Has anyone ever had their home built

lkristenj · June 2014

@jenna8984 - Houston has horrible traffic. Our transportation and highway systems suck big time. Constant construction, constant expansion, potholes everywhere, disrepair, unexpected closures, flooded roadways in any heavy rain, traffic lights going out all the time, and then there are the accidents. I actually check real-time traffic maps before I'm going anywhere just so I know what kind of traffic to expect and where the accidents are. There are always accidents. I have many alternate routes always in my head just in case.

Because of the sprawl, everything is spread out. It's nice to have bigger lots and yards and space to breathe in the city, but the trade-off is that it takes forever to get anywhere. The neighborhood where we're buying was the "Katy" of the 1950s and was actually toward the outer edges of the city back then. (Katy is another town that is adjacent to west Houston. Can't hardly tell that they're not the same town now.) Now, it's considered fairly "close". It's boggling. My commute is going to increase with the new house. It's further for both of us, but seems to be located well. If we tried to buy where we rent, we'd be looking at $500K-$700K for anything with a yard (not a condo) and we just can't do that, even though our rent is affordable for now. FI's parents own (recently rebuilt) in an area only a mile or two south of where we're buying. There was a lot (home sold as a tear-down) there that closed for more than our house! The 1950s homes there have nearly all been replaced by $1M+ new builds. I'm hoping that kind of value increase spreads northeastward to us over the next decade. It seems like in the 1950s, people built in this area when it was "the suburbs" and now that the city has spread so much, those who can afford to live closer in are buying them for the location and rebuilding much bigger. The trend keeps spreading outward as the homes are renovated/replaced.

A coworker lives in Cypress, a city 30 miles to the northwest of downtown and it sometimes takes her an hour and a half to drive to the office on the Loop. If there were no traffic, it would only take about 35, which is what you get late at night or other low-traffic times. Rush hour is nuts. She has had a 2+ hour commute home. I also have another coworker that lives in Baytown, about 30 miles east of downtown. She tries to work a arrive-early, leave-early shift to avoid rush hour. I have driven there on a weekend in 30 minutes, but sometimes it takes her an hour and a half to get to the office too. I could not live that far out without having a job further out. It's crazy how much of a difference a few miles make.

Sorry to turn this into a discussion on Houston traffic. I completely understand not wanting to deal with long commutes. It's super great that you can get everything you want (well, except higher pay). Aren't there always trade-offs?

CMGragain · June 2014

My last home was built for us in a new development in suburban Maryland. I would never do this again. Our home was built it was early in the history of the neighborhood, when it was planned to be single family homes surrounded by woodlands. Financial times changed, and the nearby properties were re-zoned for high density housing. What was supposed to be a community of single family homes became apartments, skinny townhouses, and a Walmart! Surprise!
When we moved to Colorado, I insisted that we buy a house in an established neighborhood. I really like my house, which is close to the Colorado National Monument. Nobody can build an apartment complex across the street because everything is already built out.

theartistformerlyknownas · June 2014

No experience myself (yet - we'd love to build if we can find land that's not in a development) besides my parents buying a builder spec house when I was a teenager and just choosing the finishing touches, but I've heard building is one of the most stressful things a couple can go through. SO many areas for communication to break down, like one person checks it out and thinks it's fine, but the other goes back and realizes they missed a window or installed the flooring in the wrong direction or spaced the tiles too far, or you have different priorities on where the money should be spent, plus you're stressed for space and money while it's going on, etc. Look out for that!

Jells2dot0 · June 2014

jenna8984 said:
@jells2dot0 That is awesome! for some reason in my mind I always associated "build" with super rich people, or at least more expensive than existing. It very well may be if it's stick built with all the upgrades, but after talking to the guy from my high school modular is really affordable. And he was still able to tweak the layout and make changes, add a garage, add a jacuzzi tub, stuff like that. I'm excited that it's a possibility!

I will say that it was probably more expensive than buying existing. Of course, I have nothing to really gauge that off of since I never really looked at existing. Though, we are getting ready to move and we have been looking at historic homes. So, obviously not new! Lol however, because they are in historic neighborhoods, the prices are inflated. A home similar to what we have now would be twice as much. Thankfully, we're keeping our current home so we can buy smaller and not worry about space!

lovesclimbing · June 2014

I like the idea of building.

I grew up in a house my parents built. Actually, they were building. Still are building. It's taken them over a decade and it's still not finished. It's like, what's the point of building this big house for the whole family when by the time it's finished, you'll have one kid left at home or you'll be empty nesters?

My H's family is the same way. Still building their home years later. The reason is both of our parents are building it themselves out of pocket. Which is great because you don't have a house loan. But then you're living in a house in various stages of building for years.

H and I would really like to build a house someday, but we both agree that having a house loan and having our house finished right away is better than no loan and living in an un-finished house for a decade or two.

Inkdancer · June 2014

emmaaa said:

Inkdancer said:

emmaaa said:

@KPBM89 Jordan Lake is a nice area (not too far from where I live)! It is nice because it is so close to Raleigh, Durham, and Cary and a quick scoot to the highway and interstates for travelling. Plus NC weather is generally amazing.

Jordan Lake bros! I'm in southwest Wake County.

I'm in Southeast Alamance! Small world.

Fi and I went to Elon! And FI taught at Cummings High in Burlington for a while. Very small world indeed!

Has anyone ever had their home built

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