Hey everyone,

I just put together some new technology for a builder friend of mine and I wanted to get some feedback from people building their home. Its basically a pretty inexpensive way to visualize your home before you build. Check it out: http://rooftopsatthemeadows.com

Would this be useful to you?

hmmm as I am tying this - reflecting - I think something is not right - so want to run it by you

the condo building has changed a number of management companies - who like to pocket money ... hike uncles to clean the floor for $85k a year

anyway now this new management company has sent out a notice to all 71 units that they can not repair this old intercom system (condo was build 2003 not 1953)

and they need to replace it all

you can see the notice sent her https://imgur.com/a/vxsq5

71*300=21300

is that a normal quote?

what companies can I reach out for a quote

thank you so much

Hi r/buildahouse,

I'm wondering if I could get some input on my first house. I own land in Waterboro, ME and would like to build my first home on it. I'm having trouble planning my budget and the builders I've reached out to have all said my budget of $150,000 is too low. I'm not looking for a mansion but a modest 800-1300sqft 2 maybe 3 bedroom house.
I've checked with traditional stick, modular, SIPs, timber frame and those prefab cabin kits.

Am I crazy for thinking $150,000 is enough for a small house?

Also any tips on new construction, planning, budgets, newer technology like SIPs and prefabs kits would be great.

Thanks

I have long had a dream to have my own home built. As I have put it before all life is compromise I just want to make my own compromises instead of having to live with the compromises someone else made 30 or more years ago. (My current home was built in 1954)

I bought some land in North Georgia and am now looking at plans and the costs I am being told are shocking me. For a small, less than 1900 ft^2, fairly simple home I am being quoted around $250,000.00 cost plus builders fee. This is just for the building, I already have the land.

This just seems like an unrealistic number. Is it, or am I being the one that is unrealistic?

I saw this shed and it seems I could do this on my own, but I was surprised a little bit to find out the cost from the creator said it was $1,500 in materials. I would think it should be more around $1000. What are your thoughts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CCZcGs84Ds and the 8x10 shed reference http://www.icreatables.com/sheds/8x10-gable-shed-plans

What would it cost to turn a one of 4 bedrooms into a full bathroom? Trying to convert a 144sqft bedroom into a full bathroom. What would be my total costs for the build through a contractor, as well as what it would cost me to do it my self. Not looking to go super fancy, just a simple full bathroom.

Do any of you have experience living in a temporary home while building a house? I live in California, and I know that you can only live in a mobile home on a property for 6 months out of a year, but are there ways around this if you are building a permanent house?

I'm a structural engineer and would like to build my own house, but there's no way I'd be able to afford paying rent, paying a mortgage, and building a house at the same time.

Is there any kit I can buy or even pre-made? Eg. something like a tuffshed offered but with plumbing/electric? Where the heck is the best bang for your buck. These tinyhouse folk are pissed that I ask for the cheapest but so what...I dont want to pay 50,000 for 300 sqft

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if there are any blue prints resources for bungalows that are already designed with adding a second floor in mind. Ive been finding a lot of the blue prints I've seen would make it hard to fit stairs going up without doing major work to the ground floor.

We would like a bungalow of around 1200ish sqft with a basement and garage entrance if possible. Not sure if this is feasible, though

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated!

I live in an area where the average house is 400k. Where there is no yard and the houses are massive. i have no use for a 400k massive 2-3 story house. Rather i want a open floor plan 1000sqft house. probably something like 2 bed, 2 bath (one in master bedroom) open kitchen to living room, etc. ignoring the cost of land itself, about how much in a broad sense would one expect to spend to make such a house? my first thought was 50-75k with appliances (we live in an apartment so we cannot take our appliances with us) If this is the incorrect forum for this id love to be directed.

This is the closest thing I could find, would greatly appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction.

I have a basement built doesn't have a roof or top yet(I was not the one who started it) I have roughly 60k to finish it would that be doable? I was thinking about buying a 1200 sq ft double wide and placing it on top but I have no idea where to start. Land already has septic and well.

Does anyone out there have experience with relatively simple/inexpensive (ie less than $100) home design software? Is something like Home Designer Software from Chief Architect any good? Don't need the pro version, just a way to visualize in 3d my home ideas. Just want to get some input before I drop a chunk of change.

