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Cool to see this! Most people will never build their own home these days (even with the cost savings).
by kafquaesque 8y ago
Cool to see this! Most people will never build their own home these days (even with the cost savings).
- Xuper 8y agoMaybe for the better. With current divorce law mess loosing something you have built yourself would ramp up male suicide rate even higher then it already is.
- hulahoof 8y agoWhy all the downvotes? We have serious social issues for not taking male mental health seriously.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- matte_black 8y agoIt was a rapid cynical contrast to the rest of the discussion.
- kafquaesque 8y agoMale mental health is definitely not a priority in society (it’s off-topic in this thread).
- icebraining 8y agoA problem is that you can't get a mortgage to build it yourself. Being cheaper in the end doesn't help you if you don't have the money right now.
- HeyLaughingBoy 8y agoAs I think about it (not in depth, though), does it matter? If you're building it yourself, you can't go that fast. The amount of building materials you can buy each month with what would amount to a mortgage+taxes+insurance payment each month would be just about what you could use up. So it would probably work out OK.
- icebraining 8y agoLand alone is often pretty expensive; can you get a regular mortgage to buy it?
- chrisBob 8y agoOur land loan had similar interest to a mortgage, but was interest only with a balloon payment after 24 months. The bank's intent was to issue the loan and roll it into a construction loan with similar terms (which is what we did). This was all through a small local bank where the loan officer inspected the house himself prior to each construction draw. The biggest challenge we had with the loans for land, construction and the eventual end-loan was "Why are you building a 1900 sq-ft house? You really shouldn't be building a house under 3k sq-ft."
- lostlogin 8y agoI’d have called that a medium to large house with 3k being huge - what is typical? Looking where I live, we are typical for 1960s, and just over half the current average of 205 square metres. Guess my idea of large is actually small.
- lallysingh 8y agoOf course! And it's even lower risk because you can't really mess up land the way you can a house.
- saalweachter 8y agoThe land loans I've seen are not very advantageous, high interest and short terms; where are you getting them from?
- kafquaesque 8y agoMy father did as much overtime as he could to save up money when we were building.
- walshemj 8y agoYou cant get a mortgage for self build in the USA? - its a definite market in the UK and you can save quite a bit.
- icebraining 8y agoI'm not from the US :) By "self-build", you mean you actually build it yourself? Doesn't the bank require professionals who can present invoices and such?
- andys627 8y agoYes they require _someone_ to have a general contractor's license and insurance.
- vvanders 8y agoMost actually go a lot further than that. We're in the process of building right now with a large-ish builder + separate lender. We can't even do the painting ourselves, the mortgage company requires that we hire it out. I'm short on free time anyway so it's not that big of a deal but finding a lender that would let you do everything is probably a bit tricky.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoFinding a contractor who will take a few bucks under the table in exchange for putting their name on the paperwork and checking your work prior to code inspections is not usually that hard.
- bluGill 8y agoThose are both cheap and easy to get though.
- dejv 8y agoIn Czech republic they do offer self-build mortgages and you dont need any license (up to 150 sqm). Money are released by achieving milestones and inspection from bank, no invoices required.
- sjg007 8y agoYou can get a construction loan in some States and in those States you are allowed to build your own house. Now the bank may have some requirements (show them your plans etc...) on you but you can generally act as your own general contractor. Still I think a reputable builder + home inspector + real estate attorney is the better way to go. At least if the contractor is registered with the State you can usually get access to State funds if the GC screws up.
- andys627 8y agoI have not seen a lender that will give an "owner-builder" a construction loan without being a licensed general contractor. There are various common ways to structure a deal with a general contractor - fixed price, "cost-plus", or construction manager (where you convince them to "use" their license and they check your work).
- bluGill 8y agoSeveral of my family members have gotten such a lot, so as of 15 years ago it was still possible. Building your own house is a good way to get end up in divorce. It hasn't happened in my family but they tell me that the stress is too high. You have to get that house built quick because the loan terms only give you a few months before you have to refinance.
- sjg007 8y agoOr a remodel is a quick way to divorce as well.
- newnewpdro 8y agoSome of my fondest childhood memories are from periods of major DIY home rennovation projects. Remodeling the kitchen, replacing the windows, installing tile and hardwood floors, all sorts of fun and hugely educational experiences. These were times of pleasure, excitement, and productive collaboration for the entire family. When I see comments like these it makes me wonder what sort of dysfunctoinal marriages people have got themselves into, and if taking on any sort of project requiring teamwork is simply forcing a realization of an already failed state.
