New Build: Where to invest for greatest house sales value?
JeanHay
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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JeanHay
2 years agosuedonim75
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Help me plan for building a new custom home FAST
Comments (41)LAURA12:: You didn't see your name at the top of two of these replies in bold, to the right of a pink star, one response each for your two posts? :P This forum has provided me with some great feedback, but the layout, search features and almost everything about the website itself could be improved and made more user friendly. 'Skeptical', maybe. Maybe 'ignorant', 'naive' or 'just starting' plus 'stubborn' (or if we're gonna be friends, 'determined') would more precisely describe my mentality lol. I saw FHA, new construction and other very affordable down % and took that into my want for a custom home, not realizing that the custom requires more up front. Your cost breakdown is quite helpful and the $150/sqft mark makes sense when I consider the prices I've seen for houses other than ticky-tacky. This one here we're currently renting sold last April sold for something like $91/sqft, and the more I'm seeing, the more I realize how good a deal that purchase was. I'm now more strongly leaning toward more of a mass construction and I'll be sure to keep asking about any kinds of alterations with regards to resale value. You mentioned something about affordable contractors in the area?...See MoreNew construction vs old construction home values
Comments (19)My fiance and I have been looking to buy our first home for almost a year now. We have been looking for an older home (pre 1930's), because we love the historical feel, especially victorian architecture. A lot of us have that same dream. When I was a teen, I was dating a guy that was in a fraternity that was out of a beautiful Victorian. I remember the stairway, the flowers that were engraved in the wood. I remember the "dome room" and while it was a PITA to put furniture in, amazed me every time I went into it. I remember beautiful moldings, everything was etched and 3 or 4 fireplaces. It had a decent sized kitchen from what I remember, also had a servant room. Man I loved that house and swore that one day, if I could afford to have the house moved I would. The house was located in one of the worst neighborhoods. You had to lock your doors to drive there and run in the house. I bet that in it's day, it was one of the grandest houses. They ended up knocking it down, don't know when but I drove by about 16 years ago, there was nothing on the lot. Anyway, a lot of us have the same dream, to own a beautiful, grand house. Reality is the lack of things needed to live in it in today's world as Tricia said. Since you are not married with kids yet, it wouldn't really matter much, you would probably get by fine. Once you have kids and they start getting older is when you will notice how hard it is to raise a family there unless you luck out and get a house that has larger rooms where you can make closets, or one that has a decent kitchen. I wonder then if my fiance and I should actually change our dream to accomodate the current economy and the deals available? IMO, this might be a good idea, at least for now. Being newly married can be stressful. Unless the 2 of you are currently living together, you have to learn to live with your partner. How do both of you handle stress? Buying a house that you are working on all of the time is very stressful and could eventually start pulling you apart. You'll come home from work some days so tired but you have to sand & throw another coat of spackle on, or paint, or run out to the home store to buy supplies. Hubby & I worked on our last house starting 2 years after I moved in. We removed paneling, faux brick, painted, put in floors as well as putting a new floor frame on a concrete slab in the laundry area to build it up so that we could put a floor down. By the time we sold we were tired & cranky. Add to this a roof, electric upgrade, plumbing, which was a job in itself since there was only 1 shutoff valve, which meant we lost water for the day. We also did central air, a hot water heater as well as new furnace, and had planned to redo all of the baseboards as well. Are there any houses that are in between the old house and new construction for a compromise? You might be able to live a little bit more comfortably and not have to work as hard. It will also give you an idea of how the 2 of you work together as a team (or not). You can save the Victorian house for later on...See MoreAndersen 100 vs. E Series windows new build resale value/opinions?
Comments (20)@Windows on Washington Ltd and @quasiexpert Sorry if my last message came through in a different tone, I'd been up for awhile and was just stream of consciousness posting. From my research here on this forum, it just seems that invariably quite a few posts discount the entry level windows and recommend the Anderson 400 or Marvin Integrity ++ type windows. Hoping that I can learn from you all. Our situation is a new construction in the deep South (Birmingham AL). About 60 windows on the house. Front facing windows I believe have to be aluminum clad, the rear might be able to get way with a vinyl window. Rear will be facing the South West, but looks like there will be some tree coverage as well as decks/roofing for the majority of the windows. The builder has spec'd Piva Group vinyl windows. They are Argon filled, double glazed, Low E 366. U-factor 0.26, SHGC 0.21, Visible Transmittance 0.49 and air leakage < 0.3. He mentioned that the Anderson 100's might be within the same price range, and we would be interested in the Smart Sun if it's available with the low E4 coating to help protect the wood floors. While I can appreciate the beauty of the wood interiors, our preference is for something low maintenance and can handle sun without fading. We've never had a double hung window before and a single hung is fine. We open the windows in our current house maybe 8-10 times a year to air the house out, otherwise they stay shut. Sadly, we wash our windows even less times /duck Given the above criteria, might you have some thoughts or recommendations, or are there any additional questions I might answer?...See MoreBuilding for Appraisal Value?
Comments (34)Contractor owns the land and will build the house (on his dime); what is the contractor asking of you to “seal the deal”? There may be a way, but I suggest you make an appointment with a real estate attorney. If he/she thinks it is doable, you can then proceed with a legal contract which sets parameters. In my experience “appraisal” value is used for two things…town/city appraisal for property taxes and “opinion of value” appraisal for selling or settling estates. Contractor isn’t going with town appraisal, for sure, which most likely will be lower. And, the land…you haven’t mentioned that at all. It does have some value and more with a house on it. He is just throwing that it in for nothing? I did a project somewhat similar to yours. I owned the land which I had subdivided into three lots. After about a year, I was notified that the town zoning was going to change from 30,000 to 40,000 sq ft per building lot and I had about 6 months to get things going or I would lose one lot. Yikes! I wasn’t in the position to write checks to build these homes, but I was in the financial position to get a commercial loan. However, to build more than two houses I needed a contractor’s license. Okay, now what to do? With the help of an attorney, I entered into an arragement with a great builder…he built the houses and I took on the responsibility of getting the water, electric/gas, etc onto each property and building the road. We then had an real estate agent do the comps and builder, I and agent set the lsiting prices. It was a win/win for both of us, but neither the builder nor I would ever had done that without legal counsel and a contract. There are so many snafus. In my town, building code regulates the number of bedrooms allowed…there must be 10,000sq ft of land for every bedroom; then set-back allowances…on and on. I am betting you don’t know the rules and regulations at all…and am betting contractor hasn’t even gotten to the stage of applying for a permit to see what he CAN build. Yes, legal counsel is needed. Hope it works out for you and if it doesn’t my motto is there are “too many houses and not enough time” to live in them....See Moretlynn1960
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