We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the area
we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some of them
we looked were close to what we want but there are some small thing in each
that we did not like. Now we are investigating about building.

Without having a lot yet, how can we find out if building a house cost about
the same, a little more/less, or a lot more/less.? Whom should we talk to or
what should we read for the estimate?

Thanks

Very good article in today's NYT - can't copy it cause it is
copyrighted - but it says essentially we are now at or near the top of
the housing market boom and it resembles to .com boom of the 90's.
IMHO when the bust comes house values will fall dramatically - cash
will be king and if you can wait around a year - things could be
interesting. I am building and will wait till this boom has gone bust
- building materials and labor will be a lot cheaper and if you are
good at haggling and have cash - you just might get a real bargain.

When the bust happens will depend upon interest rates and that upon
yada yada yada.

"butch" wrote in message
oups.com...
Very good article in today's NYT - can't copy it cause it is
copyrighted - but it says essentially we are now at or near the top of
the housing market boom and it resembles to .com boom of the 90's.
IMHO when the bust comes house values will fall dramatically - cash
will be king and if you can wait around a year - things could be
interesting. I am building and will wait till this boom has gone bust
- building materials and labor will be a lot cheaper and if you are
good at haggling and have cash - you just might get a real bargain.

When the bust happens will depend upon interest rates and that upon
yada yada yada.


Thanks.
I am the worst person in haggling and no cash. I have to sell my current
house (paid off) and borrow the rest. I am estimating that our new house
will cost twice as much as I get from the current one.

"Ed" wrote in message
...
We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the area
we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some of
them we looked were close to what we want but there are some small thing
in each that we did not like. Now we are investigating about building.

Without having a lot yet, how can we find out if building a house cost
about the same, a little more/less, or a lot more/less.? Whom should we
talk to or what should we read for the estimate?

Thanks

When we looked into the buy/build situation a few years ago, the book,
"Houses are Designed by Geniuses and Built by Gorillas: An Insider's Guide
to Designing and Building a Home" by Bob Johnson was a great resource.

Figuring out the cost difference is the least of your problems.

TKM

TKM wrote:

When we looked into the buy/build situation a few years ago, the book,
"Houses are Designed by Geniuses and Built by Gorillas: An Insider's Guide
to Designing and Building a Home" by Bob Johnson was a great resource.

I would modify that sentiment to:
"Houses are designed by buffoons and built by greedy idiots."

Despite decades past the Energy Crisis of the 1970s, the recommended R value
in walls is still pitifully inadequate. Of course, that's due to the
"Genius" of architects. Since windows are the major pathway for heat
transfer, the "rule of thumb" is that more insulation is just wasted. No
one thinks to install insulated shutters, to be used during temp extremes.
Then it would make sense to match the ceiling R value.

Then there's the Electrical code that mandates outlet placement based on
outdated appliances and expectations, and discourages efficient design.

Avoid OSB flooring. Use T&G plywood underlayment.

Use screws, not nails, to install sheetrock (gypsum board).

Beware penny pinchers that install crap doorsets, and other hardware, by
less than skilled labor.

Frankly, most "new" housing has a problem with planned obsolescence,
maintenance and repair. Many folks discover that "20 year roofs" rarely
last that long, but since the original warranty isn't transferred, the last
owner is stuck paying. The widespread practice of building decks out of
treated lumber and then leaving them rot for lack of protection from sun
and climate is idiotic.

The industry expends its efforts on cosmetics and style rather than
substance. If it wasn't for the tax subsidy, housing prices wouldn't track
as they do.

If you do build, build with concrete, and avoid problems with termites,
fire, wind, rot, vermin, small arms fire, etc., etc.
Dry stacked surface bonded concrete block will do the job.
http://www.thenaturalhome.com/passivesolar.html
http://www.quikrete.com/diy/Restorin...onryWalls.html
USDA brochure on surface bonding has the original recipe.

The next cheapest wall is the concrete foam sandwich.
Available in many types - SIPS, ICF, formless panels (shotcrete)
http://www.thermapanel.net/
http://www.monotech.com/
http://www.blockmex.com.mx/blockmex/...ts/index-i.asp
http://www.cempo.com/

Other sources of info:
http://www.cement.org/homes/
http://www.aacpa.org/

And if you're into ferrocement:
http://www.geocities.com/flyingconcrete/

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 12:54:54 -0500, someone wrote:

I would modify that sentiment to:
"Houses are designed by buffoons and built by greedy idiots."

Somewhere, I hear a lone voice crying in the wilderness.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

"TKM" wrote in message
...

"Ed" wrote in message
...
We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the
area we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some
of them we looked were close to what we want but there are some small
thing in each that we did not like. Now we are investigating about
building.

