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Old 04-16-2019, 08:34 AM
 
22 posts, read 16,363 times
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Our first home was a tract home in the burbs of Forney; we got to pick a lot in the neighborhood, pick a floor plan & elevation and general selections like cabinet color, tile color, etc. but was in no way custom.

Fast forward 10+ years and we are now ready to build a custom home. A few years ago we decided this was the route we wanted to go so we bought a vacant lot (which is paid off) and have saved for a down payment and now we are ready to build.

I'll admit, we didn't pay much attention to our first home. We were young, naive, and excited to own a home and didn't think about much else. Now, we are older and wiser we want quality over quantity (and when I say quality I don't mean extravagant, just SMART investments to the building envelope).

The "issue" is some of the other houses in the neighborhood are "builder grade plus" and they are valued around $450k (without a pool) (this breaks down to a $365k house on a $85k lot).

My question is, we begin to wonder is building a house that is valued at $650k (with a pool) (and before you say anything, I KNOW a pool won't retain value, that is only for us ...so let's say a $500k house plus a $65k pool and $85k lot) be too much "overbuilding" for the neighborhood?

We don't want to sacrifice quality but also don't want to be too nice for the neighborhood. Setting aside the pool, the house itself will be the same size as everyone else on the block - around 3,000 sq ft - but will be about $135k more for better quality (sheathing/wrb/flashing, insulation, windows, roofing, etc.).

Thoughts?
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Old 04-16-2019, 02:13 PM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
2,502 posts, read 2,172,438 times
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Why are set on the location?
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Old 04-16-2019, 02:29 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,098,013 times
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Yes, spending 40% more per square foot is overbuilding. If you need to sell, you’re going to be looking for the “needle in a haystack” buyer who will value quality over more space for being in your neighborhood at that price point. If you truly believe it’s your forever home, then go for it, just know the risks.

If I were you, I would probably wait until the next recession to build. You’ll likely be able to come in below budget on labor and some materials while not sacrificing the details you want.
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Old 04-16-2019, 06:03 PM
 
Location: Dallas
206 posts, read 167,966 times
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In our neighborhood, houses were going for around $150 per square foot when we bought a place to tear down and build. With the purchase, the new build, and the landscaping we probably put $250 per square into the finished product. The neighborhood values have caught up to us now. But if they hadn’t we didn’t care. It’s not an investment. It’s our dream house.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:09 PM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
2,502 posts, read 2,172,438 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cd225 View Post
In our neighborhood, houses were going for around $150 per square foot when we bought a place to tear down and build. With the purchase, the new build, and the landscaping we probably put $250 per square into the finished product. The neighborhood values have caught up to us now. But if they hadn’t we didn’t care. It’s not an investment. It’s our dream house.
We thought we had bought our dream house and even joked about being buried in the backyard. I dreamed of hosting one of my kid's rehearsal dinner there someday. It was a very unique house that had a limited appeal for many buyers but we loved it. A decade after we bought the house, events we couldn't have anticipated when we bought the house led to us putting the house on the market. It took us two years to sell it and we tried just about everything we could. We finally sold it yesterday and we took a bath on it.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:42 PM
 
Location: DFW
40,919 posts, read 48,833,863 times
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You are about to lose your Azz to be blunt. Build that expensive home and live in it the next 25 years because you won't get your money back. When a subdivision is $500-600k, only a fool would pay you $700-750 for that house. I have a client now who over built. They're eating $125k by the time you throw in the pool they spent way too much on.

Right up the hill from me there is a Subdivsion that is $400-$650k. Some crazy fool built a $1.7 million house. He has to be some Relo from CA. He's now got it for sell and it will never sell. He started out at $1.95 million and has lowered the price $200k. Quite a good deal.
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Old 04-16-2019, 10:57 PM
 
Location: Dallas
206 posts, read 167,966 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tcualum View Post
We thought we had bought our dream house and even joked about being buried in the backyard. I dreamed of hosting one of my kid's rehearsal dinner there someday. It was a very unique house that had a limited appeal for many buyers but we loved it. A decade after we bought the house, events we couldn't have anticipated when we bought the house led to us putting the house on the market. It took us two years to sell it and we tried just about everything we could. We finally sold it yesterday and we took a bath on it.
For us, we’ll never feel like we lost money on the deal. We bought a house for $75,000 and sold it 25 years later for $400,000. It feels like getting our $500,000 house for $175,000. And now the city thinks it’s worth $600,000. There’s no way I’ll be sad about what we get for this house. It will take a special buyer that could be hard to find. But the real estate world has been very kind to us.
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Old 04-17-2019, 08:35 AM
 
22 posts, read 16,363 times
Reputation: 51
Thanks for everyone's opinions. We are set on this lot because we already bought it 😉 honestly though we love the area, it's 0.30 acres (which is much larger than our tract home), and there is NO HOA!!

Just out of curiosity, I wonder why people don't value quality in homes and why they aren't willing to pay more for it? I get that everyone has a budget, but putting that aside, I would be willing to pay more for a house that is better built, will heat and cool better, not have water infiltration from cheap wrapping materials or improperly taped windows, etc. I guess we will just have to go in knowing that we are looking for the right buyer who knows true quality, not just white cabinets and granite countertops 🤣

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to respond!
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Old 04-17-2019, 08:43 AM
 
Location: Fort Worth, TX
2,502 posts, read 2,172,438 times
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Honestly, the why doesn't matter in the end. I've learned the hard way that these days that people want new and shiny with the latest trends. I had a beautiful older home on 3/4 of an acre on a wooded lot with a beautiful view, in a quiet high-end neighborhood. I was competing with a brand new neighborhood that had all sorts of bells and whistles. The houses were much smaller, not as well built and were on much smaller lots with no mature trees. Furthermore, the entire neighborhood was built on a bloody landfill. across the street from a functioning landfill. None of that mattered because the homes are shiny and new.
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Old 04-17-2019, 08:55 AM
 
5,248 posts, read 6,333,260 times
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Quote:
I get that everyone has a budget, but putting that aside, I would be willing to pay more for a house that is better built, will heat and cool better, not have water infiltration from cheap wrapping materials or improperly taped windows, etc.
If you really think it's going to be built that much better (I personally have my doubts) then you should be able to show that in either electricity costs or in maintenance costs to your next buyer. An electric bills that's below $100 or whatever in the summer will interest buyers. Don't whine that no one respects your build quality - you had better be able to show it. And if you can't then your build quality really isn't that much better no matter what you think about other tract homes in your area.
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