Home buying thread

Lanx · May 19, 2021

Intrinsic said:
It is in really good shape honestly and I put a lot of personal time in to fixing things. Not 100% on my out of pocket total and probably best to not think of it that way. I estimated $580 or something in electrical repairs and the buyer's realtor had an estimate from a local place for $615 and she was like "good enough."

for me, i got to fixing everything in my home inspection report a few years ago, i'm looking over it and i have a few lingering ones i was like, oh... yea time to do that for realz, like one of them i know is silly cuz he was like "some lights don't work, possibly garage? maybe electrical issue?"

no, the garage lights just have that dawn/dusk adapter so it won't work until night, so like when i sell the house i'm gonna remove these, heh fuck getting an electrical ding.

Gravel · May 19, 2021

I imagine we have quite a few people who have built houses before, but it's a new one for me. And I've got several weird timing things that I'm not sure there is good advice for (unless you're a psychic and know that land will start becoming cheaper).

Essentially though, I'd like to build a house here in the Florida panhandle. I want to do a lot of the work myself. I'm not sure how willing a builder would be to "mentor" me through the process and assist when needed. I'm also unsure of the intricate details on what I should do to move that process along. Here's kind of an unordered list on my thoughts:

Purchase land; not sure if this should be the first step before talking to a builder or architect. There's a chance I'd need some environmental studies due to wetlands and swamps and shit here in Florida, and the associated species that live in them. My nightmare scenario is we buy land and are told you just can't build on it.
Unless I can find a builder who will let me customize a plan, I'm guessing I'll need an architect. Mostly this is due to wanting a 20'x20' room for a gym (not bedroom) which is pretty niche. Additionally, I'm only looking at 1200-1400 sqft total.
I'll be building on the coast, and so I want to do a house on piles. Concrete if possible, and concrete walls likely as well. Single story (on piles though, so technically it'd be the "2nd" floor). Metal roof. A lot of my decisions are based on wanting to keep insurance as low as possible, but also obviously make it as hurricane proof as possible.
For the work, I'd likely have the builder do the piles/walls, roof framing, possibly the roof itself (since I don't want to try putting a roof on 30'+ off the ground), window installation (I'd try this myself, but with the height again, not sure it's worthwhile) and probably HVAC. I'm going to give the rest my best shot unless I feel like I'm totally over my head; framing the interior walls, plumbing (drain and water lines), electrical, and all finish work. Insulation will kind of depend on regulations since I have no idea if Florida requires a license to do spray foam. But I want closed cell for everything, again due to making it wind/water proof.
Budget wise I'm hoping we could find something for under $50k for land. This is looking less and less feasible unless the market finally corrects. For the house itself, I'd like to keep the total to under $150k since I'm planning on doing so much of the work. Hoping we could get a construction loan.

It's stressful because I also want to retire, and it's going to be a giant bitch to get a mortgage without full time employment at our ages. But that means moving faster through the process. We've got a decent chunk of cash right now from our home sale (probably around $50k once all our moving expenses are accounted for).

Anyway, any advice is welcome. And any questions. I'm sure I left off tons that has been rattling around my brain, but it's been a hectic few months.

Blazin · May 19, 2021

You need an engineer more than an architect, you want one who is use to working with the local municipality that the land will be in. You want to get through the land development stage before you even start worrying about the construction stage.

As far as doing certain scope yourself most builders are now entirely GCs they subcontract the entire project anyway. A larger builder probably wouldn’t want the hassle/change of you doing some of the scope but a smaller builder would probably be more willing to work with you.

You could agree that they will be paid to manage the scope you are doing. Or just let inspectors be your teacher . This could be more costly as you’ll make mistake that will take time and money to rectify but in most communities now they have their fingers in every little detail so they will drive you towards doing it right.

but just a lot of home work and study should answer most questions about what is required. If this will be your full time job and you know it’s going to take a major commitment then I’d say go for it could be an interesting experience.

As far as your cost numbers they seem crazy low . There can be geographical differences of course but expenses mount up quickly . You’ll either have public utilities with tap fees or you’ll have the expense of a well and septic system. A driveway can be near $10/sq far alone .

There is home builder software that may be helpful in covering your basis on budget . Even if it costs a few hundred dollars could be worth it.

Gravel · May 19, 2021

I think that was actually my biggest question, and I'm glad you answered since the reason I posted was because it looked from your last post like you were getting ready to build.

Captain Suave · May 19, 2021

Intrinsic said:
Zillow does a terrible job

When I tried to sell my house I discovered that Zillow had unilaterally injected a totally phantom sale 2 years prior (I'd been there for 10 years) into the property history at roughly 50% of what the house was actually worth. I got months of lowball offers from people who were using that as a data point. It was a colosal pain in the ass to have removed. Fuck Zillow.

