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Old 02-15-2019, 12:16 PM
 
18,671 posts, read 33,290,630 times
Reputation: 37088

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IN 2001, I built a house that I thought would be my forever house, even though I was only 48. I did have a second floor, but that was just in case of resale. First-floor bedroom/main bath/laundry, no impediments built in. 1250 sq.ft.

But by the time I was firm on retirement, I had bought a building lot in small town Colorado and picked out a cabin plan, 800 sq. ft., two small bedrooms, walk-in shower, one level. I had that built while I kept working back East (two mortgages!) and moved in 4/18. I plan to stay here, but always wonder if I'll have to move for age/physical problems, and that would depend on why I was moving. Like if I can't drive, I can still manage groceries. There are people to hire to stop in and do small things. If I lose my eyesight, I'd have to move to a city (high-rise rental, likely). And so forth.

Otherwise, at age 65 and good health (except for exhaustion...) I intend to stay here. No mowing, as the small backyard is all mulch. No need to shovel and if there is, I have a handyman if need be. No garage, gravel front area. Very expensive supermarket three blocks away, and have a weekly delivery of local produce/protein delivered to my door. I wouldn't move to downsize, as it's not really possible! But if there were reasons to need to be in a city/area with public transport or nearer hospital, I'd have to move to an apartment and would choose a rental.

Meanwhile, I can have multiple senior dogs in my little backyard and we all do a lot of sleeping.
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Old 02-15-2019, 01:06 PM
 
3,211 posts, read 2,962,389 times
Reputation: 14632
Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post

How much of a pain was it, and how long did it take to build what square footage?
Problems along the way?
Problems after it was complete and how well did the builder take care of said problems?
How long was your new home warranty?
What challenges did you face?
Did it turn out exactly like you imagined from drawings and plans?
How long did the whole process take from beginning to end?
Were you ultimately satisfied with the results? Or disappointed?
Did you buy the land before selecting the house plans? Or vice versa?
And lastly ( i think) was the whole process FUN ?


We built our house when we were in our 40s, intending to retire here, which we have done. It wasn't much of a pain, just had to keep an eye on the subcontractors and make sure the builder stayed on top of things. We'd get home from work every day and inspect the progress (we lived on the property during building), which was always a thrill--the walls are up! the windows are in! the stairwell is done! The only problems when complete were some very small things, which the builder took care of once we pointed them out to him. The house turned out exactly as we had planned, and we still love it 25+ years later. The building process took 5-6 months. We bought the land a few years before we built, and lived on site for a couple of years before building. The process was definitely fun, and exciting.
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Old 02-15-2019, 02:37 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,661 posts, read 57,789,143 times
Reputation: 46126
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldgardener View Post
We built our house when we were in our 40s, ....It wasn't much of a pain, ... every day and inspect the progress (we lived on the property during building), which was always a thrill--... house turned out exactly as we had planned, and we still love it 25+ years later. The building process took 5-6 months. We bought the land a few years before we built, and lived on site for a couple of years before building. The process was definitely fun, and exciting.
I concur with this^^^

Building homes has always been very fun and creative. Even better as retirees! (not so schedule driven)

Not many people can hack it, but for those of us who enjoy the challenges ... we also get to enjoy the results!

That said... It is also very possible (and likely cheaper) to stumble on to someone else's dream home!. We have several retiree friends who had health issues or other reasons that forced them to sell their pristine / custom retirement homes, sometimes even before they were complete. We bought a home in TX from a couple who did not get it done before one of them passed away. They had also bought it from a retired couple who one passed away before complete. We had 'special incentive' to complete that one BEFORE one of us died. Mission accomplished! (on this one). The renter was a bit 'weirded out' by the gravestones on the deck, so we moved them from that location. (I thought gravestones were a nice memory / tribute to those who had sweat blood building this joint. )
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Old 02-15-2019, 03:22 PM
 
Location: Backwoods of Maine
7,487 posts, read 10,460,988 times
Reputation: 21460
I litera!ly built our retirement home myself, with the help of 2 fami!y members. I designed it also, a 28' x 40' ranch. I was 65 at the time, and just recently retired. We had purchased the land a couple of years before retirement.

It was fun, and my BIL (wife's brother) decided to renovate a mobile home on the same property. Later, my own brother hit hard times, and we all pitched in to help build his cabin.

