|
Right now I rent an inexpensive house in a great part of town for $575 a month, and I am happy living there for the next 2-3 years. But I want to save some money and build a sweet rear end house. I'm in Oklahoma City, btw. Boring:  Cool:  I have looked at some lots around town, and they go for $10k - $60k. I talked to the coolest architect in town, and they charge about 12% of build cost. Maybe more, depending on stuff. And that's exactly all of the research I've done. I'm pretty clueless about estimating a build cost, estimating square footages needed, whether I need to buy a lot ASAP and sit on it, or just buy a lot with the entire construction loan. Anyone built a house? Is this dumb? It doesn't feel dumb.
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 22:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:32 |
|
|
You should probably figure out first where you want to live, and what you're allowed to build there. Some neighborhoods won't let you build whatever you want (HOA, local government, whatever). For us we can't even touch up the exterior paint, in the exact same color from the same can so it is literally seamless, on our house without pulling a permit and having the color approved. No way in hell someone could build your dream house in this area.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 22:15
|
|
|
Would an HOA necessarily apply to purchasing a vacant lot? My almost non-existant understanding of HOAs is that at some point, the owner of the land voluntarily joined the HOA. Then, as a condition of sale, requires the next buyer to join the HOA as well. And in this way, all subsequent buyers must join the HOA. But with a piece of property that never had a house on it, why would it be part of the HOA?
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 23:01
|
|
|
Celot posted:Would an HOA necessarily apply to purchasing a vacant lot? I think HOA's normally apply to a neighborhood. At least that's how it's done near where I live. When the developer buys the land he has all the lots join the HOA. If at a later point the developer doesn't build on the land, the plot is still under the HOA. I could be talking completely out of my rear end though and it's probably going to be specific to where you want to live. It's something you'd definitely want to ask when you make an offer or consider making an offer on a plot of land.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 23:10
|
|
|
I did not realize there was a relevant megathread just below this one.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 01:54
|
|
|
Then again the megathread is kind of different! I have been vaguely thinking about building a house too, so if people have stuff to say about it let's keep the conversation rolling. ICFs, yes or no?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 02:27
|
|
|
I am so far away from building my own house I don't even know what an ICF is. But I am probably going to sell my house soon, and then I'll be renting and looking for land to build on. Interested to see if anybody chimes in here who's actually done it!
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 02:52
|
|
|
I'd probably go one stupider. Keep my current house but rent it out, live somewhere else while I figure out building. My current house is in a really good place, just getting a little crowded for me.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 02:59
|
|
|
I will be building a home in a few years as well so  for this thread to come to life.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 03:43
|
|
|
So does this mean we're starting a turf war with DIY now? Bring it on!  Also, for content: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3264505
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 04:05
|
|
|
Glorious! I forgot about that thread. Considering this is BFC, maybe we should talk about money too. How the gently caress do you verify that some acreage can work for your house, buy it, get started building, and also have a place to live, all at once??
