We took a big step! *Update*

That's pretty exciting! :) I've always wanted to build a house. But you'd have to pay me a LOT of money for me to move every few years. I hate moving!

good luck! just be careful cause the market isn't the greatest right now!

Very exciting opportunity, Faith! Been in apartments all my life - would love to own a home. Reality is that it probably won't happen in my lifetime. I'll love to read about your adventures with homeownership/building, though.

My senior year in high school my parents built a log home! It was VERY stressful and time consuming to say the least! My parents almost divorced because of it!

When we added 1200 sq ft onto our house 2 year ago, I'd say the same thing although hubby and I didn't almost divorce over it!

Building is VERY expensive too becuase of all the permits and such that go along with it!

GOOD LUCK!

I have never bought a home always rented,good luck hun ..

my in law used to buy and sell and they are sitting pretty well off.the moving process though is a bitch excuse my language

It sure sounds exciting, good luck with everything Faith.

We have discussed building but have seen many friends and family who went through it and is was a huge headache. If you have the patience, it will be great when it all done.

I helped to build the home I live in now. I've owned tract homes and custom homes that others built. I've been involved in a partnership where we owned rentals. I've invested in real estate for years. It's been very good to me. Also, I've been a licensed Realtor for about the past 10 years in California. I can try to answer any questions you might have. Just send me an email if you'd like.

Oops, I forgot to wish you good luck building your home. Yes, it can be a major headache, but it's well worth it to get the house you want rather than buying a house someone else wanted. I would do it all over again!

The name of the game is, of course, patience and more patience!

Better yet, rather than sending me an email, it would faster if you pinged me with any questions.

Thanks SO much Gabby! I will most definitely send some questions/pings your way!

That's great and exciting. Might want to plan to stay in this one for a little longer than a few years though. It will take that long for the market to really rebound.

A suggestion. If all the bedrooms are going to be on the second floor, you might want to put the laundry room up there with it so you don't have to keep carrying all the clother upstairs.
Also start a list of different things you would want in your home structure wise. (Recessed lights, laundry chute, particular shaped windows, etc.)

I think that is great. Haven't done this but have done some remodeling but nothing like this.

I do not envy you. I hated the house buying experience. It was very stressful.

I don't have any suggestions. My sister's boyfriend's father has done that for a living, but I don't have contact information for him. Of course, I could probably obtain that from my sister.

We built our home two years ago. I agree with Gabby "the name of the game is, of course, patience and more patience."

We had some hoops to jump through to get the credit repoerts right. We did. The orginal lot that we picked out had a huge boulder in it. The builder was not able to do anything with it. We had to take a lot with neighbors on each side or take the only other corner lot open at that time. They were building a display house on that property. It was already half built. We were able to get all the upgrades they were putting in, plus what we chose and we paid less that what we were orginally going to pay.

That is very exciting....:)

Good luck. This is going to be a very exciting time for you. Enjoy it.

good luck, more work than I would want to do. Like Adair said, lot of hoops, permits to get ,inspections to get due. A lot of waiting for the inspections to be done, before you can continue building.

I always rent, and I don't think will ever be able to get a house. I screwed up my credit really bad. Good luck Faith, hope everything works out for you, sounds exciting!

That is great Faith, best of luck to you and your family. I hope that you have the house of your dreams built.

Congratulations! Buying or building a house is a big first step indeed!

That's wonderful! What an exciting time for you and your family!

Good luck and congratulations

We had our house built also. My advice to you is keep on top of what your contractor is doing. I'm sure your hubby can attest to that. Good luck!!!!

Good luck! We will probably eventually build our own house, but it will most likely be after my husband retires from the Air Force (he's only been in 4 years, though!), or gets out for some other reason. We did buy the house we are in now, and it really wasn't stressful at all for us. It was the only house that we looked at that we really liked, and that was in our price range, and we got a great deal. We both have incredibly good credit considering our ages (22 and 24 when we bought it), though, so that definitely helped!

That is so exciting! Don't forget about the cost of the land that you will need to purchase as well.
I can't wait to see you guys break ground!

Priscilla - as far as everything we've talked about so far... it would be under $200k including the land. :o)

I think that is a great idea! I have never built from scratch, but have done a few painful yet very worth it remodels. (My parents have as well, so I got to hear their stories too)

Compromise, communication and patience are the keys for me. Also, since you are planning on re-selling probably pretty quickly, keep that in mind when making decisions on layouts and cosmetic things. You might think that deep red wood floor is great, but a more traditional stain might be better for resale, for example. (Not that I think you are going to pick red, just an example) Keep things fairly neutral.