Without having a lot yet, how can we find out if building a house cost
about the same, a little more/less, or a lot more/less.? Whom should we
talk to or what should we read for the estimate?

Thanks

When we looked into the buy/build situation a few years ago, the book,
"Houses are Designed by Geniuses and Built by Gorillas: An Insider's Guide
to Designing and Building a Home" by Bob Johnson was a great resource.

Figuring out the cost difference is the least of your problems.

TKM


Thanks. While I was looking for this book on Amazon, I saw "Your New House:
The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home" by Alan
and Denise Fields. I'll buy both books.

Our other option is remodeling. My wife thinks the kitchen is small which I
don't understand. We were a family of five and my yougest left us last
August to start her college. Now there are just 2 of us. I think she just
need a change to keep her mind off of her freshman baby. So, we are studying
all 3 options of remodeling, buying, and building. I am for remodeling. Of
course just talking about these options does a wonderful job of keeping her
mind busy

Thanks. While I was looking for this book on Amazon, I saw "Your New
House: The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home"
by Alan and Denise Fields. I'll buy both books.

Our other option is remodeling. My wife thinks the kitchen is small which
I don't understand. We were a family of five and my yougest left us last
August to start her college. Now there are just 2 of us. I think she just
need a change to keep her mind off of her freshman baby. So, we are
studying all 3 options of remodeling, buying, and building. I am for
remodeling. Of course just talking about these options does a wonderful
job of keeping her mind busy

Along these lines, I was wondering how (average) people afford to build.
Assuming that one is already paying rent/mortgage (cause you gotta live
somewhere while your house is being built), how does one afford to buy land
and pay for the new house?? My best guess right now is big savings account?

--Jodi

"Jodi" wrote in message
ink.net...
Thanks. While I was looking for this book on Amazon, I saw "Your New
House: The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home"
by Alan and Denise Fields. I'll buy both books.

Our other option is remodeling. My wife thinks the kitchen is small which
I don't understand. We were a family of five and my yougest left us last
August to start her college. Now there are just 2 of us. I think she just
need a change to keep her mind off of her freshman baby. So, we are
studying all 3 options of remodeling, buying, and building. I am for
remodeling. Of course just talking about these options does a wonderful
job of keeping her mind busy

Along these lines, I was wondering how (average) people afford to build.
Assuming that one is already paying rent/mortgage (cause you gotta live
somewhere while your house is being built), how does one afford to buy
land and pay for the new house?? My best guess right now is big savings
account?

--Jodi

Yes, or major equity in your existing house so you can borrow on that to buy
the land and get the process started.

TKM

"Ed" wrote:
We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the area
we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some of them
we looked were close to what we want but there are some small thing in each
that we did not like. Now we are investigating about building.

Well, unless you're better than I, even a house you build will have "some small
thing than you don't like". We built (well we paid a whole mess of folks to
build it for us) our current place about 15 years ago, and extensively remodeled
it a couple of years ago. And there are still a few things we don't like.
Maybe on the next remodel...

"Ed" wrote in message
...
We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the area
we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some of
them we looked were close to what we want but there are some small thing
in each that we did not like. Now we are investigating about building.

Without having a lot yet, how can we find out if building a house cost
about the same, a little more/less, or a lot more/less.? Whom should we
talk to or what should we read for the estimate?

Thanks




We know a semi-retired builder (his grandson is in the same soccer team as
my son) that does not build in the community we want to build. I am thinking
if it's good idea to hire him as a consoultant to look over our contract and
tell us what to look for and what to do from begining to the end without any
builder we talk to knowing about this arrangement (I am sure many of then
know him). Do you think it's a good idea?

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:58:28 -0600, "Ed" wrote:

We are thinking about changing the house. We have been looking in the area
we are interested and have not found the house we really like. Some of them
we looked were close to what we want but there are some small thing in each
that we did not like. Now we are investigating about building.

Without having a lot yet, how can we find out if building a house cost about
the same, a little more/less, or a lot more/less.? Whom should we talk to or
what should we read for the estimate?

Thanks

We have gone through that decision process many times during our
marriage. We have built 3 new homes, and purchased used or a new spec
home 7 times. It depends a lot on what you are looking for. Our
current home was purchased used. It was 8 years old. My preference
for a used home is not older than 5 years, but this one had a lot of
features and the location we wanted. Something to consider in a new
home is the added cost of all the things you have to do after you move
in. You could easily spend $25,000 or $30,000 on landscaping, and
$10,000 on window coverings. Just to get started. If you are
considering building, I sure would not look at a used home more than 5
years old. Otherwise I think you will be disappointed when you
compare the used against what you could have had if it were custom
built.

Dick