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 04:07
|
|
|
While I don't build houses, my parents have over 30 years of experience in residential construction and I'm pretty familiar with the process. To answer some questions that have popped up HOA: HOA restrictions could apply to a vacant lot. It depends on the development. A developer will buy a big chunk of land, subdivide it into lots, then improve it with water/sewer, have communication companies run their lines, put in streets and other such niceties. Generally the developer forms an HOA to control what kinds of houses can be in the neighboorhood. I've seen HOA's with minimum sq footage and garage space restrictions, color and style restrictions, what kind of grass you can have, etc. Even if a lot isn't part of an HOA you may have city or county rules/ordinances to follow. If you want to do whatever the gently caress you want, you better be planning to live out in an unincorporated area with few to no rules and restrictions. Build Cost: Build costs vary due to so many factors it's impossible to list them all. A general rule of thumb is you're looking at 60 to 100 dollars a square foot in build costs with the majority of that depending on the finishes and layout of the house. By finishes I mean all the interior crap. Flooring, kitchen cabinets, walls, paint, all that stuff. It can get really expensive really quick when building a house. 60 dollars a sq foot would get you a pretty basic house with no fancy finishes, 100 dollars a sq foot would cover nice flooring and solid surface countertops, and other fancy crap. *note, my numbers are for normal cost of living areas. If you live in Seattle, NYC, NJ, DC, LA, SF Bay Area etc, throw them out the window. I'm talking places where you can buy a normal house for 160 to 200K. slap me silly posted:How the gently caress do you verify that some acreage can work for your house Well the 2 biggest things you have to worry about is electricity and water. After that you need to make sure septic will work properly in the area, and then you can worry about phone. Most of the homes my parents built out in the country were close enough to county water supplies to tap into the county water main. If some form of municipal water source is not available you need to see if there is enough groundwater under your land for a well. I honestly don't know poo poo about well water to be honest, even out in Bumfuck Kansas county water was available. Sewer usually wasn't, so septic was normal. Phone/Cable is optional, but it's usually a good idea to make sure you can at least get basic phone service. Gas isn't a big deal, as they usually put those big rear end propane tanks in the yard. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Aug 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 05:30
|
|
|
skipdogg posted:HOA: The second house in the OP is actually an example from the architect I was talking to, and it's from right in the middle of town. The neighborhoods in the center of town are probably too poor to have restrictive HOAs yet I guess. quote:Build costs vary due to so many factors it's impossible to list them all. A general rule of thumb is you're looking at 60 to 100 dollars a square foot in build costs with the majority of that depending on the finishes and layout of the house. No shib? I had "budgeted" like $130 or $150 per square foot, so that's pretty cool. Gonna get me one of them fancy showers. 
Celot fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Aug 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 05:41
|
|
|
How do you find a good architect? I live somewhere other than where I want the house built - should I hire an architect here or there?
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 13:47
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:Then again the megathread is kind of different! I have been vaguely thinking about building a house too, so if people have stuff to say about it let's keep the conversation rolling. ICFs, yes or no? Not a contractor etc but, my father in law has a house built with ICF's. Its pretty rad. The house is ICFs with steel through them then concrete, all joists etc are steel, polished concrete floors with radiant heat. While the ICF's are only part of the energy efficiency plan, they work really well. I mean, really really well. The only downside I am aware of in that house is that putting up sheetrock takes a bit more time since you cant see the internal steel pieces you need to attach it to and it is laid out in a more complex pattern than a normal wood studded wall. So ICF's Yes, I think.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 14:01
|
|
|
You could look into prefab homes, too, like these. I know nothing about anything, mind you, so I have no idea how the cost or final result stack up compared to building a house the usual way, but I thought I'd mention it as an additional option to look into. They look nice at least. Sillier idea: build one of those concrete dome houses. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 17:32
|
|
|