Blazin · May 19, 2021

Gravel said:
I think that was actually my biggest question, and I'm glad you answered since the reason I posted was because it looked from your last post like you were getting ready to build.

My start point would be looking for homes in the area that were built this year, look at what they sold for per square ft. Look for recent land sales that are similar to what you want.

The easier route is a large parcel that someone has already done the work of a land development plan and subdivided the property. They will likely have already done an E&S. It can be hard to find this as many developers who go through these steps do so to have a builder come in and build out the whole neighborhood as an exclusive builder, but there are still sometimes property out there that are BYOB. If you are starting with truly raw land then the civil engineer is your first stop and depending on the property will likely cost you from $5-15k for just one parcel.

Falstaff · May 19, 2021

When we were house shopping I was checking zillow, redfin and realtor.com every single day... Zillow consistently had about 50% of the listings that the other two had.

Intrinsic · May 19, 2021

Captain Suave said:
When I tried to sell my house I discovered that Zillow had unilaterally injected a totally phantom sale 2 years prior (I'd been there for 10 years) into the property history at roughly 50% of what the house was actually worth. I got months of lowball offers from people who were using that as a data point. It was a colosal pain in the ass to have removed. Fuck Zillow.

Really? Maybe six months ago something showed up on mine that showed a sale for $800k or something from a real estate agent in New York. I emailed there support and they removed it with zero questions in about a day. Was very surprised at that turn around and support.

Captain Suave · May 19, 2021

Intrinsic said:
they removed it with zero questions in about a day

It took me several months, and they demanded that I go to the county and get notarized copies of the property records. It was an enormous fucking pain.

Lendarios · May 19, 2021

Is anyone familiar with installing solar roofs in florida? Price / costs/ savings?

Is it worth doing?

TJT · May 20, 2021

Lendarios said:
Is anyone familiar with installing solar roofs in florida? Price / costs/ savings?

Is it worth doing?

Project Sunroof

Enter a state, county, city, or zip code to see a solar estimate for the area, based on the amount of usable sunlight and roof space.

www.google.com

In almost every case, even in Texas or Florida, it isn't worth the money. Even if you throw down cash for it. It will take you 20+ years to break even on the investment.

LachiusTZ · May 20, 2021

Some new tech with solar, might actually be worthwhile in another five years or so

Lendarios · May 20, 2021

TJT said:
Project Sunroof

Enter a state, county, city, or zip code to see a solar estimate for the area, based on the amount of usable sunlight and roof space.

www.google.com

In almost every case, even in Texas or Florida, it isn't worth the money. Even if you throw down cash for it. It will take you 20+ years to break even on the investment.

my monthly electric bill is around $210. I consume a lot during the daytime with Work from home. But damn according to that website it is very expensive, 38k upfront for a 16 year payback.

Borzak · May 20, 2021

Oh here's a surprise, well not really.

Sorry, Project Sunroof hasn't reached that address yet

Lanx · May 20, 2021

Lendarios said:
my monthly electric bill is around $210. I consume a lot during the daytime with Work from home. But damn according to that website it is very expensive, 38k upfront for a 16 year payback.

i believe

Tarisk installs solar roofs, maybe he has insight for you

wormie · May 20, 2021

Keep in mind there is a federal tax credit if you get a solar shit on your roof, that brings costs down a tad. Still garbage though.

Lendarios · May 20, 2021

the federal thing is a 26% solar tax credit of the cost. I'm sure this meant thing got 26% more expensive.

Blazin · May 21, 2021

One builder meeting down another one next week. Trying to decide between a company that does over 80 homes a year vs a smaller more personal one that does around 8. Pros and cons to each, general rapport will probably end up tilting it one way or the other. The small one is an Amish guy I get along with rather well as we both hate over reaching government.

LachiusTZ · May 21, 2021

Blazin said:
The small one is an Amish guy I get along with rather well as we both hate over reaching government.

That's a winner.

But there are some real neat new techs in building, dunno if Amish would use it or your would even care. Lol

Guy named Matt Risingler (sp?) Has a YouTube channel where he is always showing off new things in the industry.

Really cool stuff, you might want to check it out for ideas.

Fogel · May 21, 2021

Blazin said:
One builder meeting down another one next week. Trying to decide between a company that does over 80 homes a year vs a smaller more personal one that does around 8. Pros and cons to each, general rapport will probably end up tilting it one way or the other. The small one is an Amish guy I get along with rather well as we both hate over reaching government.

I'd lean towards the smaller guy. When looking at houses last year I looked at some of the larger developments with new houses and the build/material quality was much lower compared to a new house being built by a smaller guy who only did a few a year. I ended up buying from the smaller guy.

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