Hiring builder to build on your lot?
kotena
11 years ago
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kotena
11 years agoRelated Discussions
If you did an in-fill build, how did you find your lot?
Comments (8)We are preparing to build on an infill lot. We looked long and hard for the right opportunity. We ended up buying an older house on a double lot. We are fixing up the old house to sell and will build on the vacant lot. That being said, I looked at a number of possible teardowns and possible renovation/addition properties. If it were me, I would look long and hard at the price, location and attractiveness of the lot. If your market is individual buyers, I would talk a lot about the location, proximity to amenities, school district, etc. The lot we will build on is very very small, but the location is excellent. As with pretty much any house sale, if the price is right, you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a buyer. Is this property in Chicago? If so, can I ask which suburb? Another possibility you may want to consider is subdividing the lot and selling it as two separate parcels. Our lot added very little to the price of our house, but is worth substantially more as a stand alone property....See MoreInexpensive "build on your lot" builders?
Comments (63)I built a beach house with Hiline Homes 2 years ago. I actually blogged about it specifically so people could see what our experience was like because I too could not find anything online. I haven't updated the blog with what the house has been like since we moved into it because I got burned out. But overall, I think the house was pretty solidly built. The build experience was far from perfect but that is also true of my sister's super high end build that I got to hear about going up as well. I will say the fixes and responses to getting things fixed on the higher end home were a lot better than what Hiline has done. But our house itself seems like a very good value to me. All inclusive with our land, permits, driveway, excavation/ground prep, etc, we paid about $118 per sq foot. With the builder we quoted with, the cost would have been $160 per sq ft. and the quality at that price would have been comparable to Hiline's since the builder also would have been using similar materials to get their quote that low. (By similar materials I mean the finishing touches like countertops, carpet, flooring, etc. They would have used the same construction materials, and in some cases, Hiline's construction materials were actually nicer.) So, I think you could go with one of these companies and come out okay, though I can only speak for one of them. We had a terrible project manager but he was fired after our build. Hopefully their next one is better.) Here's a link to my blog if you want to read about it. I always meant to go back and pull out the salient details that people would want to know, but I never did. So it's mostly an online journal, I'm sure it's incredibly painful to read! http://myhilinehome.com/...See MoreHire GC for partial construction, then become owner builder?
Comments (14)Our bank doesn't have a problem with us finishing the house after it is blacked in. But we are only borrowing 60% of the value, so that may be why it's ok. We have also been using the same banker for the last 10 years so we have a good history with them. With all of the problems that we have had getting blacked-in, we now have 3 or 4 contractors that we can use on a cost-plus basis when we need to, assuming that we ever get to the blacked-in stage! DH is planning on doing a lot of the work himself - electrical, plumbing, flooring, cabinets, finish carpentry. We'll sub the roof, siding, HVAC, insulation, and sheetrock. Not sure yet about everything else. Doing a lot of the work ourselves will save money. There is risk in the plumbing and electrical, but DH has a lot of experience with this, and we are planning to hire an electrician as a consultant. I agree with bellamay's post except that I would insert the word "good" in front of GC! Don't hire a crook, like we did. sigh......See MoreShould I build with a National Builder or buy a lot and custom build?
Comments (36)why do you assume he wouldn't want to be educated and empowered? Personally, I would recommend an economics class in said education. Then point out that specialize and trade means that you create the most value by doing things that you are better at doing, and leaving the things that you are not particularly good at doing to others. Why stop at being your own contractor? You should also design your house, it really can't be that hard right, I mean architects do it all day long and they only need like five years of college and two years of apprenticeship. I mean if you want to be educated don't go half way, go for the works. Or you could spend that time going to your job, enjoying the fruits of the labor that you actually specialize in, and trade said fruits to other people who have others specializations. Which is how value is really created....See Moreauroraborelis
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