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Old 03-02-2013, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Southlake. Don't judge me.
2,885 posts, read 4,627,039 times
Reputation: 3776

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Have to go back and see your prior posts to see what you're planning, but a good rule to follow is "you can never have too much closet space". I don't just mean a giant master closet (which apparently is present in every large house down here) but also good size closets in most every other room.

Storage space - don't underestimate it. And remember that there's a Container Store in Southlake Town Square Upscale Mall Shop-O-Rama.
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Old 03-02-2013, 08:54 AM
 
1,257 posts, read 3,674,435 times
Reputation: 941
How many of you guys built a real wine room, cooled and humified?
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Old 03-02-2013, 09:51 AM
 
1,257 posts, read 3,674,435 times
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Another thing - we have decided to go 1 step beyond the typical post tension slab foundation in our subdivision... we are having piers placed (piers w/ post tension slab) to help prevent future foundation issues.
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Old 03-02-2013, 11:04 AM
 
63 posts, read 76,022 times
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Do you expect to cover all these upgrades within your original budget or is it going to be max+++? I have seen few friends getting carried away and later pinching pennies for years after paying mortgage, tax, insurance, utilities, furniture,decor and maintenance. One lost his job and had to foreclose after only 1 1/2 years. Not trying to burst your bubble, just humbly advising to avoid adding too much air.
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Old 03-02-2013, 11:36 AM
 
1,257 posts, read 3,674,435 times
Reputation: 941
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tripolar View Post
Do you expect to cover all these upgrades within your original budget or is it going to be max+++? I have seen few friends getting carried away and later pinching pennies for years after paying mortgage, tax, insurance, utilities, furniture,decor and maintenance. One lost his job and had to foreclose after only 1 1/2 years. Not trying to burst your bubble, just humbly advising to avoid adding too much air.
Covered within original budget... Far from max by several hundred. But I hear you, it's easy tO get carried away.
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Old 03-02-2013, 06:52 PM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,585,380 times
Reputation: 25335
1--I don't think any truly "custom" builder would build a home of that size and price w/o using a piered beam/slab foundation...so I am surprised you had to bring it up...Most Colleyville/Southlake custom builders I have info on build a piered foundation as a matter of course.

2--The "actual" value of the house is the money you spend on it--the total cost of the lot, the planning, the construction, the materials, the permits,===every penny you spend building the house...
but that is totally separate from the appraised value or the market value...
Your house won't be appraised by the county for tax value immediately after it is built automatically--
it depends on how you finance it and the time you take possession and move in...
you might pay your first yr of appraisal tax on unimproved property...and the appraised value can only go up a certain % the next year, I believe...

3--I think it is very smart practically and stylistically to have a fully functional living space for a long term visitor on first floor...
the house we bought in Hurst in on a cul de sac lot and wider than most in the subdivision--
it has something we very much wanted--a second master suite basically--built because the people who designed it had the wife's mother living with them who used a wheel chair at times...We wanted that feature because we are both getting older and have older relatives visiting who don't need to climb stairs...
our next door neighbors currently have the wife's mother living with them -- she is basically housebound invalid--and she has bedroom downstairs as well...and they custom built their house...

We also wanted a house with aging-in-place features...both full baths downstairs have roll in showers...there is entry from garage that has roll-in feature to accomodate wheel chair use--the closet in the second bedroom has double door entry and is wide and deep enough to allow someone in wheel chair to have access...

the bottom cabinets in kitchen have roll out drawers and the dishwasher is raised which facilitates access by someone with limited mobility...
door handles are levers vs knobs (which is pretty standard for any design)
So I would encourage you to consider adding features like that even if you yourself are fairly young...
anyone can become disabled through accident or illness and most of these features can be integrated into the home design w/o screaming disability feature...

4--A stucco home can meet the approval of ARC requirements because either the construction uses Hardie Board cement sections or has additives in the mixture that meet the provisions of the masonry requirements of most HOA/developers ...it is not the faux stucco on chicken wire of the 80s...
same with "siding" -- most of that is cement material formed in various designs vs the board and batten plywood of 20 yrs ago...

5--personally I doubt that you would get your money back on resale from a wine room but more from a ground floor media room that is large enough to seat adults and children for family movie night -- with wet bar/fridge/microwave--and enough sound proofing that anyone not in the room is not bothered by a super sound system--and close to a half bath...

and consider having a 4 car garage--maybe even the kind that is 1 car wide but 2 cars deep...
a 3 car is really passe in homes that are 5k sq ft...
if you have two childre or more, you know you will be buying extra cars for them...having the 4th stall ensures you have a place to park them all...or store a pair of jet skis...or a motorcycle w/o parking a car on the slab -- it would be a way to keep your home from looking a little seedy...

and a garage doesn't count as high on the appraisal scale or cost scale as air-condition inside space...

