Building vs Buying

meepitsmeagan

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#1
We will probably be looking into home ownership in a year or so... So thoughts on buying vs building! Josh was previously a framer/worked in renovation, so a lot of the work will be done by him. Pros, cons, experiences.

:popcorn:
 
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#2
I'd buy an older home with great location that I could get cheaper and do a remodel. Pro's-
you can get more house and location for less money and know the work is done correctly and finish how you want. Just buying land and laying a foundation can cost quite a bit, if you can at least start with that, you're ahead of the game. Plus materials keep going up.

Con's
You never know what you're digging into and having done more than a couple remodels, nothing surprises me anymore. It always costs more than you think :) and unless you can support two homes, you end up living in the construction mess and that takes some adaptation. Having done it, it really isn't that bad. Plus our memories of sleeping on the floor in a sun room for 3 weeks felt like we were kids camping in the backyard in forts we built :) Surrounded by dogs and cats.

I'm very hesitant to buy any newer house (10 years or so old). They were built cheap, cheap, cheap. Cheap fixtures, cheap labor, cheaply done. Even the McMansions, or should I say, especially the McMansions. entire subdivision were thrown up quickly and it can look good long enough to sell it. 5-10 years down the road, they look 30 years old.

I was just over to my cousins house to look at all his doors. Really nice solid mahogany doors. Beautifully finished, I have to give them that. They didn't mount any of the jams to the framing. They're ****ing held in by drywall and trim. of course a couple years down the road, all the doors are falling out.
 

meepitsmeagan

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#3
I'd buy an older home with great location that I could get cheaper and do a remodel. Pro's-
you can get more house and location for less money and know the work is done correctly and finish how you want. Just buying land and laying a foundation can cost quite a bit, if you can at least start with that, you're ahead of the game. Plus materials keep going up.

Con's
You never know what you're digging into and having done more than a couple remodels, nothing surprises me anymore. It always costs more than you think :) and unless you can support two homes, you end up living in the construction mess and that takes some adaptation. Having done it, it really isn't that bad. Plus our memories of sleeping on the floor in a sun room for 3 weeks felt like we were kids camping in the backyard in forts we built :) Surrounded by dogs and cats.

I'm very hesitant to buy any newer house (10 years or so old). They were built cheap, cheap, cheap. Cheap fixtures, cheap labor, cheaply done. Even the McMansions, or should I say, especially the McMansions. entire subdivision were thrown up quickly and it can look good long enough to sell it. 5-10 years down the road, they look 30 years old.

I was just over to my cousins house to look at all his doors. Really nice solid mahogany doors. Beautifully finished, I have to give them that. They didn't mount any of the jams to the framing. They're ****ing held in by drywall and trim. of course a couple years down the road, all the doors are falling out.
Thanks! We would definitely be looking at older homes. Most likely older farmhouses.
 

joce

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#4
I think it depends on what you want.

We wanted lots of land and barns already in place because once you add price of new house and barns and a separate garage I have priced myself out of anything but a trailer:p

If I didn't have the horses and didn't care about where we lived I could have gotten some amazing deals on some houses. I also could have built new and not had an issue.

I did start looking at land only because we had been looking so long and not found anything. I found twenty acres for 69,000 but it had to be cash because there was an old trailer on it that would not pass inspection. They wouldn't take the forty I had. Land gets expensive in some places and then you still have cost of building etc. But I would have done it if I could have gotten land cheap enough. everything else here is under ten acres for around 100,000 unless you drive hours.

I would have loved an old farmhouse to remodel but they rarely come up with decent land anymore in a decent location. the place we are waiting to inspect is nice but not everything I wanted. We have been waiting so long I finally gave in. Horses need more room.
 

meepitsmeagan

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#5
I think it depends on what you want.

We wanted lots of land and barns already in place because once you add price of new house and barns and a separate garage I have priced myself out of anything but a trailer:p

If I didn't have the horses and didn't care about where we lived I could have gotten some amazing deals on some houses. I also could have built new and not had an issue.

I did start looking at land only because we had been looking so long and not found anything. I found twenty acres for 69,000 but it had to be cash because there was an old trailer on it that would not pass inspection. They wouldn't take the forty I had. Land gets expensive in some places and then you still have cost of building etc. But I would have done it if I could have gotten land cheap enough. everything else here is under ten acres for around 100,000 unless you drive hours.

I would have loved an old farmhouse to remodel but they rarely come up with decent land anymore in a decent location. the place we are waiting to inspect is nice but not everything I wanted. We have been waiting so long I finally gave in. Horses need more room.
The fact that we want to homestead definitely limits our home options. However, I'm willing to make compromises on the house in order to get the land we are looking for.
 

Jules

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#6
I'd definitely buy an existing home. I heard so many horror stories about building a house.. Add-on package prices, contractors messing things up... Plus, we lived in a brand new house once and seeing it settle is not very pretty :)

Our house is about 14 years old.
 
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#7
Old homes come with some (ok often a LOT) of issues and problems, but to me, nothing beats the character of an old home. The "newest" house I lived in was probably about 1920ish....my current house is 1865.

