Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 08-24-2015, 10:08 AM
 
739 posts, read 3,047,054 times
Reputation: 311

Advertisements

I did a search on this forum and read some useful information, but I wanted to gather some more information. We looked at a few lots on smaller lakes around the Renton area. I know building isn't easy, but luckily we are in a position that we should be able to do it, IF, we want. My tenant in Texas called and asked if I would be willing to sell my house to them. We have enough equity in it to pay for 2 years of rent here in Renton while paying for land/construction mortgage. We also have 20% down payment outside of that. Here are some questions I have:

1) What hoops and hurdles do I need to go through to build on a lot that has water front land? I.E. environmental impact study, arborist sign off (some trees would need to be felled to make room for the house), permits, ect.

2) Water, sewage, and electricity are run by the city to the property line. I guess that would mean no well or septic is needed correct?

3) What is the average cost per square foot to build out near Renton/East Renton area? I am estimating around $150/ square foot?

4) It seems it may be a little cheaper, not a lot, but a little to buy a lot and build instead of buying a pre-established home on lake front property. Is that an incorrect analysis?

5) What would be the average time to build and move into the house once the land closes? I am estimating 12 months.

6) Does anyone have any custom home builder recommendations?

7) What are some major pitfalls of building a house?

Thanks for any feedback you may have!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-24-2015, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,880 posts, read 2,059,762 times
Reputation: 4884
Quote:
Originally Posted by shaxs View Post
I did a search on this forum and read some useful information, but I wanted to gather some more information. We looked at a few lots on smaller lakes around the Renton area. I know building isn't easy, but luckily we are in a position that we should be able to do it, IF, we want. My tenant in Texas called and asked if I would be willing to sell my house to them. We have enough equity in it to pay for 2 years of rent here in Renton while paying for land/construction mortgage. We also have 20% down payment outside of that. Here are some questions I have:

1) What hoops and hurdles do I need to go through to build on a lot that has water front land? I.E. environmental impact study, arborist sign off (some trees would need to be felled to make room for the house), permits, ect.

2) Water, sewage, and electricity are run by the city to the property line. I guess that would mean no well or septic is needed correct?

3) What is the average cost per square foot to build out near Renton/East Renton area? I am estimating around $150/ square foot?

4) It seems it may be a little cheaper, not a lot, but a little to buy a lot and build instead of buying a pre-established home on lake front property. Is that an incorrect analysis?

5) What would be the average time to build and move into the house once the land closes? I am estimating 12 months.

6) Does anyone have any custom home builder recommendations?

7) What are some major pitfalls of building a house?

Thanks for any feedback you may have!
Disclaimer, I haven't been involved in this in Renton but have in other areas around the Puget Sound region, so take these answers more as generic than specific.

1. Everything is local - the rules and hoops within the city limits of Renton will be different if you're in unincorporated King County, maybe just across the street. But it will hinge on the specific zoning and development regulations pertaining to that particular lot. If it's already zoned for residential use, then the bulk of the environmental and shorelines work (Shoreline Protection Act) will probably have been done by whoever subdivided and platted the lot in the first place. Your house design and placement will need to be reviewed for consistency with those regulations as well as other regulations (maximum height, setbacks, lot coverage percentage, blah blah.) For waterfront lots you'll probably have to have some soils tests to insure your particular building footprint isn't on squishy soils, so you'll need pretty advanced architecture and engineering plans early in the process.

2. Sure, if you've got W&S in the street, no well or septic. You'll need to look at pipe depths ("inverts") to be sure that the side sewer will drain by gravity to the main.

3. I'd think that's a bit on the low side, especially if you're looking at a custom-designed waterfront-type property. Remember the "soft costs" - A/E, permitting and inspection, construction period interest, etc. - will probably add 15-25% or more to the "hard cost" total.

