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Thanks..I wasn't sure about the "Jim Walters" reference but a quick Google showed that yes, this is the sort of thing we are looking for. Not necessarily a simple rectangle but not too many angles, vertices, etc to complicate things. This is fairly representative of the kinds of things we have been looking at: https://www.theplancollection.com/ho...ome-plan-29759
We are still a few years away from our move but once we make it we want to be sure we land in the right community. We're coming from northwest NJ which resembles the Poconos and Catskills more than the metro NYC area (geographically, politically, financially etc) and hope to leave Deep Blue NJ in the rearview for something more Red or maybe slightly purple. For us it is definitely more of a lifestyle move than financial but of course the idea of lower taxes and lower cost of living are certainly appealing.
Thanks for your help!
I took a look at a photo of the house in the link. This type of house with stone added is common here. I just don’t think you’re going to be able to build it for much less than $350-375/SF. What you’re going to find is that your money is going to go much furthur by buying an existing house, as opposed to building. Regardless, housing is expensive here, as WNC iis regarded as a highly desirable area in which to live. I agree with the comment above. If you’re looking for a more conservative area, you need to take a look at east TN. (East TN likely has a lower cost of living as well.) Asheville is liberal, and Brevard and Hendersonville, while still slightly more red, are becoming bluer. Boone is also more liberal. The rural areas are still mainly conservative. If you still are thinking WNC, I encourage you to visit for extended periods of time. There are so many beautiful towns/areas (I do think WNC has East TN beat in this regard) , but a few of my favorites are Waynesville, Brevard, Hendersonville, Black Mountain, Weaverville, Saluda, Boone, and Blowing Rock. Each is charming in its own right, but you won’t get a true feel for each until you’ve visited hopefully for several extended periods. We moved here last year after having visited the area for almost 30 years. We had visited other areas across the U.S. and this is the only area we kept coming back to. So, when we moved here, we already knew the area, and it felt like home.
While house prices are ratcheting up v quickly in western NC, existing houses vs new builds will generally be a bit less costly, imo.
We lived in Bellvale, NY, (near Warwick, Orange County NY), from mid '80s to 2001, so I understand the OP's 'coming from', locale-wise.
We made umptyseven trips down to western NC in '99 through 2000, house looking but mostly land looking; my point there is a couple of trips wandering around will unlikely produce what the OP really wants, unless one is v lucky.
Current RE sites are much better/informative than they were 2 decades ago, but nothing beats driving around, getting out, and looking at lots of houses and/or 'land', in our experience.
As for 'politics' and 'religion', those often 3rd rails which come up frequently here on the wonderment jukebox, we paid them little mind and two decades later, we still give them little to no attention: we have good friends, both transplants and multi gen 'natives', of all political and religious/no religion persuasions, and we have found 'few' of anyone that really 'cares' who one voted for, 'what church', et al. Not that it doesn't exist, but for us it is of little to no consequence in terms of meeting people, gaining friends.
As for COL, having lived in NJ and NY for decades previously and doing 3-4 car trips back to both each summer to see adult Kids/fam, I am not sure COL is that much less expensive in NC than it is in northwestern NJ. RE taxes are much less, but every day stuff one buys may be closer to on par, but have not done a 'study'.
Scour the internet RE sites, do some trips, (even in winter if possible), and good luck on your house or land hunting!
GL, mD
You should be aware then, that Asheville is super duper blue. Buncombe County (Asheville) and Watauga County (Boone) went blue for Biden and also Hilary. Other areas of the mountains are pretty red, but NC also re-elected our Democratic Governor. East Tennessee is reliably redder if politics are big for you.
Thanks Poppydog, I am well aware of Asheville's proclivities which is why we scratched it off our list very early. Compared to the People's Republic of New Jersey anything in the region outside of AVL and Buncombe County should work for us, TN could still work, also, but my wife doesn't want to be too far from Charlotte so it would be a tough sell.
While house prices are ratcheting up v quickly in western NC, existing houses vs new builds will generally be a bit less costly, imo.
We lived in Bellvale, NY, (near Warwick, Orange County NY), from mid '80s to 2001, so I understand the OP's 'coming from', locale-wise.
We made umptyseven trips down to western NC in '99 through 2000, house looking but mostly land looking; my point there is a couple of trips wandering around will unlikely produce what the OP really wants, unless one is v lucky.
Current RE sites are much better/informative than they were 2 decades ago, but nothing beats driving around, getting out, and looking at lots of houses and/or 'land', in our experience.
As for 'politics' and 'religion', those often 3rd rails which come up frequently here on the wonderment jukebox, we paid them little mind and two decades later, we still give them little to no attention: we have good friends, both transplants and multi gen 'natives', of all political and religious/no religion persuasions, and we have found 'few' of anyone that really 'cares' who one voted for, 'what church', et al. Not that it doesn't exist, but for us it is of little to no consequence in terms of meeting people, gaining friends.