Lot Chat. Finding a lot that will accommodate the awesome home you think is great but old people will consider an eye sore can be a challenge. There are several entities that will want to destroy your dream before you even begin. 1. The city or local government has an idea of what they think should be built everywhere they are the municipality of. You can schedule meetings with the local tyrants and apply for variances to get approval for your awesome digs though. The difficulty can range from hey you want to build in this crap hole do whatever you want, to ha you will build this specific home in this color with these material after paying us huge fees or you can get bent, we have 100 people waiting in line to build here and we always get what we want. You will need to get this approval no matter if you have small tyrants to deal with or not. 2. HOA or subdivision association, or unplatted land. If you can find unplatted un subdivided land you have no need to worry about this level of asshatery. Congratulations! This is easy out in the middle of know where, can be impossible in cities. If you are purchasing either in a new subdivision that was recently converted from unplatted you will probably be forced to pick the subdivisions builder and one of their plans. In older subdivisions after most building is complete, you can sometimes find lots and just have to deal with the HOA for approval. You can also find in older hoods lots that were skipped, or where homes burned down and or were demolished. Often all you will need is to deal with the city here. This is called neighborhood infill. Again your difficulty of approval depend upon demand and or the specific locality. 3. Pro tip. If you are super awesome and also have tons of money and or credit, if you can find a home on a big enough unplatted lot, subdivide it yourself selling off the old craphole and become lord of a subdivision where you set the rules! Build your home on the lot or lots you split off using the profit from selling off the original home and or other lots you created! You still have to deal with 1. but you can hire engineers to deal with that anyway with all the money you are saving. Cost of subdividing a lot can range from cheap, $2,000 to god know how much in NYC or other places. My lot would probably cost me $15,000 to subdivide if I decide it is worth the risk. You could get denied by the local government in which case run for mayor.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 19:45
|
|
|
Third Murderer posted:You could look into prefab homes, too, like these. I know nothing about anything, mind you, so I have no idea how the cost or final result stack up compared to building a house the usual way, but I thought I'd mention it as an additional option to look into. They look nice at least. I've been researching these for awhile. I posted a list of prefab house builders I've found in the house buying thread. Generally, it seems like they CAN be 10-30% cheaper than "stick built" homes, but often these companies charge a premium for energy efficiency and speed of construction. Not to mention delivery if you're far away from the factory.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 00:23
|
|
|
I'm looking at buying land to build a house and here is what I found. This is Texas mind you but I found that land is considerably cheaper than making a house itself, but not by much. I think I saw 3 acres for about 85k, which is a decent bit of cash. That said, you don't necessarily have to worry about finding land closer to the city. About 10 minutes from me, there is a bunch of empty land, a house, and then some more empty land. Big house at that. So building closer to the city is feasible, but I imagine that it is more expensive. But the option is there too. Urban legend is that it is the home of Chuck Norris, Maybe? I don't know. But that's the story. From what I read, with the costs of material and labor, you can spend about 35-50 per square foot. God help you if there are problems, especially if you have a tight budget. And this varies from state to state, the cost of materials and labor. It is entirely possible that I may be off base on the estimates. I'm familiarizing myself as best I can. As for how things can go horribly wrong, there's this thread
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 04:24
|
|
|
Third Murderer posted:You could look into prefab homes, too, like these. I know nothing about anything, mind you, so I have no idea how the cost or final result stack up compared to building a house the usual way, but I thought I'd mention it as an additional option to look into. They look nice at least. Those monolithic dome homes are pretty awesome, and having one underground would be even cooler.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 05:15
|
|
|
sim posted:I've been researching these for awhile. I posted a list of prefab house builders I've found in the house buying thread. Generally, it seems like they CAN be 10-30% cheaper than "stick built" homes, but often these companies charge a premium for energy efficiency and speed of construction. Not to mention delivery if you're far away from the factory. How much of a premium are we talking about? Do they actually work out to be more expensive overall? Ries posted:Those monolithic dome homes are pretty awesome, and having one underground would be even cooler. I secretly love them, but they are really unorthodox and weird looking, so I expect it's close to impossible to get permission to build one in most places. Plus I'm sure they're hard to sell if you ever want to move.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 11:58
|
|
|
Third Murderer posted:How much of a premium are we talking about? I've seen "complete" prices listed as high as $300-$400/sqft for California.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 16:10
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:ICFs, yes or no? ICFs have always seemed backwards to me. Let's put our nice durable concrete in between two layers of fragile foam! Thermomass does it the right way around.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2014 16:55
|
|
|