So there are four of us living on this land in three separate residences, all retired, all related and are pretty happy with the arrangement. It's quite an experiment, and we shall see how this works out!
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Old 02-15-2019, 05:37 PM
 
10,609 posts, read 5,601,039 times
Reputation: 18903
Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
How much of a pain was it
A fair bit. The two biggest issues: (a) the builder couldn't keep to a schedule. It was always "The dog ate my homework." And... (b) lack of quality control.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
and how long did it take to build what square footage?
Probably 18 months with the architect... and and about 3 years + to complete the house. The punch list - another couple of years. The house is about 7500 sf and has an 1100 sf garage.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Problems along the way?
I could write a book.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Problems after it was complete and how well did the builder take care of said problems?
I could write a book. The builder has never said "no." It just that they they can't plan their way out of a paper bag.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
How long was your new home warranty?
5 years, I think,.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post

What challenges did you face?
I could write a book.


Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Did it turn out exactly like you imagined from drawings and plans?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Were you ultimately satisfied with the results? Or disappointed?
Satisfied.
Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
Did you buy the land before selecting the house plans? Or vice versa?
Bought the lot. We did not buy home plans - it was fully custom from scratch.

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi View Post
And lastly ( i think) was the whole process FUN ?
It is satisfying. I don't think I'd call it fun - but it is very satisfying.

One of the things I'd suggest you do is buy an hour of a real estate attorney who specializes in residential real estate construction defect litigation. Tell him you're thinking of building a custom home, and ask him to tell you some of the horror stories he's seen. The objective is to educate you about some of the things that can go wrong.

If you want to go forward, ask for a referral to a real estate transaction attorney, and ask for things the transaction attorney should include in the contract to help protect you.
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Old 02-16-2019, 11:12 AM
 
Location: The High Desert
16,059 posts, read 10,655,786 times
Reputation: 31392
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichiganGreg View Post
Boy, that's awful...that happened to us in Maine. We payed WAAAY too much for 5-acres of property (2006,duh), then when we went to find a builder, we got quotes from three. The cheapest plan for a 1600 sq ft house we found would have required us to invest $440K- or more if the build went over budget. We bailed, and sold the property 6 years later at a 30K loss.
For me, it was a tough lesson but I'm glad that it didn't work out as I was going to be sort of a "pioneer" and fairly remote and I find that I enjoy being a bit closer to the action than I would have been. I have enough pioneer stuff going on as it is. I still own the property and will hold on to it for a while. I bought the parcel from a respected developer who was subdividing his land into smaller parcels but after a lot of plans and putting in roads and some utilities (gas, electric and phone) he fell into debt and turned it all back to the bank leaving me and a few other buyers behind. It would be a substantial loss to sell it now and there are homes being built in the area. I go there to select native plants to transplant into my yard. This is the desert and if something grows there it will do well in my yard.
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Old 02-16-2019, 11:49 AM
 
1,592 posts, read 1,183,750 times
Reputation: 6756
Good luck- seriously. We loved our lot, but didn't have a choice to keep it, as we had taken out a lot-loan on the property and were financially sinking due to job loss from a RIF. Once we had a new income, we were thousands of miles away from the property, and after trying to sell it for 5 years, it seemed the best outcome was to swallow hard, and have a LT capital gains write-off on the loss. It all worked out, and we're back in the saddle. Tough lessons can be expensive.
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Old 02-16-2019, 02:07 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,331 posts, read 61,161,924 times
Reputation: 30256
I have seen 100-acres lots asking $35,000. [We bought one]

I have seen 40-acre lots asking $35,000. [We bought one of these too]

I have seen 5-acre lots asking $35,000.

I have seen 50-foot lots asking $35,000 [there is one of these near us now]

The price-per-acre is not consistent when dealing with bare land.
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Old 02-16-2019, 02:26 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,661 posts, read 57,789,143 times
Reputation: 46126
Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
I have seen 100-acres lots asking $35,000. [We bought one]

I have seen 40-acre lots asking $35,000. [We bought one of these too]

I have seen 5-acre lots asking $35,000.

I have seen 50-foot lots asking $35,000 [there is one of these near us now]

The price-per-acre is not consistent when dealing with bare land.
Just got my tax statement. Bare dirt is now valued at $350k + improvements (I paid $22k for my land)
My rental prop nearby... $350k for dirt also. (I paid $76k for that place (complete with house / barns / well ... orchards and $100k worth of old growth timber))

Land is not very consistent in value.
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Old 02-16-2019, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,331 posts, read 61,161,924 times
Reputation: 30256
There is a parcel that lies adjacent to my land, it is 300+ acres about half of it is peat bog, they are asking $300 an acre for it. It has had 'for sale' signs posted on it for over 10 years now. Nobody wants it. They list it with a realtor once a year.

There is no consistency.


My land is nearly all forest, so it's tax assessment is $150/acre.
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