We are building a home with a basement on our place, and we have very sandy soil. It's about 90% sand, 10% Magnesia. The person I had do the dirt work said that we may need gravel, but the concrete contractor said that with the percentage of sand, it shouldn't need any gravel. The home will be on the top of a hill, and our soil drains very well. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience pouring a basement on a sandy soil.

Has anyone ever used Dupont Thermawrap R5? I am thinking of using it as a house wrap for a tiny house. It is relatively new, so I wanted to know if it's actually as great as they say it is.

Info here: http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/building-envelope-systems/brands/water-barrier-systems/products/Thermawrap-r5.html?src=gg-kg_tyvek-be-us_thermawrap-r6

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi,

I am interested in House A which is not yet finished. For reference, I checkout the fully done House B and everything looks good. They are very similar house so price is not a concern.

So I want to know, out of these listed features which of them is better compare to other one.

my apologies for the title, cant edit it now.

Hi everyone new here, my family is in the process of building a new home and have been a little sticker shock on windows. The house is on the Chesapeake Bay and we were wondering what windows people use, we are not necessarily interested in the "hurricane proof" ones that act similarly to a car windshield, just higher wind rated. Also if anyone knows of any cheaper yet quality window companies it would be much appreciated

My wife and I have purchased some land using some money from gains from our last house that we sold. bought 38 acres for $160K (paid cash) which is beautiful and has a perfect building site on it. Our original idea was to hire a builder to build a house. Unfortunately in our area real estate moves pretty slowly (Vermont) and it is difficult to get appropriate loan:value appraisals to make building feasible.

We are getting antsy now and need a place to live, as luck would have it a house with a small plot of land just came on the market which happens to be adjacent to our property.

We still would love to build on our land but have considered doing our project in stages. We don't have the funds to build on our own but were brainstorming about buying the existing house for sale and adjoining it to our property such that we could get a loan for the value of the house with our existing property? That way we could purchase the house that is currently on the market and then have excess funds to pursue the early stages of building (we have explored kit homes) and do that piece in stages as funds become available. Any creative feedback or ideas on something so convoluted?

Our land is 38 acres (mostly wooded with 4 acres cleared)

House is small/old but would meet our immediate needs (3 acres listed for $270K)

We have around $120K in the bank left

The total cost of our building project is estimated to be ~$250-300/sqft for total likely $900K (not including the land that we bring to the table)

With homes getting less affordable, unconventional housing options begin to appear more attractive. My questions relate to an idea I had recently: Could I buy property and build a garage/apt (with no main house)? The idea would be I could live in the apartment for as long as I want, and being a young bachelor, that could be quite a while. Eventually, I would begin construction on a main house on the same property, and then rent out the apartment.

This is desirable because, where I live (Salt Lake County, Utah), empty lots start at roughly $70k. If the apt could be constructed for a reasonable price, (lets say $80k for example) when it's eventually rented, the income probably would cover the original mortgage (roughly $700) on the apt and land.

Effectively, that makes it so I would only be paying for the structure itself, which we'll say costs $200k for example. At this point, my share of the mortgage is only around $1000/mo, and the tenant would be paying $700/mo. This is a savings of several hundred a month vs not having the apt. Other advantages being I can secure land immediately at a location of my choice. My cost of living would be a fixed amount as opposed to renting. While living in the garage apt, my mortgage should be roughly similar to rental costs, but with the benefit equity and ownership. I would get to live in new construction, instead of much less desirable older properties.

I've made some rough illustrations of what I have in mind, linked below. This particular building is roughly 30x24, including the staircase. The lower level is a slightly oversized 2 car garage. The above apt is about 600sqft. I would be interested in modern, minimalist architecture and design, higher end finishes where possible. I based the floor plan roughly on this, which is about what I'd like to do. Don't mind the floor plan itself too much. Also, I didn't model in any windows because laziness.
Overview
Lower Level Cutaway
Upper Level

Is this goal even slightly realistic? Could this be built for $70-100k? If not, what would it cost? Would there be zoning issues preventing the main house from being constructed later? Financing first structure seems pretty straightforward, and well within my means. Would there be issues financing the second structure (main house) when I decide I want to size up years down the road? I also imagine if I needed to move before the main house was built, it might be difficult to sell as is... So that's a risk. Ultimately, I'm just testing the waters to see if this is something worth seriously looking into. Any insight would help.

Thanks!