Buy or build a home? Advice needed!

[Luke The Drifter]

So within the next 12 months I plan on purchasing my first home. Thing is I'm torn on whether to buy or build. Both have their pros and cons but I'd like to hear some real world experience. Things to watch for, do's and don'ts etc. I really want a big, heated, insulated and well lit garage and I like a more open concept home. That much I know lol. But other features of a home I'm not overly sure what's better or ideal.

Thanks guys and gals!

 

[ferniesnow]

This will go on for pages and pages. You left it pretty open ended.

I think of building as actually building. Actually, pounding the nails, pouring the concrete, drywalling, painting, and everything else. Other people think about building as sort of being the organizer and getting it done for you. That to me is not building your house.

Building is a big endeavour but very satisfying. There are lots of pros and cons. I enjoy it and doo a good job.

As far as features are concerned, with every 10 years or so, your needs as a family change and the features change. A lot different with pre-schoolers than with teenagers, and a lot different after the teenagers leave home. So the ideal home is only temporary as your needs change rather quickly.

This will be an interesting read. Good luck with your endeavour.

 

[mach123]

All I care about is your shop, lol just kidding you live in st albert take a peek at garage right behind taco time, it even has vaulted ceilings in it. I will be building them the house soon......

 

[the_real_wild1]

I would love to have a house built for me but don't have the patience. There is a lot of stuff to deal with as well as the time it takes to get done. If I had the cash to pay for this house while the new one is being built I could do it. If I was in my old house I couldn't wait a year.

 

[eclipse1966]

nine years ago we built our own home. We actually hired all our trades, negotiated and bought our lumber, drywall etc etc. I did our own tile work, base borders, build in shelves, hung doors and painted to name a few projects. I also did our own landscaping including irrigation and decking. Anyway, final cost per sq ft at that time was $93 vs hiring a contractor at $135-145. We built a rather large house (4000 sg ft - 3 level) so the savings is huge.

 

[CUSO]

Well.. building is worth it if you do it yourself. The downside is the time you have to wait to get it done. If you get a builder, you better make sure it's what you want.

I would say 75% of people who get their 1st home move to something else more suitable down the road.... if not more. Be careful as to what you think you need to what you really need.

My house is definitely not what I expected after I moved in.. and will not be my last one for sure..

I would get your foot in the market with a house that is the best to your expectations, settle in and see what you would like to see changed, then do the changes or build one then.

Sometimes an older home is nicer... bigger lots, mature trees...etc. there is a compromise for everything.

 

[X-it]

I have bailed out quite a few people who wanted to build their own house and failed. It was really painful to get them back on track after all the screw ups that had to be fixed. Some of them where real dillies, i just can't see for the life of me how they let people build with out having interprovincial certifications. But it is only going to get worse, after for 40 years being a carpenter i am glad to be retired.... well kind of retired.

 

[ferniesnow]

nine years ago we built our own home. We actually hired all our trades, negotiated and bought our lumber, drywall etc etc. I did our own tile work, base borders, build in shelves, hung doors and painted to name a few projects. I also did our own landscaping including irrigation and decking. Anyway, final cost per sq ft at that time was $93 vs hiring a contractor at $135-145. We built a rather large house (4000 sg ft - 3 level) so the savings is huge.

No offence but this is exactly what I mean. If you built your own home, why did you hire trades? You acted as the organizer or the general.

12 years ago, we pretty much built our present house. We hired an electrician (even then I pulled all the wire and put in all the boxes), cribber (he only did the footings and the walls and we did the basement floors, aprons, patio), and a carpet layer. Everything else we did ourselves and it was $155/sq.ft.. for 2000 sq ft on the main floor with a full basement. Everything is finished; hardwood 700 sq ft., tile 700 sq ft., vaulted ceilings throughout, 4 baths, forced air wood/electric heat, lots of logs and a lot of cedar interior finish, quality cabinets, quality appliances, electric heated tile floors, metal roofing, Can-exel siding, two car garage and 20x26' shop (insulated, drywalled, painted, vaulted ceiling with 2 sky lights), and 3/4 acre of landscaping. It was a 10 month build before move in but lots to finish. In all it was a 5 year project with a lot of play time included. In my prime, I would doo the same thing while working a full time job and move in 7 months.

