topic Re: Building a house in Mortgage Loans

Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:23:06 GMT

Hi All,

I have change my plans to build a home. Even though this is not a forum for question as such. I am sure as most of you have went through process I am hoping someone could guide me. I got the following standard features which will come free.

http://i.imgur.com/akV9ORK.jpg

Could some check following and let me know is these are normal features? Base price is 315K and addons will be on top. This is for 2800 SqF Colonial.

Re: Building a house

tooleman694 — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:27:14 GMT

Laminate kitchen counters seems off for that price range.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:39:57 GMT

Those features are on par with or very slightly better than the standard features I've seen on new constructions around here. The new construction I'm looking at has almost the same features, except there's no fireplace, the foyer and bathrooms are sheet vinyl instead of ceramic, and the house doesn't come with any paint options (it's just white). The standard counters in the house I'm looking at are also laminate. High definition laminate and granite are additional upgrades.

Depending on the location, the base price may or may not be "fair". The house I'm looking at is a base of $210k in one development, but $310k for the same model in another development. That's all relative.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:43:15 GMT

How did you guys select the builder? Reference? or just talking to builders and going with the gutt?

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:53:48 GMT

I looked at what they offered, compared what the features were for the price, checked out people's experiences online, and just decided what I thought would work best for my family and our own particular situation and needs/wants. I found a floor plan that was perfect for us, at a price that could fit into our budget, and with a sales and construction process that seemed reasonable.

One bit of advice: compare the costs of any upgrades to how much it would cost you to do it separately. In most places, the total sales price of the house will affect your property taxes, plus you'll be paying interest on it for 15-30 years. We could upgrade to granite counters for another $4-5k, but there's no way in heck I'm going to have higher taxes and pay 30 years of interest for a countertop that I can install later for less money. Same thing with the $600 faucet upgrade, or the $400 ceiling fan. On the other hand, the finished basement works out to like $20/sq ft, which is cheaper than I could have it done for and really does increase the liveable spacec and value of the house..

Re: Building a house

tooleman694 — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:54:23 GMT

I asked my Realtor who the best were and he gave us a list of who to check out.

We checked them out and built in the hood we liked.

Our home is 300k, 3200 SQ FT and we have Granite counter tops in the kitchen with custom kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors, Fireplace with stone and an oak mantel, 4 bedrooms gameroom office, giant extended covered patio, 8 foot fence with metal poles. Double Ovens upgraded dishwasher stainless steal everything. It is maxed

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:04:25 GMT

OK where do you live? I guess Texas?

@Twelvemonth wrote:
I asked my Realtor who the best were and he gave us a list of who to check out.

We checked them out and built in the hood we liked.

Our home is 300k, 3200 SQ FT and we have Granite counter tops in the kitchen with custom kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors, Fireplace with stone and an oak mantel, 4 bedrooms gameroom office, giant extended covered patio, 8 foot fence with metal poles. Double Ovens upgraded dishwasher stainless steal everything. It is maxed

Re: Building a house

basballguy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:07:06 GMT

there's not really enough info.

Who's the builder? Where are you building?

If you're building California then it's probably going to be pretty cheap. If you're building in Oklahoma...then you're probably overpaying.

You really need a realtors help for something like this unless you do your own homework.

Take for example a builder like First Texas Homes. You can build a house in neighborhood A for 260,000. You can build the EXACT SAME HOUSE in an upscale neighborhood for double the cost.

location, location, location.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:09:45 GMT

Great advice Autumnslight

I am doing the same. I am going to make sure base price of the house will be reported and the other upgrades will be paid out of my pocket. So could save a lot in taxes year over year. Also my builder is giving a 5% discount on paying it in cash . I think that is super cool..

Thanks.

Re: Building a house

tooleman694 — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:16:47 GMT

Yup we are in Texas.

Re: Building a house

basballguy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:25:25 GMT

@tooleman694 wrote:
Yup we are in Texas.

everything is bigger in texas

Re: Building a house

tooleman694 — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:31:00 GMT

Houses yes but not the costs lol.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:33:42 GMT

@tooleman694 wrote:
Houses yes but not the costs lol.

Not a true statement houses are mad cheap in TX and so is living expenses. TX is one of the best state when it comes to living and housing expenses.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:42:12 GMT

Upstate NY. Rochester to be exact. It is one of the good neighborhoods.

No I do not want to use the Realtor....You can but your not gaining anything rather paying bloated cost on house because builder has to pay 6%. Realtor is there to get you through the house buying process. Realtor can't guide you through to check on how the house is built unless you are using a housing inspector.

Thanks.

@basballguy wrote:
there's not really enough info.

Who's the builder? Where are you building?

If you're building California then it's probably going to be pretty cheap. If you're building in Oklahoma...then you're probably overpaying.

You really need a realtors help for something like this unless you do your own homework.

Take for example a builder like First Texas Homes. You can build a house in neighborhood A for 260,000. You can build the EXACT SAME HOUSE in an upscale neighborhood for double the cost.

location, location, location.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:45:46 GMT

Our builder is Lennar. We found a really nice fully finished inventory home with max upgrades ($51,000 worth). The home price was $347,900 and it is 3700 sq ft with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms plus a study on the main level. It has formal & casual dining areas, home theater system prewire (which we are already using), unfinished walkout basement, balcony deck on main level with stairs that lead to garden level, covered porch out front. All stainless steel appliances were included plus washer and dryer. There is granite kitchen countertops with hardwood floors in the kitchen and casual dining areas plus in the entryway. There is also granite countertops in the 5 piece master bath. All the bedrooms upstairs are connected to a full bathroom. It is fabulous! We are really enjoying it. I can't believe it has been almost a month since we moved in.

So OP, I do think the base price is a little high. I can't believe the dishwasher isn't included! And you have to use an allowance to get the dishwasher. Unless the builder uses higher quality materials than Lennar and other builders that offer more, I would look elsewhere for comparison.

Re: Building a house

tooleman694 — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:55:22 GMT

A realtor will get you the house for cheaper.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:03:34 GMT

Okay, I'm in upstate NY too. The Buffalo area actually. You just plain can't get the same house for the same kind of price you might be able to in parts of Texas or Colorado or other places out west/southwest. The base price that the OP quoted looks perfectly reasonable for certain areas around here. Obviously he should shop around and compare it to other builders in the area to be sure, but it doesn't sound unreasonable, depending on the neighborhood.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:05:12 GMT

I checked out Lennar's website, and I wish they built in NY. Their options and prices look really good. But if they did build here, I'm guessing the costs would be a LOT higher.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:24:06 GMT

Its good to find someone from UPstate NY. Could you please let me know which builder you used?

Just to let everyone know NO builder here include electrical items....

@Anonymous wrote:
I checked out Lennar's website, and I wish they built in NY. Their options and prices look really good. But if they did build here, I'm guessing the costs would be a LOT higher.

Re: Building a house

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:28:49 GMT

Well, we're still in the preliminary stages, haven't signed the contract yet, but the builder is Ryan Homes. I know they do some stuff around Rochester as well, but I haven't looked into them there.