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looking for a home

2K views 11 replies 12 participants last post by  Mahdeew 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am living in a apartment and looking for a new home to live where I can access all living facilities easily. I am confused to build up my own home or buying through a broker? What is your opinion? I think buying through a broker is best. Any idea or suggestion will be appreciated.
 
#4 ·
I never built a house, but I built my own workshop - everything but the concrete slab and the roof trusses by myself with nobody to guide me, just a couple of dogs to sit back and laugh as I stumbled along. I gotta tell you - There's nothing more fun than wrestling 4×8 sheets of substrate up a ladder, in a windstorm, to assemble a roof. And then there is the joy of finishing that last bit of drywall, and to come in the next week to see every seam is cracked because you didn't stir the ready-mix and slapped it on like a circus clown applying makeup. But the best part of doing it yourself is either seeing the rain rush in when the wind blows just right because you forgot one simple little piece of flashing, or tearing off half the siding to install the flashing. Yea, good memories I will treasure forever. I can't wait to move so I can build another one.
 
#5 ·
I've got to agree with the posters above. Building your own home is not typically a good idea, even for the most experience lumberjack. This is a huge, complicated, and time consuming undertaking. I used Capital Residential
to purchase my previous home. They took away a lot of my anxieties and made the process very simple. Find someone in your area that you trust and you'll be much better off. Good luck!
 
#7 ·
It's rather easy…..if you move to a free country.
$250 for a permit. The "inspector" looked at my septic systems. Wrote everything down(taking notes for himself). Then came electric. He asked if I was an electrical engineer. I laughed(I suck). Never saw him again LOL
I've built 5 more and never even pulled a permit ;-)
Sky Plant Building Cloud Land lot
 

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#8 ·
1986 - I built my own house, then a 3 car detached garage in '92. Did it myself with helpers minus the masonry and roofing shingles (12/12 pitch!!). That way I had things pretty much the way I wanted, that I could afford anyways. Sold that place a few years ago after living there for 24 years. And like an idiot I moved and bought a new to me house…POS and I've been working on it for 2 years now. In hind sight, wish I had started from scratch again.
 
#10 ·
I will never buy another house again, everything from here on out I will build regardless of where I'm transferred to. Builders always go with the low bidder regardless of quality, just as long as they eventually get their green inspection sticker. Slap it, advertise it and build another one ten feet away in six weeks flat.
 
#11 ·
Tract builders are the worst. Builders calling themselves semi-custom (like a lot of the larger builders) are in fact tract builders who charge more for the same shoddy builds.

The amount of code violations I have found while working on my house are incredible. Sometimes even though it seems like it was more labor intensive to do it wrong, they still did it wrong.

But I do love when a simple changing of a light fixture turns into adding a junction box because the electrician thought it was fine to just punch a hole in drywall and pull the wire through and attach the fixture with drywall anchors. Or when changing a mirror in the bathroom requires a few square foot patch of drywall because the mirror was hiding a hole. You just can't pay enough for fun like that.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
I suppose where you plan to build matters a whole bunch. If you build in the country which has no zone requirement the chances are the experience will be positive. However, if you are building in a zoned area, then get to know the inspectors and invite them to come and look at the project while in progress. I build my home and shop in the country with no zone requirements. It has been rewarding.


You can see how I built my home here:

http://www.earthartandfoods.com/loghome.html
 
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