- andys627 8y agoThis is a good thing. You want any home you may buy to have been built under the supervision of a licensed general contractor.
- thowawayburnout 8y ago$2k gets you a general contractor licence in my area (Canada). The fact someone is licensed means almost nothing at all for general contractors. Its more important they have insurance.
- andys627 8y agoDon't they have to have several years of experience as well?
- DrPhish 8y agoA mortgage is not a requirement to building a house, but making that tradeoff will induce a number of constraints and require non-standard ways of living for a while that may be more than you or your family find acceptable. The main ones are being uncomfortable in the short term, and probably living in a rural setting where land is less expensive. Here is a link to a book that lays out a very good strategy: https://books.google.ca/books/about/Mortgage_Free.html?id=U8olv7h0of4C&redir_esc=y https://books.google.ca/books/about/Mortgage_Free.html?id=U8... (warning: although I read this book and considered it's approach, I used a slightly different strategy towards home ownership without a mortgage that allowed me to purchase existing homes)
- toomanybeersies 8y agoMy father's hobby is property investment. Well, it's a bit more than a hobby, he owns around 10 houses. He does as much work as possible himself, or when I was living at home, by getting me to do it for free (well, I get inheritance one day). The amount of money he's managed to save by doing his own work is staggering. We saved at least $10,000 by building a retaining wall ourselves. We mixed up over 6 tonnes of concrete in a 200 L concrete mixer. Every fence on his properties he's put up himself, I've helped out with about 5. You're probably saving $5000 per fence (for a timber fence, 6 foot high). He does a lot of his own painting and drywall work as well. He does a lot of his own electrical work as well since he's qualified to do it, which saves boatloads of money. We even installed the pool at the family house on our own, saving 5 figures (he did pay for a earthmoving company to dig the hole though). He's probably managed to save several hundred thousand dollars by doing his own work. He basically spends any time that he's not working at his day job working on his properties. Building your own house from scratch isn't really worth it these days though. It's cheaper to get a frame preassembled, then trucked in and erected. Doing your own concreting isn't really worth it either, same for bricklaying.
- dennyis 8y agoA good friend of mine owns around 50 houses and apartments, and does 95% of the work himself. He is super smart and impressive, however he is his own limiting factor in his growth. He literally can’t keep up with the work and refuses good deals. Learning to lead others effectively is key to growth in real estate investing and it’s a hurdle many unintentionally self limit their growth.
- toast0 8y agoMany people self running a real estate business are interested in a sustainable income, not necessarily growth. At 50 properties, your friend probably could start leveraging a team and either get more properties and more income or simply get more time for himself and still have enough income. But, a lot of people will have topped out at 10 or so properties, if you're paying other people to do the work there, you may not be making enough income to grow your assets.
- 8y ago
- dqpb 8y agoIf the economy is working properly there shouldn't be cost savings by doing it yourself. That's the whole point of division of labor.
- kafquaesque 8y agoIn order to build a house you need to become the contractor. In order for contractors to make money they mark up the price of the building beyond subcontractor fees and materials. Twenty years ago there was a twenty percent mark-up in certain places in the country. When my family built our home we never bought anything at full price. One of my uncles installed all the flooring for free because it was his full-time job normally to install carpet etc. (I’m pretty sure but not positive). The cabinets that went into the finished main kitchen were like 90% off. If you are acting as the contractor and you have the time to wait to purchase certain material (when there are sales) you can potentially get below the costs of what some of the contractors are getting their material at. The cookie-cutter subdivision houses—in some parts of the US—are extremely poorly built with sub-par material (they are trying to make as much profit as possible).
- MajorSauce 8y agoThis is irrelevant since he provides labor/services by himself. You are telling me that if economy is properly working, a mother should not cut the daughter's hair since it should not be cost saving ? I'm sorry if I misunderstood your point.
- ghaff 8y agoHe's basically arguing comparative advantage. You're better off spending the hour programming and paying the contractor a (well, maybe) lower rate for them to do the job faster and better. Which is fine as far as it goes for theoretical economics. But, in practice, as in your example, the mother probably doesn't have a way to get paid for doing some other task rather than cutting the daughter's hair--and would likely take even more time to go to the barber anyway. It does make sense to pay for some tasks you could do yourself. But in a lot of cases you're not actually saving money especially if you're not earning money by the hour and are maxed out on how much time you're able to spend earning.