Anything is possible if you put your mind and body to the task.

 

[Crazy8]

No offence but this is exactly what I mean. If you built your own home, why did you hire trades? You acted as the organizer or the general.

Things are different here in the city ferniesnow. Builders here, with the exception of a few, are mere project managers. They don't work on site 10 hours a day, they hire trades for that.

That being said there can be significant savings for being your own General contractor, also Hugh downside potential if things don't go as planned. It only takes one bad trades person to cause you a lot of grief.

Luke, are you planning on building in a developed subdivision or acreage? Most developed subdivisions have architectural guidelines in place, therefore off the shelf plans won't usually work without modifications. Only a few developers offer lots to the general public, most have a list of approved builders that must be used.

 

[Luke The Drifter]

No offence but this is exactly what I mean. If you built your own home, why did you hire trades? You acted as the organizer or the general.

Things are different here in the city ferniesnow. Builders here, with the exception of a few, are mere project managers. They don't work on site 10 hours a day, they hire trades for that.

That being said there can be significant savings for being your own General contractor, also Hugh downside potential if things don't go as planned. It only takes one bad trades person to cause you a lot of grief.

Luke, are you planning on building in a developed subdivision or acreage? Most developed subdivisions have architectural guidelines in place, therefore off the shelf plans won't usually work without modifications. Only a few developers offer lots to the general public, most have a list of approved builders that must be used.

Therein lies the $64000 question. I'm looking hard at an small country residential type acreage (2-3 acres). Enough to give me room to park all my toys and still have room but not 10 acres of lawn (shoot me now). With that said I don't want to be 40 mins out of town, kind of a give and take situation. I should've clarified in my original post, by building, I meant hiring a home builder to do the actual construction. I'm fairly mechanically inclined/handy with tools but in no way am I a carpenter/plumber/electrician. My job requires too much of my time for me to build it myself anyways. But with that said, I'm kinda leery of hiring a builder after hearing numerous horror stories of shoddy work by the various trades and the owner being left out in the cold and with a house resembling that Korean fella's shed in the cheesy chit thread. Like 99.9% guys on here I want things done right and I can see when a guy is doing his job sloppy or doesn't take pride in his work. That bugs me and I don't want to be babysitting so to speak.

 

[X-it]

The less a guy knows the more time it takes him to accomplish the f up. They can't even shingle roof's anymore without leaks..Inspectors are not used to checking for that.

 

[arff]

Your asking a difficult question. A lot of factors come into play. Lot size will determine garage size. Area can determine home design and color etc.

We had a home builder with a agreement that we had full access to walk into the home during the build. I managed to get a 1000 sq foot attached garage.

My wife is a realtor and looks at homes daily sees different designs , styles and lot sizes.

Do research and ask questions.

 

[lilduke]

JMO here,, How much you looking to spend? Unless You are planing on spending Over 500G I would just find one you like that
suits your needs..First home so im guessing 350 or 400g tops?

If you are spending like 1million then yeah build custom forsure.. Again..JMO

 

[GYMBRAT]

Have built 2 now AND all I can say is BE PICKY and do your homework with who you hire PERIOD!!!!

 

[DaveB]

If you build new you get to pay the GST....if you buy used, you don't. It's a nice chunk of change....

