Sold home and new home build

[muddstopper]

Got a contract on selling my home. Supposed to close July 20th. I will have 60days after closing to move out of current home. I also get to use my shop for one year to store my junk. Things are already getting hectic. I have another house I can move into temporary, but I have a buyer trying to get a loan to buy it also. In other words, I may be homeless in about 3 months. I already had plans to start building a new home in about 3 months, but I had planned on staying where I am at until the new house was ready to move into. The wife is tickeld pink she will be getting the new house we have been planning on for the last 20 years since move into our current home. I am dreading all the work involved just building a new house. Add in the fact I might have to rent while the house is being built.

Anyways, I am starting this thread to ask advice and get opinions as the build is taking place. I laid out the driveway last week, and had planned on starting clearing this week, but it has poured rain everyday. I'll take pictures as thing progress. The wife and I have been visiting the supply houses picking out cabinets, flooring, doors and such just to get a ideal of cost. I dont have a builder yet, everybody I have talked to are months behind. I have a dirt man already lined up for the dirtwork. We have been talking about the road for months now. He said he would pull off of what ever job he is working when the time comes to get my road in.

This isnt the first house I have built, but It should be the last one. Pics too come soon.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Congrats! on your house sale, ms. sounds like u will be a busy man in the months ahead... keep us posted.

 

[muddstopper]

I dont know if congrats or deep regrets is required in this situation. We had the home up for sale a couple years ago, but the wifes mother got sick and we just couldnt deal with trying to take care of her and trying to build a house at the same time, so we took the house off the market. The lady buying our house had talked to us before about buying, even before we listed it for sale, but she didnt want to pay our asking price. Just out of the blue last week she asked if we still intended to sale and I said yes, but was in no hurry. She didnt like the price this time either but I had it priced figureing realitor commissions and closeing cost and all that crap. She asked for a cash price, her pay all associated closeing costs the price I give is the amount of money I walk away with in my pocket. I already knew what it would take to get me to move off this hill so I told her. I didnt really expect her to accept. Said she would think about it and next day she accepted my price. Signed a contract Monday and she put down a $10,000, non refundable earnest money. If she backs out for any reason now, she forfeits the $10grand, I guess she is serious this time. The purchase agreement specifies I get to stay in the house for 60days after closing and I get to use my shop for storage of my equipment and tools for one year and then $60 a month storage fees after that time. It was a take it or leave it type deal because I told her before she agreed to purchase I couldnt just sale and move on the streets and I had to many valuable tools to just move and let sit out in the rain while I build a new shop. I plan on letting her take possession of the house is less than the 60days, but I aint moving until we close on the house.

 

[svk]

Building a new place is exciting but stressful too. Do not settle for an unknown contractor, make sure it is either someone who you know or someone who has built for someone you know! Sounds as though getting work started in a timely manner is your biggest concern at the moment.

 

[homemade]

I’m building my new house this year. I went with Wausau homes. They can get it built in time I need and I don’t have to touch a hammer. They were actually very attractive on the price. It’s gonna be about 6months from first meeting to move in but any general contractor in my area was 9-12 months before move in and 30% higher in price. The contractor I picked was very nice and they are willing to customize the original plan without much hesitation.

 

[svk]

I went with Wausau homes......It’s gonna be about 6months from first meeting to move in but any general contractor in my area was 9-12 months before move in and 30% higher in price.

I think you did well. If a local general was 30% higher from the get go and 9-12 months out, chances are the actual price would have been even higher and probably more than 12 months out!

 

[anlrolfe]

I'd buy the following:
1) camper
2) conex box

Get a temp power pole on site for the construction and move some of your tools to the conex.

When the job is done sell the camper and keep the conex as an out building. Dress it up with a roof and/or overhang and make it look like it belongs.

 

[muddstopper]

I'd buy the following:
1) camper
2) conex box

Get a temp power pole on site for the construction and move some of your tools to the conex.

When the job is done sell the camper and keep the conex as an out building. Dress it up with a roof and/or overhang and make it look like it belongs.

We considered the camper ideal, and I have a lot I can use, belongs to my son, with water power and septic there already that I could use, but the house on it burnt and it would need cleaning up before I could put a camper on it.

The conex box I hadnt thought about and is a good ideal. Set it up where I can build a shop off it later and store tools in a secure building while working on the house.

 

[lone wolf]

Building a new place is exciting but stressful too. Do not settle for an unknown contractor, make sure it is either someone who you know or someone who has built for someone you know! Sounds as though getting work started in a timely manner is your biggest concern at the moment.

And dont hire a Contractor to build it hire out subs to do each job.He would make 50,000.00 for doing the same thing you can do. First step is an architect then excavator, Mason etc. Save money .

 

[svk]

And dont hire a Contractor to build it hire out subs to do each job.He would make 50,000.00 for doing the same thing you can do. First step is an architect then excavator, Mason etc. Save money .