I recently bought a house in the OKC area and I think you've picked a good place for this. I briefly considered something similar but prefer a historic house. If you look up the city zoning maps there are actually specific areas of town with special zoning to encourage infill housing. You can also look down in Norman as they are extremely friendly to weird architecture. As long as you stay East of I-44/the Hefner parkway you should be able to avoid HOAs as they won't be very friendly to your idea. Stay clear of the Shepherd, Miller, and Chautauqua historic districts as they will be much more restrictive. I would think carefully about your architect and make sure he has an engineer on the payroll as well. They can sometimes suggest beautiful but woefully impractical designs. If you do this you're going to want to sit on the architect and then the general contractor every day to make sure that they don't screw up. Because they will. You should also understand that this is going to be significantly more expensive than buying an older house, atleast in the OKC area. A few of my coworkers have built houses here and they love having houses built just the way they like but they were definitely more expensive than houses with comparable amenities and size. On top of that you need to be prepared to pay for both this new house and your current living situation at the same time as you will be paying for both during building.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2014 14:19
|
|
|
In Denver this is happening a lot in the highlands and Berkeley areas. People buy a crappy run down bungalow for $300-400k and tear it down and put a $750k modern architecture home in. Those people have a lot of money. The neighborhoods are pretty funky since you have a bit of everything from about 1930 onwards.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2014 17:23
|
|
|
Leviathan Song posted:I recently bought a house in the OKC area and I think you've picked a good place for this. I briefly considered something similar but prefer a historic house. Yeah I want to build in either the Paseo or Midtown. The architect firm I talked to is the same one who did that cool rear end house on 7th and Hudson (the one that looks like an old business or something), and the cool rear end houses on 7th and Francis. They said they charge 12% of build cost, and I am hoping to build something like 1750 square feet. I'm hoping I can get away with like 250,000 for total cost. That would be like 40k for a lot, 25k for architect, and 175,000 for building. So I need to save up like 50k for a down payment, which will probably take like 2 years. Hopefully vacant lots still exist in 2 years. I don't know if that's a realistic ballpark for build cost though. I hope it's not above 300k total though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2014 17:32
|
|
|
You will typically see quite a higher price when you get into crazy architecture. The loading of not normal from an engineering perspective. You have the potential for more steel and concrete for beams and columns. Although it really comes down to finishes. If you cheap out it will look awesome outside and like rear end on the inside.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2014 19:33
|
|
|
Re: Buying vacant land to build on- What sort of questions do I even ask a planning/building sort of consultant? I've got the number of at least one such outfit, but they don't have a website! We're looking at a 44 acre property that's mostly woods, on a hillside. Problem is, it's the wrong side of a hill, though I think it could work. Not much else around for sale at the moment that isn't 100k+ for a tiny 800m2 block or else 150+acres of farmland. We're not farmers, but we want at least a couple of acres to grow our own veg and maybe raise a couple of pigs and a flock of chickens a year. The covenant in this property also is that you can only build one dwelling per hectare, not that that sounds particularly onerous, we don't exactly want to subdivide or be anywhere near neighbours anyway. Should we speak to an architect first? The other half has already made some preliminary enquiries to the council (which is so small there is no town planner attached to the department) but apart from telling us that covenant and the bushfire risk we haven't gotten much out of them. I suspect this is more to do with not having the right questions to ask. We've never bought land or built obviously so even any basic info would be useful at this point. We're in rural Australia if that helps. There's not a lot online for this area, I'm cringing at the thought that we'll probably have to 'import' an architect/engineer/planner from the nearest metropolitan area either 1.5 or 3.5 hours away by road. E: to clarify, we haven't put any money down yet mainly because the market is so slow here that I'm tempted to put a Wanted To Buy ad in the local paper (yes it's that lame). We basically want some sort of plan of attack once purchase goes through, but first we want to work out if it's going to be even worth it to buy this place rather than keep holding out. We're not looking for a monetary investment as such (do never buy right? ! ), we just want a build site that will provide what we want in a home and homestead for the next 15+ years. nyerf fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Aug 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2014 23:44
|
|
|
Third Murderer posted:How much of a premium are we talking about? Do they actually work out to be more expensive overall? I WOULD TOTALLY BUY A HOBBIT HOUSE.  edit for more content: Monolithic Domes can be more energy-efficient than the best "green" stick-house you can build, especially if you bury it in a hillside. They're also vastly weather-proof (last house standing in a completely obliterated neighborhood after a hurricane with some nicks and scrapes) and blizzards dumping a meter of snow on the roof won't make the thing budge. daggerdragon fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Aug 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2014 00:13
|
|
|
They are so incredibly loving ugly though. And I hear the windows always leak.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2014 00:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:32 |
|
|
Built a house over near Tulsa last year. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer with what we experienced. Overall it was a positive experience but we certainly learned a few things for next time. There are advantage and disadvantages to building in an established subdivision.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2014 05:46
|
|