 

[ferniesnow]

Therein lies the $64000 question. I'm looking hard at an small country residential type acreage (2-3 acres). Enough to give me room to park all my toys and still have room but not 10 acres of lawn (shoot me now). With that said I don't want to be 40 mins out of town, kind of a give and take situation. I should've clarified in my original post, by building, I meant hiring a home builder to do the actual construction. I'm fairly mechanically inclined/handy with tools but in no way am I a carpenter/plumber/electrician. My job requires too much of my time for me to build it myself anyways. But with that said, I'm kinda leery of hiring a builder after hearing numerous horror stories of shoddy work by the various trades and the owner being left out in the cold and with a house resembling that Korean fella's shed in the cheesy chit thread. Like 99.9% guys on here I want things done right and I can see when a guy is doing his job sloppy or doesn't take pride in his work. That bugs me and I don't want to be babysitting so to speak.

You are absolutely correct. Arff hit the nail on the head; doo your research.

Joe's Construction builds two houses exactly the same using exactly the same subs. Owner #1 is happy and impressed. He is telling all his friends about how the build went so well and everything is just awesome. Owner #2 is unhappy and unimpressed. There are cracks in the drywall, base boards don't fit in the corners, bathroom fixtures are leaking, the basement is cold, the heating bill is high because they didn't insulate properly, there is frost on the windows, two doors don't close right in the winter time, etc.. He is telling all his friends that Joe's Construction sucks, yet both house were built exactly the same. Different strokes for different folks.

You need to develop a good working relationship with the contractor and put your faith in him. That's what you hire him for. You need to be able to walk on site and look for yourself without getting on the trades bad side or being a pain in the arse for the contractor with changes to this and to that after the plan has been approved.

Another point to consider is the negativity aspect. You hear lots of the horror stories, in fact, way too many. How many stories doo you hear about the "good guys"?

Good luck and with what I see so far, you should not have a lot of horror stories because you seem concerned and going in the correct direction. I would build a house for you (if I were in the business in your area) as I think you would be a great customer.

 

[Luke The Drifter]

JMO here,, How much you looking to spend? Unless You are planing on spending Over 500G I would just find one you like that
suits your needs..First home so im guessing 350 or 400g tops?

If you are spending like 1million then yeah build custom forsure.. Again..JMO

Realistically I'll be looking at 400k tops just because that's seems to the market average now for a home in the Edmonton area.

 

[rzrgade]

The old addage,it takes 3 home builds to get it right is wrong..............it takes 4 or 5 lol..............
I would buy a home first as close to what you think you want,take notes and learn before building.
As Fernie said ,you need a new house about every 10 years as your lifestyle changes...........VERY true.

 

[X-it]

Hell i am in the home i built 35 years ago, 2500 a year less in taxes.

 

[eclipse1966]

no offence taken. I own my own company and travel a lot overseas especially back then. So building start to finish was not an option although we did a lot of work ourselves and we also took advantage of my father-in-law's saw mill for our lumber needs. There are few ways of interpreting "building your own home". One is to hire a contractor and let him build to your plans and needs. The other was is the way we did it and act and a general contractor and do some work ourselves and the other way is the way you did it. The last two can save you some bucks for that new sled

No offence but this is exactly what I mean. If you built your own home, why did you hire trades? You acted as the organizer or the general.

12 years ago, we pretty much built our present house. We hired an electrician (even then I pulled all the wire and put in all the boxes), cribber (he only did the footings and the walls and we did the basement floors, aprons, patio), and a carpet layer. Everything else we did ourselves and it was $155/sq.ft.. for 2000 sq ft on the main floor with a full basement. Everything is finished; hardwood 700 sq ft., tile 700 sq ft., vaulted ceilings throughout, 4 baths, forced air wood/electric heat, lots of logs and a lot of cedar interior finish, quality cabinets, quality appliances, electric heated tile floors, metal roofing, Can-exel siding, two car garage and 20x26' shop (insulated, drywalled, painted, vaulted ceiling with 2 sky lights), and 3/4 acre of landscaping. It was a 10 month build before move in but lots to finish. In all it was a 5 year project with a lot of play time included. In my prime, I would doo the same thing while working a full time job and move in 7 months.

Anything is possible if you put your mind and body to the task.