Only if you fully know what you are doing and have the connections with good subs. I have know several people decide to be their own general and every one regretted it.

 

[lone wolf]

Only if you fully know what you are doing and have the connections with good subs. I have know several people decide to be their own general and every one regretted it.

If you have good subs it ain't a problem. I can see bad subs ruining stuff though.

 

[muddstopper]

Back in my younger days, I used to help build houses. I also built my last house, it was 3658sqft 4bd 3 bath and 2 car garage. I hired a framer to get it in the dry, another to put on the roof, and one for sheetrock and a plumber. I did all electrical work. Good subs in my area, or at least used to be. I have been out of the loop for a while and most of the folks I used back then are either retired or dead. Most of the general contractors around here sub all the work anyways. I just got to get in line on the waiting list. Since I am retired, I will be on site most every day while the build is taking place.

I am trying to decide if I want to rent an excavator or just pay to have it done. I can do it, but I would be slow. Price to put in drive is around $15k, power another $10k. Then well and septic. I'll be in around $40k before I even buy the first 2x4. I can rent a 18000lb excavator for $1500/wk. That wouldnt really save me much money as a big part of my road cost is gravel and culverts. My problem is no help with the clearing. I either would have to hire a man for the chainsaw, or get on and off the excavator all day cutting off stumps after I push a tree over. No truck to hual timber.. If it ever quits raining I plan on underbrushing the road so I can see just how many big trees I have to cut. If I had plenty of time, I would probably do the clearing and dirt work myself, hire a contractor to dry in the house and take my time getting the inside finished. This time around, I'll probably be better off hiring out most the work.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Wrote a very long reply to you directly. Would not send. Limited to 420 characters.
In short, you need a blue print showing where things go. Walls, doors, windows, etc. Pretty obvious.
You also need a spec sheet. It specifies what is to be used, by brand and model. Apples to apples when getting bids. What sink; shingles to be used; door hardware; flooring; appliances; windows; type of insulation; etc
Your building the finished house on paper with a blue print and spec sheet.

The spec sheet can be line by line, or you can use an "allowance type numbers" for some things such as flooring, kitchen fixtures, lighting fixtures. (I would not recommend that.)

We picked out a refrigerator after the fact. The walls are painted, the floor is in, counters are in. Push the refrigerator in place, and can not open door door do to cantilevered hinges and refrigerator next to stubbed end wall. Wall switches on opposite side of wall.

Pick everything out before hand. (Our refrigerator is still 4" from where it should be.)
I would suggest 36" doors through out, and 48" halls/stairs. Make it handicap accessible inside as much as possible, just for comfort and future use. My wife broke her ankle two years ago and she used a wheel chair for three weeks. Many interior doors are not typically 36".
Just some thoughts.
Have fun with the process.
And remember, it's your shop and her house. Keep her happy.

When/if you get bids for someone to build, make sure they do not change what you spec.
We went to a parade of homes. We were in a very nice house, the builder was there and I complimented him. **** chat...were getting ideas, and I'm going to build our house. He says when your ready let me bid on it. He can build it cheaper.

I get him the blue print and line by line spec sheet.
He changed two key things right off the get go.
We spec'd a ground source heat pump (brand/model); he changed it to an air to air heat pump...huge difference in cost and efficiency for MI climate.
He also changed 2"x6" stud walls, to 2"x4" stud walls.
He did not tell us he did this, hoping we would just look at the final number.
When I asked about the line changes, he simply said we did not want either of those things.
And, we did not want to work with him.

Good luck!

 

[muddstopper]

We drew out our own plans, but I did take the design to a friend with building design software. He has been drawing out workable plans off magazine pics for years. The actual design is based off a functioning design that has was my wifes grandparents home, but a little smaller, and my current home, which is a lot bigger. I was really suprised when I took the tape measure to the wife grandparents home and started drawing it out to scale. I was sitting at my dining room table doing the drawing and the similarities started standing out. I actually stood up and grabbed a tapemeasure and started measureing my room sizes. It was uncanny how close the sizes where to each other. The floor plan is almost the exact same with the exception of bedroom sizes. The kitchen, dining and living room where the exact same size except flipped to opposit ends of the house. My wife liked her grandmother house and I said it was to small. I like my current house and the wife says its to big. I added 4ft to the lenght of the old house and left the kitchen dining and living room alone. Did away with one bedroom and added a laundy and bathroom. While working on the laundy/bathroom, I was having a hard time making it work. I looked at the area I had to work with and then walked out to my current laundy room, There it was, the exact same measurement. I was able to then visualize where everything would fit and actual traffic flow around the room. My wife said thats it and since I drew it, I had to agreed We are shooting for 2x6 exterior walls as long as we can get room sizes and fixtures to work out. This guy will give us a material list and since he owns a building supply, he can give a material cost as well. 3ft doors are a must all thru the house. Interesting is there isnt that many doors or windows. Walkin bath tubs with seating, tall toilets, yep I am getting old.

