Anybody ever bought land and had a house built ?

[Mr Nice]

Anybody every bought land and had a house built ?

I'm thinking about buying land and having a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage built. Nothing fancy , just a 1 story ranch style house on 1 acre of land in central FL.

Total budget is around $700K, prefer to stay under.

How did you find a quality home builder ?
What problems..... if any did you run into ?
How did your house turn out (quality of build) ?
Any problems with: permits, inspections, contractors, .... etc.. ?

 

[Zee09]

I've done many.
If you're not in the trades or a builder etc. , go look at New houses on the market for sale and do a tour.
That is an easy way to find a builder. Assuming you know what to look for that is. If not find somebody
that knows better and obvious quality is easy to see but plumbing and electrical etc. Is a bit harder and needs a trained eye.

 

[demarpaint]

Yes.

$700K in Central Florida should build you one fine home, 1 acre lot included.

We didn't build in Florida, but had land there which we sold. We had a house built on land we owned in PA. We met with and interviewed builders and looked at their work.

We had a few minor issues with them dragging their heels, and some minor quality issues. I made sure they were properly addressed. I've been in the construction industry for over 40 years and know what a good job is supposed to look like, and how to deal with issues with builders.

The end product turned out fine, however had I not stayed on top of the contractor he would have tried to get away with a lot. The only thing our GC tried to pull was screwing us on the well. IIRC they allowed for 200 feet and it was $10/foot more if they went over 200 feet. Don't hold me to the numbers it was a long time ago. Anyway they billed us an extra $2,500 stating they had to dig deeper to hit a good water supply or something along those lines. I said no problem we will measure the depth together, which he was not happy about. I measured it when we were told of the extra $2,500 fee so I knew the depth. Long story short, I made an appointment with him to measure the well. I broke out a fishing rod and had him watch me bottom it out in the well, IIRC it was at about 220 feet in total. I paid the extra $200, and watched him even more carefully from that point on.

Bottom line is do your homework, and visit the project often, don't be afraid to ask questions, and point out things that you aren't happy with. If you aren't familiar with construction make friends with someone who is.

 

[Zee09]

Florida should be pretty easy. Many builders have spec houses and I toured many on the east coast there.
Interestingly I found complete crap and premium builders priced only a few percent apart.
And the difference did not require a trained eye. I was impressed with the good builders.

 

[chainblu]

Once you have a contractor in mind, get references and call them. All of them. Make sure they are a legit reference, not his cousin or best friend, etc. Ask them if they know anybody else who had a house built by this contractor and call them (if you can). Ask them if they would use this contractor again and what complaints they had during the build. Trust me, they will have something to complain about. Then make your final decision.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by Zee09
Florida should be pretty easy. Many builders have spec houses and I toured many on the east coast there.
Interestingly I found complete crap and premium builders priced only a few percent apart.
And the difference did not require a trained eye. I was impressed with the good builders.

We see the spec house here a lot. They build it nice then the rest are junk. One of the bigger builders is being sued over junk houses he built that were not like the spec house.

 

[Zee09]

Their names are known and the word gets out fast. You have to do your homework.
but the low quality builders are obvious because their model houses are crap. You know it can't get better
if that is all they have from the get go.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Anybody every bought land and had a house built ?

I'm thinking about buying land and having a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage built. Nothing fancy , just a 1 story ranch style house on 1 acre of land in central FL.

Total budget is around $700K, prefer to stay under.

How did you find a quality home builder ?


A real nice 3.2.2 should be able to be built on a acre for $500K or less. I don't think you even get close to needing $700K !

Word of mouth from locals will help you find the best contractors. Personally I would avoid asking on Facebook. talk in person!

 

[PimTac]

As already mentioned, talk to others that have had houses built. Finding a good contractor is hard. The reality is the lead contractor will be the one you talk to but is not the one building the house. He can be a great builder but if he doesn't have a tight rein on his labor then you end up with shoddy work.

Constant visits to the worksite are essential. You can ask questions on things that seem out of place or are not what you expected. Getting these problems caught early on saves money later by not having to redo work.

 

[y_p_w]

Heck - around here people are buying modest 3 BR homes in good condition and turning them into teardowns. I've been through some neighborhoods where half the homes are modern looking and too big for their lots, while there are remaining single-level ranch homes.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
Heck - around here people are buying modest 3 BR homes in good condition and turning them into teardowns. I've been through some neighborhoods where half the homes are modern looking and too big for their lots, while there are remaining single-level ranch homes.


That's the norm in Toronto.

 

[Zee09]

Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Anybody every bought land and had a house built ?

I'm thinking about buying land and having a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage built. Nothing fancy , just a 1 story ranch style house on 1 acre of land in central FL.

Total budget is around $700K, prefer to stay under.

How did you find a quality home builder ?


A real nice 3.2.2 should be able to be built on a acre for $500K or less. I don't think you even get close to needing $700K !

