Rural New Home Build—School Me Up

[3855WIN]

Once you have water and power, buy an old house trailer and move out there. Live in it until you can start building.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Once you have water and power, buy an old house trailer and move out there. Live in it until you can start building.

Wish I could, but our property is part of an HOA, and that's not allowed.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Dude, despite all the "nows" on here, the only thing you need to do right now is spend time on the property. Spend as much time as you can in all the seasons, the idea is that in two years you really want to have a plan for what the property will look like. It's a helluva lot hard to spin your house 90 degrees to catch the fleeting december sun or turn it so that the deck is in the afternoon shade after the fact. Definitely start looking at costs and permitting, but there's very little actual work to do now unless you simply want to. 7 acres is small enough that you can probably put your well about anywhere and run some poly to the house.

I like your thinking here. My parents live within about a five minute walk from our property, so I'm out there quite a bit.

 

[Pagosa]

You can do it, but understand it can really stressful on your marriage, especially when dealing with contractors and living with the in-laws.
We have built six houses/rentals over the years and finding contractors that will show up and not a bunch of windjammers is the biggest problem. Areas in western Montana have such a high building rate, that most good contractors are booked 3-6 months out. First time they don’t show up or call, fire them and start over.
I do all my own excavation, icf concrete walls, and framing, and hire out most other items. Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC will over budget a job/or completely screw up stuff quicker than anyone.
Do not pay until they complete the job and do a walk-through with them. Don’t be afraid to fire them and start-over even if it’s a serious delay (other than framing) if they are not performing.
I’m a big fan of Insulated concrete forms and spray-in foam insulation.
I would drive around and look at some of builders work and talk to their clients face to face. Good luck

 

[Frenchy]

Understand the soils in the area. Building on bad soils with out the proper preparation and foundation system will be a costly mistake that won't be noticed until a few years down the road.

 

[KB_]

I saw that your on an HOA, But is there any chance you can stick a really nice modular on a walkout basement? That is probably the easiest and quickest way. THere is some really freakin nice Modular homes out there these days. Not like they were 10 years ago that's for sure. The only thing that stopped me was the property we bought didnt allow modular homes due to the HOA. Whats funny is the only difference was one was built on site and the other was built in a factory. Same stick built quality and in most cases even better built. That might be something worth looking into. You can get everything from standard ranch style modulars to multi story homes. Everything is done and all you gotta do is hook up your utilitys to the house. Boom done (obviously a little more to it then that).

 

[NEWHunter]

Not quite along the lines of contractor info but here’s what worked well for us when we built. Sit down with your wife and come up with a maximum budget and house plan you can both live with. Then tell her she can do whatever she wants within those parameters.

 

[rtraverdavis]

I saw that your on an HOA, But is there any chance you can stick a really nice modular on a walkout basement? That is probably the easiest and quickest way. THere is some really freakin nice Modular homes out there these days. Not like they were 10 years ago that's for sure. The only thing that stopped me was the property we bought didnt allow modular homes due to the HOA. Whats funny is the only difference was one was built on site and the other was built in a factory. Same stick built quality and in most cases even better built. That might be something worth looking into. You can get everything from standard ranch style modulars to multi story homes. Everything is done and all you gotta do is hook up your utilitys to the house. Boom done (obviously a little more to it then that).

Modulars are a 100% no-go in this HOA. My mom was on the HOA board for a couple years and it came up a lot. Otherwise, we'd be looking into it. Thanks though!

 

[Wildabeest]

Getting a good GC, IMO, is the most important and hardest part. A good GC will be able to guide you towards good decisions and away from bad ones, and deal with all of the day-to-day crap that inevitably come up so that you don’t have to stress over every little detail. 100% agree with previous posts on interviewing them, checking references, doing walk throughs of other homes they are or have built, etc. In addition, check BBB for complaints and perhaps talk to folks at the local building inspections office to see what their general experience is with the GC. And when interviewing reference, but sure to inquire as to how the GC handled issues during the build. If people say they didn’t have any issues, they are likely not being very honest and just trying sell you on the GC for whatever reason. Every build has issues, and the real test for a good GC is how they manage them a communicate with the client to get to acceptable solutions.

