First time home buyer - buying land and building a custom home (Dallas: appliances)

[iamanewuser]

Looking for advice and reading your experiences about the process, pros and cons? First time home buyer, thinking of getting a custom home built.

What's the process like?
Who are the builders one can reach out to?
Is the cost going to be in the same ballpark?

No details are small enough as we are first-generation immigrants and may not be very familiar with everything that someone who grew up in the area may naturally know (or just because of social interactions would have known). Having said that, not totally new to US, have lived more than 20 years here so with that in mind, looking forward to hearing your opinion and suggestions on this topic.

[Pinkett]

There isn’t much custom home info here but tract builders that build in this area, you can find a lot of their info. Tract builders offer floor plans that can be changed slightly according to your preference. I’ve built mine with Toll Brothers and I can help you. DM me with any questions.

[Tranzplant]

Building a true custom home is an expensive process. It will run you between $250/SqFt at the lower end to $350/SqFt at the higher end. For a 5000 SqFt house, expect to pay around 1.5 million dollars. The land is extra. That depends on size of the lot and location. But half acre lot in Southlake will run you around $500,000. Landscaping/backyard pool are all extra. Don't go for a true custom home if you don't have the budget for it.

Tract home builders are semi-custom where you can choose from a few floorplans and finishes. You need to speak with the builder for accurate pricing.

[TeamLynn]

Where do you want to build?
What size house do you want?
What is your budget?

Is there something unique you need vs what production builders provide?

Finding and financing a lot can be tricky, but that may depend on where you want to live.
You may need to pay cash for the lot.

The cons are that it takes a lot more work to build custom, to find a lot, and get the home built. Lots and lots and lots of decisions and lots of disagreements often between family members on price vs budget. It is very easy to get out of control for many people. Also I think there is an art to building and since the people who do this do it maybe 1 or 2x in their life, they really dont have a good sense of design. That can mean big foyers for example of wasted space, or two many hallways, or doors that swing the wrong way, too many or two few windows, inefficient kitchens, and so many other design flaws or designs that are so specific to you and your family, that they are hard to resale when that time comes.

The pros are that you hopefully get the exact house you want, with the features you want, with the style you want. If you want the $15,000 Viking commercial stove, well you can put that in and build your European cabinets around it and import your marble floors from Italy or Spain you can do that. You want an 8000bottle temperature controlled wine room, you can do that. Many if not most of the production builders just wont do that for you. ThatÅ› how they get the cost down and the appraisals done. They pick designs that will sell to the masses, they give you limited selections of appliances, and cabinets, and floors, etc...and they may be able to have the architect and engineers design a house that will sell in 100 different communities, so those costs are split over 1000s of houses instead of 1.

[texstout]

A pro is that you can live in a neighborhood that isn’t full of tract homes. For example, I live in a popular, older area of Dallas. The only new homes that are being built are custom homes (on old tear downs) or semi-custom homes where the developer buys the lot but works with someone on the design. (It also doesn’t look like the neighbors on the street).

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by iamanewuser

Looking for advice and reading your experiences about the process, pros and cons? First time home buyer, thinking of getting a custom home built.

What's the process like?
Who are the builders one can reach out to?
Is the cost going to be in the same ballpark?

No details are small enough as we are first-generation immigrants and may not be very familiar with everything that someone who grew up in the area may naturally know (or just because of social interactions would have known). Having said that, not totally new to US, have lived more than 20 years here so with that in mind, looking forward to hearing your opinion and suggestions on this topic.

If you are interested in a true custom home I would recommend the following actions before you spend any money.

1. Establish some basic parameters of what you are hoping for.
   1. What is the maximum square footage of home you are considering.
   2. Do you want a single story or two story home since that will define your home footprint on the lot. Just for the sake of the following steps take your home size and multiply it by .6 to represent the first floor and the square footage of footprint you need.
   3. Determine what you intentions are for the property. This can define how large a tract of land you might need and whether you can use it for its intended purpose. For example do you want a pool, tennis courts, do you want horses or raise even small animals like chickens, goats, etc.
   4. Are there any other aspects that are important to you such as proximity to work, specific school systems, etc., etc.
   5. Next you should look in the areas that are amenable to your needs above to see if what you want to do can be done and what land might be available for building to suit your desires. If all you are doing is a home, pool, etc., without livestock or other controlled situation needs you may or may not find the size land tract you want. There are still larger tracts of land available closer in to the metroplex in built out suburbs but the land price will be high. If you go beyond a typical home (livestock, other controlled items) you might find yourself pushed to areas that do not meet your other needs.
2. Once you have determined you can build what you want, in the area you want, and for the use you want I would recommend you speak with a Licensed Architect to draw up plans for your home to include any amenities noted above. The Architect can provide a basic price for the home build and possibly the land cost if you have a particular lot in mind. You'll pay the Architect a healthy fee but at that point you will have a good idea what your wants will cost.
3. If you move farther then the Architect might be able to refer you to a custom home Builder to start the build. There are still plenty of custom home builders here. The Builder may also be able to handle the land acquisition part and add it to the overall construction costs. The Builder might also have financing companies you can use for the construction loan. The Builder can also provide you with an estimate for the build. Until you sign a contract with no wording on uncontrolled price increases, "Cost +" language, etc., this will only be an estimate.

What I would highly advise is that you do have an Attorney on hand to also guide you through all stages and review all contracts to explain the terms and prevent hidden legal mumbo jumbo being added that can cause you issues. Until you sign an actual final build contract to start the work you are going to pay fees to have the Architect do their thing and possibly the Builder to provide an estimate. The Attorney can prevent you from being locked into any contract that you can not walk away from. The Attorney can also ensure you are protected from exorbitant cost increases from the Builder, unrealistic or undesired Builder forced changes, failure of the Builder to complete the home in a timely manner and in budget, as well as a whole host of other issues!


Good luck and come on back and let us know how you did and provide recurring updates on your process so others can learn from it.