As for COL, having lived in NJ and NY for decades previously and doing 3-4 car trips back to both each summer to see adult Kids/fam, I am not sure COL is that much less expensive in NC than it is in northwestern NJ. RE taxes are much less, but every day stuff one buys may be closer to on par, but have not done a 'study'.
Scour the internet RE sites, do some trips, (even in winter if possible), and good luck on your house or land hunting!
GL, mD
All great points, and FWIW we are currently in West Milford just across the border from Warwick so yes, you do "get where I am coming from" :-) Our township has all the natural beauty we could want-- it's 90% protected wetlands and lakes, after all, but if you look at a map of Passaic County we have literally nothing in common with the rest of it, Paterson and Passaic spend all our taxes and, along with Newark, have locked down our town to development to protect the water basin so we have no rateables to help homeowners with taxes-- my 60 year old 1800 sq ft house on a 1/4 acre is $11K a year and they go up every year.
I'm not expecting to save on anything really except real estate taxes but for the house I am hoping to build/buy I would be ahead $9K or so every year, all other things being equal. That said I understand your points about buy versus build, I'm not wild about building (hat's my wife's thing) but if they are close I can go along, if there is a 25% premium or more I don't think she will remain enamored of the idea for long.
One thing I will miss up here is the Bellvale Creamery, that's for sure, I will need to find another ice cream joint down there but that's for another thread
All great points, and FWIW we are currently in West Milford just across the border from Warwick so yes, you do "get where I am coming from" :-) Our township has all the natural beauty we could want-- it's 90% protected wetlands and lakes, after all, but if you look at a map of Passaic County we have literally nothing in common with the rest of it, Paterson and Passaic spend all our taxes and, along with Newark, have locked down our town to development to protect the water basin so we have no rateables to help homeowners with taxes-- my 60 year old 1800 sq ft house on a 1/4 acre is $11K a year and they go up every year.
I'm not expecting to save on anything really except real estate taxes but for the house I am hoping to build/buy I would be ahead $9K or so every year, all other things being equal. That said I understand your points about buy versus build, I'm not wild about building (hat's my wife's thing) but if they are close I can go along, if there is a 25% premium or more I don't think she will remain enamored of the idea for long.
One thing I will miss up here is the Bellvale Creamery, that's for sure, I will need to find another ice cream joint down there but that's for another thread
Building versus buying won’t be close, for the same square footage - you will find this out in time. Having lived along the Gulf Coast most of our lives, I do find the COL a bit less here, but it’s relative to where you’re coming from. If natural beauty is your thing, WNC has it...
I’m probably going to show my ignorance with this question. But when people quote cost per square footage is that for just the above ground portion or does it include the square footage of the basement. A 2,000 sq ft home could be $700K using $350 a foot or it could me over a million if you count the basement square footage. I’m assuming some level of finished and heated “walk out” type basement
I’ve just never been clear what square footage calculation to use.
I’m probably going to show my ignorance with this question. But when people quote cost per square footage is that for just the above ground portion or does it include the square footage of the basement. A 2,000 sq ft home could be $700K using $350 a foot or it could me over a million if you count the basement square footage. I’m assuming some level of finished and heated “walk out” type basement
I’ve just never been clear what square footage calculation to use.
Thanks
SF cost is based on heated and cooled space. The house we had planned to build was 3200 SF and the estimated cost was $1.3 mil. with upper mid grade finishes. This was a couple of years ago. It would be more than this now. It was on a relatively level lot with no basement. We ended up buying an existing house with comparable finishes at $235 per SF with a much better view. I encourage you to talk to several quality builders in the area. I think you may be surprised at building costs in this area. There are so many people moving here from high cost areas, builders can almost name their price.
SF cost is based on heated and cooled space. The house we had planned to build was 3200 SF and the estimated cost was $1.3 mil. with upper mid grade finishes. This was a couple of years ago. It would be more than this now. It was on a relatively level lot with no basement. We ended up buying an existing house with comparable finishes at $235 per SF with a much better view. I encourage you to talk to several quality builders in the area. I think you may be surprised at building costs in this area. There are so many people moving here from high cost areas, builders can almost name their price.
Another piece of information - our current home is now valued at approx. $291/SF. Still buying an existing home is less expensive than building. I suspect if we built hour home today it would cost a minimum of $425-$450/SF.
Another piece of information - our current home is now valued at approx. $291/SF. Still buying an existing home is less expensive than building. I suspect if we built hour home today it would cost a minimum of $425-$450/SF.
A couple in our neighborhood in Beech Mt want to add a garage of about 500 square feet, unheated unfinished, just stud walls, electricity and two garage doors with a small enclosed portico (8ft long) attaching it to the house.
Lowest estimate of two was just over 100K and no commitment as to a completion date.
I only added this because your numbers look to be correct for finish work.
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