4. No idea. Totally depends on the location, size, etc. In general existing homes are cheaper than new ones once you add in the soft costs and the carrying costs - including the cost of renting while it's being built - to the total. In other words do a 5-year budget rather than a 1- or 2-year one. And of course any new construction can run into delays - material shortages, change orders, weather delays... that can bump your carrying costs up big time. But it's very site- and property-specific. With existing homes, somebody has already survived the design and regulations gauntlet, but they may have left behind things you don't like.

5. I would think a year would be about right, depending on the length of time for the design and permitting, site prep, any weather delays, and when you actually break ground.

6. No, this is a field where you'd need to do major homework. If it's a million-dollar plus project, you'll probably have an easier time than if you're building a Lindal A-frame kit.

7. Pitfalls? How long a list do you want? Dumb architect or contractor, Native American bones turning up during excavation, you spec windows that can't be bought off the rack or you change your mind on whether it's a pantry or a mudroom, the electrician's a drunk or the roofers are mental... Geez, let me count the ways...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2015, 01:20 PM
 
735 posts, read 864,465 times
Reputation: 1021
Building a house is like buying a car, you can go for a low end Kia, or high end Mercedes. That being said, I think trying to build a custom house in the super hot market of the greater Seattle area, $150 would probably be unlikely, especially considering all the issues of waterfront building.

Is the land raw? If that is the case, then you could find yourself with land you can not build on. Waterfront land is highly desirable, why has it not been built?

Gardenweb has great forums that you should spend time combing over. I use to look at house plans and think meh, looks good. Now, I can spot flaws, like expensive foundations, kitchens that are too far from garages (think of unloading a Costco run). If you have a choice of spending more money on fancy granite counter tops or on better windows, pick windows. You always want to invest more in the shell of the building.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2015, 08:03 PM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,005,302 times
Reputation: 4664
How did you come to the conclusion that developing raw land is cheaper than buying an existing home? Just by looking at prices?

In general, if the land is available for sale and no builder has bought it already there's something about it that makes it unlikely a house could be sold at a profit. Develop-able lots are hard to come by in King County, so if you're finding them readily available it's in an area where development cost vs sale value is too low for most builders to take the risk. At that point, it's less of a matter of whether you can "save money" buy building a custom home, and more a matter of building a home that is unique in such a way that no spec builder would even consider it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2015, 09:09 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,230,268 times
Reputation: 5382
I think 150 per square foot is too low, unless you're building something huge, and with less expensive finishes. For a 2000 ish square foot home, with nicer finishes, I think 200-225 per square foot is more in the ballpark. I think buying an existing home will be less expensive.
But people can and do have custom homes built all the time. In and around Renton, JayMarc and American Classic Homes are two custom builders with good reputations.
The permitting process can take forever, especially if there's a stream or creek on the property. The City of Renton has some odd regulations. And if it's in unincorporated King County, they're normally understaffed, resulting in a lengthy process before construction can begin.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-25-2015, 10:26 AM
 
Location: Seattle
1,880 posts, read 2,059,762 times
Reputation: 4884
I wanted to add, in addition to meeting local development standards, your toughest critic/ally will probably be the bank that lends you money for the lot and construction. They're not going to risk their/your money on a non-starter. You'll also need to put at-risk a big chunk of change for architectural and engineering drawings/studies that will need to be paid for up front, even before you've determined that the lot/building plan is legal or feasible. To buy this time, you'll want to tie up the land without actually closing on it - through a longer-than-normal earnest money or option period (you'll have to pay for this) for the months it will take to accomplish the design/feasibility work. If the seller balks at this arrangement, run the other way quickly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-25-2015, 11:26 AM
 
739 posts, read 3,047,054 times
Reputation: 311
Thanks everyone for the feedback! You have given me a lot to think about.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-01-2015, 12:10 AM
 
739 posts, read 3,047,054 times
Reputation: 311
To answer questions as to why the lots were not already purchased and built on by a developer: Well, they were owned by someone who just held on to them and then died. They were sold as part of an estate sale and each sold within days of being on the market. Probably a good buy for whomever was able to snatch them up.

Edit: Sold within a month I should correct.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top