how are housing construction costs so low?? (Houston: new home, landscaping)

[HoustonRonnie]

Building costs are high in California because it's the last vestage of communism in the entire world.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie

[ethanw]

Yes, we can? or something like that?

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

Building costs are high in California because it's the last vestage of communism in the entire world.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie

[crone]

You also need to figure in construction codes regarding earthquakes, fires and snow loads.

[crone]

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

Building costs are high in California because it's the last vestage of communism in the entire world.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie

Did the Chinese get shed of Communism? Wow, don't know how i missed that.

[homeinatx]

To the OP,

Your posts have me laughing. It's called planned obsolescence. Carpenter? What carpenter? Come visit. Do a five minute walk through any house in 90% of non-custom new construction and you will see exactly why construction costs are so low. There is no corner that has not been cut. Did I say corner? Corner, I am laughing again. Houses are built to last 10-20 years - there's no shortage of land, and people in Texas are quite right to be scared of buying a "second-hand/used house." I have lived on 4 continents, and in my opinion, new houses are cheap here because they are the worst-built middle-class housing in the world! Some combination of minimal code, unscrupulous developers who employ unskilled, undocumented workers and pay them very little, sometimes neglect to pay them at all and uneducated consumers who know and care about nothing except newness, scale and proximity to schools with good test scores. New construction is definitely cheap here.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

To the OP,

Your posts have me laughing. It's called planned obsolescence. Carpenter? What carpenter? Come visit. Do a five minute walk through any house in 90% of non-custom new construction and you will see exactly why construction costs are so low. There is no corner that has not been cut. Did I say corner? Corner, I am laughing again. Houses are built to last 10-20 years - there's no shortage of land, and people in Texas are quite right to be scared of buying a "second-hand/used house." I have lived on 4 continents, and in my opinion, new houses are cheap here because they are the worst-built middle-class housing in the world! Some combination of minimal code, unscrupulous developers who employ unskilled, undocumented workers and pay them very little, sometimes neglect to pay them at all and uneducated consumers who know and care about nothing except newness, scale and proximity to schools with good test scores. New construction is definitely cheap here.

Again, depends on the builder and the cost. A $100K KB house will be in pretty sad shape in 10 - 20 years (in fact, a 30 yr old $100K house will be a better bet). A $350K Highland or Trendmaker? No.

There are some pretty nice homes in Houston that are over 40 years old, or older. We can't brag about 200 year old homes - the city itself is too young.

[homeinatx]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Again, depends on the builder and the cost. A $100K KB house will be in pretty sad shape in 10 - 20 years (in fact, a 30 yr old $100K house will be a better bet). A $350K Highland or Trendmaker? No.

There are some pretty nice homes in Houston that are over 40 years old, or older. We can't brag about 200 year old homes - the city itself is too young.

I agree that a forty year old house will generally be much better built than a new one!

[westres1]

really lax building codes esp in outlying counties...the city has codes but many counties do not. Most people who buy out in bfe dont know this but its true.

[josh u]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

To the OP,

Your posts have me laughing. It's called planned obsolescence. Carpenter? What carpenter? Come visit. Do a five minute walk through any house in 90% of non-custom new construction and you will see exactly why construction costs are so low. There is no corner that has not been cut. Did I say corner? Corner, I am laughing again. Houses are built to last 10-20 years - there's no shortage of land, and people in Texas are quite right to be scared of buying a "second-hand/used house." I have lived on 4 continents, and in my opinion, new houses are cheap here because they are the worst-built middle-class housing in the world! Some combination of minimal code, unscrupulous developers who employ unskilled, undocumented workers and pay them very little, sometimes neglect to pay them at all and uneducated consumers who know and care about nothing except newness, scale and proximity to schools with good test scores. New construction is definitely cheap here.

I was told by a friend from Houston that homes there don't last long because of the climate, but you're saying it's because of poor worksmanship and cost cutting. Here in Calif, homes can last 50-70 years with a couple of roof replacements, repaintings, etc, and interior updating. But I figured the long lifespan was because our climate is dry so homes don't rot, not because builders here are better. As an example of how long things last, a typical wood fence here will last 15-25 years; I heard in Dallas & Houston, its lifespan is 10 years. I would attribute that mostly to climate.

Regardless... if homes there only last 10-20 years, then what do home owners do? They just pack up and move to a new home every 20 years? Or tear down their house and rebuild?

[crone]

My house and my fence, both in excellent condition, are 26 years old. If cared for it will last a 100 years. When we replaced the siding with Hardie I was stunned by the framing. Never saw so many 2'6's. The fence is good cedar, and the post are sunk well into the ground. I knew the house was good because I knew the builder's reputation In most places you get what you pay for.
The problem in Houston is that buyers want it shining new and cheap. They do not care about slabs and framing. All they see is granite and stainless steel.
The first new house I bought here had silly moldings all over the dining room. We could not hang art. I ask the builder why moldings and not double paned windows? He answered no one here cared about windows. That was 1974. That house is still standing and in good shape. But most buyers still do not give a durn about windows and framing and slabs.