Now, if money were not an issue and I could build with materials that rival the ones of past while including awesome energy effecieny and green products, I would consider building.
 

joce

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#8
The fact that we want to homestead definitely limits our home options. However, I'm willing to make compromises on the house in order to get the land we are looking for.
That was my feeling! Screw the house, show me the barn!

If you plan on buying in a year I would find a mortgage broker you can sit down and talk to and they can give you an idea of what to work on credit wise, what to save for how much you want to buy etc. we only went off my income and I figure if anything ever happens one of us is out of a job we should be ok.

Look into if you get tax brakes for farming to. we wanted to do cauv but ended up with under ten acres. Cuts taxes a ton. Just hay the land.

And save up way more than they tell you. we got better rates on traditional loan vs fha. Some traditional loans do 3.5 down though. If something needs replaced in the home you love then you can put money towards it. One of the ones we loved(17 acres old farm house and barns) needed a new septic and they would not budge on paying for it. Someone eventually stepped up and bought it and paid to have it fixed. It always costs more to. Place we are looking at needs a driveway and stalls in the barn done right away.
 
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#9
Old homes come with some (ok often a LOT) of issues and problems, but to me, nothing beats the character of an old home. The "newest" house I lived in was probably about 1920ish....my current house is 1865.

Now, if money were not an issue and I could build with materials that rival the ones of past while including awesome energy effecieny and green products, I would consider building.
You'll never find a home today built with comparable materials from the late 1800-early 1900's :)

I helped my dad do a kitchen in dowtown St. Paul just off of Grand Ave. Built in the 1860's I think, for a member of the Hill family. You can't find large planks of wood that quality anywhere anymore. I wish I could have dismantled that whole house and taken the framing :)
 

meepitsmeagan

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#10
How do you normally go about finding a good mortgage broker? We are members of a credit union. Would we just walk in there and ask to speak to someone or are there specific companies that help with that aspect?

I grew up in an old farmhouse on 80 acres. I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO MOVE BACK IN THERE. Lol. It was just so much character, and I love the barns and everything. In fact, my family owns it, so I could.. but it is currently rented to another family member.
 

joce

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#11
We found ours through friends who had bought through him. He does a ton of leg work for us and we have a question we can call him anytime. The bank was so do this that and this and call us when you get a contract. Our mortgage guy does not do rehab loans which we almost did at one point and the bank that does them here were so unhelpful. I am glad its working out that we can use him.
 

meepitsmeagan

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#12
We found ours through friends who had bought through him. He does a ton of leg work for us and we have a question we can call him anytime. The bank was so do this that and this and call us when you get a contract. Our mortgage guy does not do rehab loans which we almost did at one point and the bank that does them here were so unhelpful. I am glad its working out that we can use him.
Ahh, okay. We are definitely going to have to do a meetup sometime and go riding together or something!
 

joce

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Ahh, okay. We are definitely going to have to do a meetup sometime and go riding together or something!
Yes. Another good thing about the place we have the contract on now is its rich down the road from a horse park! Though I wish I had eighty acres to ride on of my own lol!
 

meepitsmeagan

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#14
Yes. Another good thing about the place we have the contract on now is its rich down the road from a horse park! Though I wish I had eighty acres to ride on of my own lol!
Nice! Yeah, it was super nice to have all that room. We had an indoor there too, so it was even better. I would be spoiled if I got to move back. Lol.

But, if I am able to come down, then I can pick your brain a little bit about the buying process and such. Do the barns increase land value at all and affect taxes?
 

Pops2

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#15
In our neighborhood it was $50-100K cheaper to build. Even with the struggling economy we've added about $20K in equity because of increasing property values. So it really just depends.
 

Shai

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It really depends on the area. There's no replacement for pricing thigs out in your location and talking to locals who have built or bought recently.

Then again the house that I love is a little farm built in the mid-late 1800s. We tried to buy it but the woman living there (who has been there 40 years) had a panic attack when faced with leaving and cancelled the deal. Broke my heart.
 
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#17
You'll never find a home today built with comparable materials from the late 1800-early 1900's :)

I helped my dad do a kitchen in dowtown St. Paul just off of Grand Ave. Built in the 1860's I think, for a member of the Hill family. You can't find large planks of wood that quality anywhere anymore. I wish I could have dismantled that whole house and taken the framing :)
Too late to edit, but I had to go back and check on that house. It wasn't built in the 1860's it was 1886 and a Hill didn't live there till 1931. Still has some amazing cuts of timber.
 

CaliTerp07

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#18
I think it really depends on the area. Here, the only way to build is to head at least an hour (usually more like 90 minutes) outside the job centers. No way we were willing to do that. Buying the little 1950's ramblers and tearing them down is a popular option around here, because it's the only way you can get a buildable lot with a reasonable commute.
 

meepitsmeagan

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I think it really depends on the area. Here, the only way to build is to head at least an hour (usually more like 90 minutes) outside the job centers. No way we were willing to do that. Buying the little 1950's ramblers and tearing them down is a popular option around here, because it's the only way you can get a buildable lot with a reasonable commute.
Oh my goodness! That is crazy! I could walk out the back door and build a house. Lol.
 

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