I have always shied away from owning rentals. It just seems like a hassle that I am not willing to deal with. It works for a lot of people though, so go for it.

I know that when I lived in Washington, building it yourself was really the only way to go and I know that there are some areas, by you in Oregon that are similar.

Good luck it sounds awesome

This is very exciting, - good luck in building your dream home!!!

How exciting! We want to build our own as well.

How exciting for you guys!!!
I have a few suggestions. I myself bought a house from habitat for humanity, but lost it in a divorce....
Anyway, I was hands on with the building from day 1. I found out that the more hands on labor you have to help move and lift and do the unskilled stuff, the more they can cut down the time you have to pay for the skilled laborers to be on site. If you have a friend or family member that can be there to help out whenever you have a hourly waged person there, it also helps motivate the person to not take too many breaks... :)

My advice to you is this. . . If you are looking at this first build as a way to really make a profit, do not get too attached to making it all the way you want it. Go with nice things, but also think about average layouts and the way most houses work. If you want a nice built in entertainment center or in cieling speakers, wait until you have your first couple builds done and maybe have your investment properties out of the way and you are definately working on YOUR house that you will be staying in for a good number of years. This will accomplish two things, you will not waste money on added things that only some buyers are interested in (so you can put that money into things that will make a huge difference like extra space in the closets and bathroom). It also means it will be alot easier for you to look at it as a house investment and not your home.

I hope you guys see financial independence and security out of this. It can be an amazing experience, but oh so stressful.

Thats awesome.. I'd love to be able to build a house the way I want it. I can't believe you can't find a 3 bdrm for under 200,000.. wow.. I'm glad that, even as bad as prices are here in Florida, they're not that high!

Good luck Faith! It's so neat to have your own place. I put up a new mobile home on 2 acres my Dad "gave" me and it is just so neat to be paying for my own place instead of dishing out rent...hang in there and don't give up on your dream!

I am not a fan of moving at all! Plus, I want my kids to grow up in one house and bring their kids there too. That probably isn't realistic but one can dream, right?

My mom built a new house a couple of years ago and she is so happy with it. I'm excited for your guys! You will have to post pictures along the way so we can go through this process with you!

Your husband being a professional and having so many contacts. he could also do some bordering with the other pro,s . You can do a lot of it yourself. Are you planning on pouring a slab or building on blocks. The slab makes heating cooling more efficient. But blocks are cheaper if you want to conserve money. A hip roof is easier to build, but a gable roof allows add on,s easier, should you want to build adequate and add on as finances become better. I was a carpenter too, just like Donald, but only did the framing. Hate that inside part. My Daddy did mine.

We built my cabinets and vanity with just a skill saw. Donald has all this fancy machinery to build them then put them in place. But heck mine just need some fancying up and they will look great too. You know a great carpenter never works on the house he lives in. Just everyone else. LOL.
Like plumbers usually have leaky faucets.

That is really exciting! I own my home. Bought it in 1991. My suggestion have a downstairs bathroom too! It is the only thing that I wish that I had in my home that we don't have. Especially when I am waiting to get in there!

Karen

the best advise I can give you plan on doing rentals..Check references really well. Otherwise you could get stiffed alot and be forced to take them court.

I'm really excited for you! We've been looking for a house and I know what you mean about not finding something you want in your price range. As far as rental properties go, my landlord owns 12 buildings and does flip houses too. He does have a partner and a few helpers to maintain all of these. You really have to be on your toes to deal with renters. Personally, I would build and flip, but wait until the housing market is in a stronger position. Hope you are very happy in your future home.

There are pluses and minuses on both sides of this. For the minuses, see Bridget's comment. For the pluses, see yours. ; )

It sounds like you're already set on this plan (if so, I can't wait to see what you guys build! What a dream). If not, however, have you considered remodeling an existing home along with your options? This might be a nice way to make the foray into building, without all of the sewer, driveway and other incredibly expensive new building permits and install expenses.

YAY! That's a great option! Especially your husband has connections. Otherwise these days builders don't do quality work. In our area, the new construction houses are all crappy because the demand is so high, the builders can use crappy materials and people still buy them like crazy.

The price sounds wonderful for the rooms/garage you were thinking about.

Best luck! I don't know anything about home building.

We have always live in houses owned by the churches we have serve. I have uncles who made their living by building and selling the houses that they lived in . It gets pretty old after awhile I guess, all that moving .