We spent today pricing out kitchen cabinets and appliances. Havent picked specific cabinets, but wife found the counter top she wants and the flooring. We where mostly price searching and have a meeting scheduled for the kitchen designer next Monday. Kitchen is pretty straight forward, sink under the window, stove and refrigerator on the opposit wall. Pantry between kitchen and dining room. Kit and dining seperated buy a arched open door way in her grandparent house which we both already liked, in my house the kitchen/dining is seperated by a bar which we both hated. I think we both are getting what we wanted and it really helps to be able to compare between houses you have actually lived in and know what you like or dislike about each one.

 

[92utownxh]

A couple of years ago we started a house renovation/rebuild. Long story short half of the main house had major structural issues and it was cheaper, quicker, easier to start over from the ground up on that part. I wanted to more or less manage the project, but I quickly found out that having the right connections make the difference between a sub getting there the same day or the next few weeks. We did have a contractor.

We have metal siding over a vapor barrier over sheathing. 2x6 exterior walls. Metal roof. I had an Amish pole barn builder do the whole roof, siding, and windows. They were extremely fast, cheap, great work, and warranty the work. Looking back I wish I had them do all the framing too. Would have saved a lot of money.

We have lots of big windows that open and we love it.

Definitely maximize the space you have to work with. Our kitchen doesn't have a window in it, but to change that would have totally shrank other rooms. The master bath is behind the kitchen. Instead of a window over the sink we put the sink in a peninsula. There is a bar on the opposite side with a few stools. The sink then overlooks the dining room and living room. There are no walls dividing the kitchen, dining room, and living room. We love it that way. We can be in the kitchen and keep an eye on the kids or still be a part of group conversations.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I bought a connex box in December. Figured I'd use it a number of years, and when done, sell it. Like a fabric shelter, no permits/inspectors or taxes, but more secure against critters and theft than a shelter. And more protection in the woods from trees shedding dead limbs. We can not see it from the house, so looks was lower on the list.

 

[anlrolfe]

Consider SIP(structural insulated panel) walls.
Your air infiltration will drop to little or nothing.

 

[dave_dj1]

Congrats!
Don't be afraid to hire a GC, just do your due diligence and ask for references and verify them. A good contractor is worth it and let's face it, we all gotta eat.
Most of the people I have seen be their own GC either end up costing themselves a lot more money than they should and it's a lot of stress on them and their spouse. I have seen first hand divorces result from big projects.
I just finished a 4600 sf house that the owner GC'd himself, from Fla. I had worked for him in the past, he had the basics down but also knew I was there taking care of things even though I wasn't getting paid to do it. I framed it, roofed it, sided it (3 miles of siding ) and insulated it and did the interior trim. He took care of hiring the drywaller (on my recommendation), the electrician, the plumber and the excavator. There were a few minor setbacks but nothing really major. Lot's of mud to deal with this spring because of the early warm weather and rain causing a couple of major mud seasons. He did cost himself some money with the mechaicals because he didn't have a clear plan as to what he wanted.
If you need any input feel free to pm me and I'll pass along my cell phone number to you.
Dave

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Tall shitters are handy even if you aren't old. My folks have a lift kit toilet, they put it in after my Dad got a hip replaced (and he's not that old). I find it's way easy to use than a low boy toilet.

The one we have in the shop feels like I'm kissing my knees. Thankfully there's a heavy duty pull bar in front of it, cause it'd be a son of a gun to get up!

 

[muddstopper]

Well, I got my grading contractor lined up, if it ever quits raining. Also found a framer to get things dried in. I contacted a conex company about buying a box, they called me this morning and said they would give me a quote, but I havent heard back. Went to my friend working on the final drawing. He was able to put everything in perspective as far as cabinets, windows, bath and laundry. He was even able to give a us a 3d view of what the finished product would look like. We made a few minor changes and everything was hunky dorey until!! We got home and wife was looking over the plans and I heard her say, this aint going to work, Oh crap I think, so I get up and go look at what she was talking about. Its the same thing we where having a hard time putting in the space available in the first place. The laundy/guest bath. The room is 9ft8in by 16 long. She cant fit a washer/dryer and a shower/toilet/vanity in that area. Everything fits in the drawing with room to spare. Nothing crammed together. To make any changes would require redesigning other rooms. She likes the other rooms and dont want them changed. I gave her a pencil and eraser and told her to make copies of the design and start drawing in what she wants. I looked at what she had been drawing and she has increased the width of the house by 4 ft and still cant get what she wants. When she gets tired doodeling, I hope she can come up with something workable. The rest of the house as drawn, we both like as is. The kit/dining/ living room is the same size/layout as what we have now, which is the same as in her grandmothers house she wants to copy. Blasted laundry room, who needs clean clothes anyways.