Neatest feature I have seen at the FTW Design House several years ago was a "function" room--it had all the HVAC, the sound/cable system, the security system--all inside a room vs scattered around the house or in the attic....can't remember if it was first or second floor--but all organized and accessible fairly easily for maintenance...

and if you can afford it and your builder understands why -- go with foam insulation and a sealed home envelope...
and consider heated floors vs forced air through vents...
requires people who know what they are doing to pour the slab right and do the wiring and flooring choices...but more economical in long run and better functionality in home with 10 ft or higher ceilings...
if you are considered tankless water heaters do one per master bath and try to get guests on 1 and one for kitchen/utility vs 1 or 2 for the house...zoned tankless are more practical even if more expensive initially...

Last edited by loves2read; 03-02-2013 at 07:16 PM..
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Old 03-02-2013, 11:13 PM
 
1,257 posts, read 3,674,435 times
Reputation: 941
1. The standard here is post tension slab... I had to pay $6K to get my piers.
2. Got it.... but is appraised value = to market value?
3. Agreed... nice 2nd master is nice. Not sure if we can make ours the size of a second masters though. Just a big guest bedroom.
4. -
5. You're saying place the media by a powder room?
6. Not sure about getting a 4th garage.... we're placing a circular driveway instead to help with parking extra cars.
7. The entire house will be encapsulated, foam from outside to roof line. Guy says that our heating/ac costs won't be more than $150/mo averaged over the year for this 4700 sq foot house.

Quote:
Originally Posted by loves2read View Post
1--I don't think any truly "custom" builder would build a home of that size and price w/o using a piered beam/slab foundation...so I am surprised you had to bring it up...Most Colleyville/Southlake custom builders I have info on build a piered foundation as a matter of course.

2--The "actual" value of the house is the money you spend on it--the total cost of the lot, the planning, the construction, the materials, the permits,===every penny you spend building the house...
but that is totally separate from the appraised value or the market value...
Your house won't be appraised by the county for tax value immediately after it is built automatically--
it depends on how you finance it and the time you take possession and move in...
you might pay your first yr of appraisal tax on unimproved property...and the appraised value can only go up a certain % the next year, I believe...

3--I think it is very smart practically and stylistically to have a fully functional living space for a long term visitor on first floor...
the house we bought in Hurst in on a cul de sac lot and wider than most in the subdivision--
it has something we very much wanted--a second master suite basically--built because the people who designed it had the wife's mother living with them who used a wheel chair at times...We wanted that feature because we are both getting older and have older relatives visiting who don't need to climb stairs...
our next door neighbors currently have the wife's mother living with them -- she is basically housebound invalid--and she has bedroom downstairs as well...and they custom built their house...

We also wanted a house with aging-in-place features...both full baths downstairs have roll in showers...there is entry from garage that has roll-in feature to accomodate wheel chair use--the closet in the second bedroom has double door entry and is wide and deep enough to allow someone in wheel chair to have access...

the bottom cabinets in kitchen have roll out drawers and the dishwasher is raised which facilitates access by someone with limited mobility...
door handles are levers vs knobs (which is pretty standard for any design)
So I would encourage you to consider adding features like that even if you yourself are fairly young...
anyone can become disabled through accident or illness and most of these features can be integrated into the home design w/o screaming disability feature...

4--A stucco home can meet the approval of ARC requirements because either the construction uses Hardie Board cement sections or has additives in the mixture that meet the provisions of the masonry requirements of most HOA/developers ...it is not the faux stucco on chicken wire of the 80s...
same with "siding" -- most of that is cement material formed in various designs vs the board and batten plywood of 20 yrs ago...

5--personally I doubt that you would get your money back on resale from a wine room but more from a ground floor media room that is large enough to seat adults and children for family movie night -- with wet bar/fridge/microwave--and enough sound proofing that anyone not in the room is not bothered by a super sound system--and close to a half bath...

and consider having a 4 car garage--maybe even the kind that is 1 car wide but 2 cars deep...
a 3 car is really passe in homes that are 5k sq ft...
if you have two childre or more, you know you will be buying extra cars for them...having the 4th stall ensures you have a place to park them all...or store a pair of jet skis...or a motorcycle w/o parking a car on the slab -- it would be a way to keep your home from looking a little seedy...

and a garage doesn't count as high on the appraisal scale or cost scale as air-condition inside space...

Neatest feature I have seen at the FTW Design House several years ago was a "function" room--it had all the HVAC, the sound/cable system, the security system--all inside a room vs scattered around the house or in the attic....can't remember if it was first or second floor--but all organized and accessible fairly easily for maintenance...

and if you can afford it and your builder understands why -- go with foam insulation and a sealed home envelope...
and consider heated floors vs forced air through vents...
requires people who know what they are doing to pour the slab right and do the wiring and flooring choices...but more economical in long run and better functionality in home with 10 ft or higher ceilings...
if you are considered tankless water heaters do one per master bath and try to get guests on 1 and one for kitchen/utility vs 1 or 2 for the house...zoned tankless are more practical even if more expensive initially...
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