Word of mouth from locals will help you find the best contractors. Personally I would avoid asking on Facebook. talk in person!


I was thinking the same. And it would be a quality build. If you have no construction experience hire a consultant. Most are ex builders-inspectors and it's on them and well worth the money.
Just make sure they are not in cahoots with the builder. $500k would build a fabulous house and a basic lot in a good area.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Anybody every bought land and had a house built ?

I'm thinking about buying land and having a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage built. Nothing fancy , just a 1 story ranch style house on 1 acre of land in central FL.

Total budget is around $700K, prefer to stay under.

How did you find a quality home builder ?


A real nice 3.2.2 should be able to be built on a acre for $500K or less. I don't think you even get close to needing $700K !

Word of mouth from locals will help you find the best contractors. Personally I would avoid asking on Facebook. talk in person!

$600K is what I want to spend.... $700K was on the high side of budget.

I'm still considering different options.

 

[NormanBuntz]

I've done it five times: once in PA and four times in NC. My favorite was a house plan from Southern Living magazine that we modified. Spend plenty of time finding an established builder who you can trust. Be leery of recommendations from real estate agents. Pay extra attention to the construction agreement and the building specifications, many of which are dictated by your local county building codes.

You'll have some glitches and disagreements (with both your builder and your significant other), but doing the proper vetting, paying attention to detail and spending time doing regular job site inspections will pay dividends and provide you a home you'll cherish for years.

 

[Kansas_Ron]

You might ask your local government agencies who issue permits and perform inspections about certain contractors. Not that I hold these "inspectors" in high regard. These permits are a cash grab in my mind. If you are worried about things being right or what you paid for, look at hiring a person to monitor your build. Possibly ask you financial instution about certain builders. Everyone has a reputation.

 

[benjamming]

We bought 3 acres in 2004 & had a house built in 2006-2007. Word of mouth is the way to get a list of potential builders. If there are any specific features of your house, basement for example, then ask how many houses has he built with a basement. If there are red flags or alarm bells, then trust that gut no matter how bad you want it, etc. We found our own cabinet guy & some others. Interview subcontractors as well & ask for referrals. For example, HVAC, flooring, cabinetry, etc. Or you can be hands off as much as you want but you don't get to complain at the end.

No permits required so not an issue. Only exception was septic permit which went just fine.
I would recommend hiring a structural engineer to review the plans for footers, drains, etc. & follow-up with inspection.
Hire an attorney for writing/reviewing the building contract.
We bought most of the stuff ourself to outfit the house such as tubshowers, sinks, etc.; he bought the lumber, nails, drywall, etc. Work out if you pay him or the vendor.
You can't take too many pictures or videos of the build just like you can't research available options too much prior to build. Days will be long but months short once it starts.
With that kind of money I bet you can overbuild some which I think is worth it.
I would highly recommend this path & would do it again if needed.

 

[ecotourist]

When I was in my 20s we built a house on a lot we bought from the city, as the general contractor. That was an adventure! Whenever I had recommendations for a good subcontractor we got a good one. When we didn't there was bound to be trouble.

I'm an engineer and my father was a carpenter and I was pretty familiar with how to build a house. But being the general contractor in addition to my regular job (90 hour weeks as a medical intern) was exhausting. We got a great house at a very good price. But I don't think I could do it again.

My medical partner bought a new and very similar house in the same neighbourhood a few months later and it cost him a lot more than mine did.

 

[supton]

I have not done this. Yet. But will be curious how this turns out for you. In my case we're looking into knocking our house down and doing all new, foundation up. Right or wrong we are looking to use a friend who's a GC for the job. I will say, it's overwhelming to have to look at all the possible options--floorplans, trim molding, what color, so on and so forth. I'd much rather buy someone else's (depreciated) choices!

 

[tony1679]

Maybe I'm the weird one here, but I've done my homework and I'm looking to build/buy a small 2 bedroom 2 bath with a couple of acres and countless extras (storm cellar, etc.) all for well under $100k.

Americans have a horrible, horrible problem with 'needing' large houses. The countless subdivisions being built around me with 2,000+ square foot houses, $200k+ price tags, and the inability to p!ss off the porch without splashing another house confirm this. Building codes requiring a high minimum square footage further spiral it out of control. Yet we wonder why this country is in so much debt. I could retire at 29 if I had $700k at my disposal. Yes, I truly could.

Not being critical of your decisions, I'm happy you can afford to do so. I'm just critical of the mental disease Americans have with 'keeping up with the Jones family' nextdoor. Tiny houses aren't for everyone, not even for me, but tiny-er should be everyone's mindset, not larger.

Now that I realize I'm venting, my only advice is build a little smaller and spend the money you saved on things you care more about. You can't take the granite countertops with you when you go...

 

[maverickfhs]

I did look at that option a few years ago and it was definitely a lot more headache and expensive, than finding something already built.

But again, it takes the fun part out. I hope you find and build something amazing