 19:51:37 GMT -5
Ok, I'm putting on my flame suit. here's how our building project went.
DH drew something up on the computer. My cousin is a PE and did the plans from them. I went to the contractor I wanted and got a quote on one sheet of paper. We hired him. He started building. We paid him. We left the permitting up to him.
We put an addition on the "old house" with cash, and then took a HELOC on the project. We then gutted to the Old house and remortgaged the whole project.
It cost exactly what he said it would, and he came back to fix what was wrong. There is a reason we hired him.
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Oct 8, 2012 20:13:23 GMT -5
We never won a disagreement with the contractor. Even if he did agree with us, somehow his cost got tacked in somewhere else. But in general these were small things overall, the house got built to our specs, overrun was minimal and everyone was paid on time and work finished on time.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Oct 8, 2012 20:26:35 GMT -5
Ok, I'm putting on my flame suit. here's how our building project went. DH drew something up on the computer. My cousin is a PE and did the plans from them. I went to the contractor I wanted and got a quote on one sheet of paper. We hired him. He started building. We paid him. We left the permitting up to him. We put an addition on the "old house" with cash, and then took a HELOC on the project. We then gutted to the Old house and remortgaged the whole project. It cost exactly what he said it would, and he came back to fix what was wrong. There is a reason we hired him. The contractor we later had build our garage, went by the book and did an awesome job in good time. Many contractors out there that are great. Knowing which ones are and which ones aren't can be difficult. I thought it was pretty easy finding one. I asked people who built their house and whether or not they were happy with the results. Never heard a bad thing about this guy.
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 8, 2012 20:31:18 GMT -5
Where do you get this idea? My dad is a civil engineer with his own firm and most of his work is either litigation or serving as a professional arbitrator. He has often testified against builders in court and ruled against builders as an arbitrator. Builders like arbitration because they can avoid crazy jury rulings where the jury sides with a sympathetic family over a big, bad corporation. Builders also like arbitration because arbitrators are usually experts who know both the building codes and how to read a contract. Well, Milee, they were obviously in bed together when our house was built. Really? You had an arbitrator rule against you because he was in some sort of conspiracy with your builder? Sounds to me like you got a new roof, so...
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 8, 2012 20:34:55 GMT -5
Really? You had an arbitrator rule against you because he was in some sort of conspiracy with your builder? Sounds to me like you got a new roof, so... No arbitrator. I was referring to the contractor being in bed with the building inspector, a job he later got. There is a huge "Good ol' boy" thing going on in our town. Well since my post was entirely about arbitrators, you can see the confusion.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Oct 8, 2012 20:40:58 GMT -5
LIEN RELEASES! Get them signed in blood. I learned the hard way with a $600 driveway addition, but I have heard of others having to pay for the house twice basically.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Oct 8, 2012 20:45:00 GMT -5
We did a lot of what POM did when our house was under construction - From the moment the foundation was poured we were showing up to check on progress/quality of construction right up til the end. We had them relplacing studs for walls before drywall was attached & taped, then after that, replacing full sheets of drywall that were damaged that they probably would have just patched & filled had we not caught it. The kitchen island wasn't placed in the correct spot in the room, and we had that taken out and moved over to where it belonged. There were also small things like tiles facing the wrong direction or cracked, etc. etc. Our oak cabinets in the kitchen were the wrong design - they had to be taken down and replaced with the correct ones. We also hired our own inspector to do walk-throughs - and one of my brothers is a master electrician, so he checked to make sure all the wiring was correctly installed and up to code. The house wasn't fully completed and there were some final finishing touches to do when our completion date approached. We also wouldn't hand over any more money or move in until it was all resolved. There were a few minor touch-ups they had to come back and re-do after we moved in, but nothing that had to be ripped out or replaced.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Oct 8, 2012 21:10:28 GMT -5
We've worked with different contractors to build 2 houses. First of all, check out the reputation of the contractor before you sign on the dotted line. And, I agree with earlier posters about visiting the site frequently to watch your house as it's being built. I hired my own inspector (in addition to the "city" inspector) to check things out. If you see something you're not happy with, put it in writing when you notify your contractor. (Phone calls don't always get results.) We didn't pay for either house until closing. Be prepared for delays. One house was finished about 4-6 weeks after the original estimated date. The other finished on time, but just BARELY. The best part about building, is you get the colors & style of cabinets, etc., the first time. The annoying part is never knowing for sure if your house will be done on schedule. My first house was built during a summer of quite a few rainstorms, resulting in delays in construction. The other hard part is picking out EVERYTHING for the house, even the handles on the kitchen cabinets. I had headaches after looking at light fixtures for both of my houses. It's quite a ride, but with the right builder (one that will work with you), it can be a good experience. If you take the plunge, best of luck!