From a budget standpoint, one thing I’ve done in my builds was to leave quite a bit of unfinished space. This allows you to plan for later expansions as budget permits, and allocate current budget towards higher end fixtures of the more limited space you finish. For us fished space, go ahead and stub out for water, electric, HVAC, etc. to prevent rework later.

Good comments above on locating the house. Lots of time for you to make that decision, but be sure to take into account wind, sun, defensible space, excavation cost, etc. My first reaction on any lot is the view, and I naturally want to locate the house for the best view. But sometimes that doesn’t jive with those other practicalities.

Good luck! It’s definitely exciting and can also be very stressful. If you go into it with the right mindset (and a good GC), it can be more of the former and less of the latter.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Not quite along the lines of contractor info but here’s what worked well for us when we built. Sit down with your wife and come up with a maximum budget and house plan you can both live with. Then tell her she can do whatever she wants within those parameters.

This is definitely something we need to do. She keeps showing me plans with ever-increasing square footage, and I keep multiplying that number by the average cost-per-square-foot on my phone and showing it to her...

 

[LousyResident]

This is definitely something we need to do. She keeps showing me plans with ever-increasing square footage, and I keep multiplying that number by the average cost-per-square-foot on my phone and showing it to her...

View attachment 152479

On that note, choose a really solid, absolute maximum, final budget amount. And then knock 15-25% off and see what you can get for that. I don't have a ton of experience on the building side, but many here have talked about the cost going up mid project. When I underwrite construction deals we build in a 10% minimum contingency for cost overruns.

 

[TheJason]

From a budget standpoint, one thing I’ve done in my builds was to leave quite a bit of unfinished space. This allows you to plan for later expansions as budget permits, and allocate current budget towards higher end fixtures of the more limited space you finish. For us fished space, go ahead and stub out for water, electric, HVAC, etc. to prevent rework later.

An unfinished basement is IME a great way to fill in later. Our house in Great Falls had a full unfinished basement that we did a couple of years after moving in. If you pre planned your plumbing and electrical box for this, it really wouldn't be that hard. The biggest pain in the ass for us was working around what was already there and making things fit and make sense. You would obviously have to know how you want to lay it out so you can do your egress windows and all of that as the house is built. From there, framing it in and finishing it isn't that hard, just time consuming.

 

[Irrelevant]

On that note, choose a really solid, absolute maximum, final budget amount. And then knock 15-25% off and see what you can get for that. I don't have a ton of experience on the building side, but many here have talked about the cost going up mid project. When I underwrite construction deals we build in a 10% minimum contingency for cost overruns.

I went out and got the most expensive quotes I could for all the work when I submitted our application to the bank. Then during construction usually used substantially cheaper guys. I also went with a bank the offered the least amount down, that way when over runs popped up, I could pay for them in cash. I knew no matter who we went with I was going to refi almost immediately.

 

[mtmuley]

Unfinished space will almost always cost more to finish later than if just done during initial construction. mtmuley

 

[diamond hitch]

My contractor said he could build my house in 14 days - and he did but spread over three months. There were days in between when they showed up.

We found there were temperature swings around my property. I suggest you wander around it with a thermometer. There are places that are always cold and some that have a warm breeze always. Match the house location to what temps you like.

 

[LuketheDog]

Wish I could, but our property is part of an HOA, and that's not allowed.

You have 2 years to undermine the HOA and get it dissolved, that will solve approximately 50% of all the grief that could possibly happen in a project

 

[TheJason]

Unfinished space will almost always cost more to finish later than if just done during initial construction. mtmuley

Even doing the work yourself?

 

[LuketheDog]

Even doing the work yourself?

Not if doing yourself, also could just hire the trades guys on your own to finish it later...

 

[rtraverdavis]

Even doing the work yourself?

Remember, I don't even know which end of the hammer to hold.

 

[mtmuley]

Even doing the work yourself?

Doing the work yourself is always less expensive. Well, usually. I don't know of any contractor that has lowered prices. Sometimes finishing something can be a real pain regarding access. Getting material in, electrical and plumbing tie in. All adds up. Trust me I know. Besides doing it for a living, I have an 1800 square foot basement I wish I would have finished when I built. If you are able, do it complete. mtmuley