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And since water fluoridation isn't done everywhere, one does have a choice. One can choose to live where the water isn't flouridated, one can choose to have a well, one can choose to wear a tinfoil hat. Lots of choices.
Not much of a choice since most people in the U.S. live and work in areas where there is no option to build a well. The mountains are the only place I've ever lived where wells are not uncommon.
Even so, out of the five houses we've rented here since 2001, every house had city water with fluoride added except one - even the ones that were surrounded by forest!
We asked one builder who rented us his spec house why he didn't put in a well, and he said the cost would have been at least $10,000 to put in a well along with all the drilling headaches. You never know how far down you need to go. It was easy and inexpensive to put in city water.
The Town of Brevard looked into the matter and read lots of studies. They decided that although they could not come to a definite conclusion, fluoride was questionable enoughto stop putting it in the water.
The gross margin for a GC nationally is about 22%. When you consider that they run on more efficient economies of scale and likely are able to save some extra money due to expertise and bulk discounts, I'd say that a knowledgeable person acting as his or her own GC should be able to save about 15%, which is the figure quoted by an earlier poster. That is pretty substantial on a $300k home -- $45,000! However, as with any complex undertaking, it isn't for everyone, and it's probably not a wise idea to take such a task on remotely.
I'm curious why building costs are so high on flat ground in the city, though. Lots aren't really that expensive. There are currently many flat-ish buildable lots for sale for under $75k. Many are under $50k. What's the scoop on why it's close to $200/ft. to build? Is the sub-contractor shortage that bad, or is it due primarily to material cost?
if in the city, and under 50k for a lot, something is probably wrong. or its in a bad area. i'm not exactly sure why $200/sqft to build, other than all the land improvments and impact fees are horribly high there. its not the wages of the folks in Asheville (the subs or the GC profit) making it so high.
As to the price of (any type of) land in the mountains, (a) it has always been more valuable than in the flatlands due to the factors that make this area desirable. Similar to other popular mountain ranges, vacation areas, quality of life locations all over the country. (b) What goes on in Phoenix, Austin, Monterey, Boca Raton, or Charleston SC, has no bearing on values in the Blue Ridge Mountains. All real estate is local and dependent on supply and demand.
depends on what "flat lands" you're talking about. Many think Asheville land is a greater value for the price than other more expensive "flat lands" in the South. But I agree, all real estate is localized.
As to the price of (any type of) land in the mountains, (a) it has always been more valuable than in the flatlands due to the factors that make this area desirable. Similar to other popular mountain ranges, vacation areas, quality of life locations all over the country.
Land in WNC was never more valuable than the flatlands until very very recently - within the last two decades when droves of people started moving and retiring to these mountains.
WNC was dirtcheap all the way to the early nineties! Asheville was a ghost town then. WNC had always drawn tourists who came for the mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway . . . but as a place to actually relocate to, it was relatively undiscovered.
The renaissance of Asheville changed everything. It wasn't that long ago that if you mentioned Asheville in other areas of the country, people would have said "Where?". A lot of people who end up in the small towns around Asheville only became aware of the area because of publicity for Asheville.
when we say flat lands, are we talking about NC, SC? Are are we talking about FL?
depends on which flat lands we're talking about. Land in FL in many areas is still a bit more expensive than land in Asheville. But land in the low state of SC may be dirt cheap.
Locked in June 11-14 to come up and look at the 5-6 properties we are interested in. There's 1 just east of Weaverville, 2 in Fairview very close to Asheville, and 2 lots just east of Buncombe county in McDowell county which would yield some tax savings. If we ARE stuck with these 200/sq ft prices, we decided it may just take a bit longer to realize our goal. I spoke with a builder that may meet out at a couple of the lots so that he can give his analysis on the ease of building which highly contributes to the building price.
Last edited by evensen007; 05-18-2015 at 07:22 AM..
Locked in June 11-14 to come up and look at the 5-6 properties we are interested in. There's 1 just east of Weaverville, 2 in Fairview very close to Asheville, and 2 lots just east of Buncombe county in McDowell county which would yield huge tax savings. If we ARE stuck with these 200/sq ft prices, we decided it may just take a bit longer to realize our goal. I spoke with a builder that may meet out at a couple of the lots so that he can give his analysis on the ease of building which highly contributes to the building price.
Huge? Buncombe's tax rate is $0.6040, McDowell's is $0.55. For a $200,000 house that's $108 a year difference, assuming the house is not in any city limits, of course.
Well, huge might be stretching it. I was talking more inclusively, as in the permitting and other items involved with the building process. Building permit $400 vs $4000. But yea, for a 400k house/lot it's closer to $300/yr cheaper.
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