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kgb18
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Post by kgb18 on Oct 8, 2012 21:15:46 GMT -5
I like our house now, but it is way too small now that we have two kids. And we have to park on the street, which is really difficult in the winter. I told DH I wasn't going to move unless I got exactly what I wanted. I mean that within reason. I'm well aware we have a budget, and I have what I think is a reasonable list of must-haves.
The plans in the neighborhood we're considering have all of my must-haves (foyer, open floor plan, formal dining room, spacious living room, bedrooms all on the same floor, garage). And with a new build you shouldn't have to worry about your roof, furnace, etc. for a long time.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Oct 8, 2012 22:46:26 GMT -5
Lone, I'd do it if you weren't so far away.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 6:41:52 GMT -5
I think there's a difference between buying a piece of land and hiring a contractor to build a house on it and buying a house from a builder that's constructing an entire subdivision. Mine was the latter.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Oct 9, 2012 6:58:31 GMT -5
We had ours built. Make sure all permits are drawn. Set up a pay schedule, so you don't end up with an unfinished house and the contractor gone with all your money. DO NOT do a loan that allows the builder to draw payments as they go. Get a standard mortgage. A deposit at the start and payment at closing. Glad we turned down our builder's request to take out a mortgage with the small bank he did business with(conflict of interest). At closing and after having walked through the house, there were a number of things that weren't completed. Our bank held out over 10% in escrow to await the completion of those items. The builder's attorney agreed as they had people that had to be paid for their work. He ran to the court house to register the sale before any of the mechanics could put a lien on the house. MAKE SURE the builder doesn't have any judgements against him....any of his debtors could lay right to a portion of anything he's building. Is all the landscaping included? Grading etc. If you agree to build, I would go out and visit the site every few days to make certain that things are going up the way you planned. I went out to see the site when they had just competed the foundation. They hadn't put in the block for the Bilco? Glad I caught it while they could still make the change.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Oct 9, 2012 7:02:52 GMT -5
I like our house now, but it is way too small now that we have two kids. And we have to park on the street, which is really difficult in the winter. I told DH I wasn't going to move unless I got exactly what I wanted. I mean that within reason. I'm well aware we have a budget, and I have what I think is a reasonable list of must-haves. The plans in the neighborhood we're considering have all of my must-haves (foyer, open floor plan, formal dining room, spacious living room, bedrooms all on the same floor, garage). And with a new build you shouldn't have to worry about your roof, furnace, etc. for a long time. You could probably get those things in a home that was built within the last few years and without the headache of building. I would suggest you begin looking at existing homes. There are so many costs with building a new home that you don't consider until you're in the middle of it. Go buy something that someone else has already put the money into to establish(landscaping, driveway, any outbuildings like a shed, gardens, trees, any necessary fencing).
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Oct 9, 2012 7:04:24 GMT -5
We intended to build a house but ended up buying a finished brand new home that was being used as the model for the neighborhood. We basically had similar wants to you guys and in the end I think this saved us a lot of headaches. Everything in the house was neutral and I didn't have to deal with agonizing over bathroom tile or countertops.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 9, 2012 8:38:40 GMT -5
The "good old boy" thing goes on in every town.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Oct 9, 2012 9:55:23 GMT -5
We were looking to buy (when we ended up building houses), but both times we saved money building rather than purchasing a finished home. We've never needed all of the bells and whistles.
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financialpeace
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Post by financialpeace on Oct 9, 2012 10:03:21 GMT -5
My husband and I are having a house built right now. It has been one of the most miserable experiences of my life. The amount of decisions you have to make is overwhelming. Keeping tabs on the work to make sure it is being done correctly is very stressful. I think it will be worth it in the end, but I just don't know yet. If you do go this route, make sure you and your SO can handle the stress. Some parts of the process have definitely put a strain on my marriage.
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