Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail

By April of 2010 I was well on my way to planning the budget for the project when the economy hit home - Judy (my wife) got laid off from her job and stayed laid off for the remainder of the year. This of course caused me to put the brakes on new-house progress, which in hindsight was probably exactly what I needed. I was just beginning to wrestle with a detailed budget for the house and trying to settle on a specific design/plan to build. For the next 7 months we literally looked at hundreds of floor plans on the web, went to Parade of Homes to get ideas, and combed through architect's design books.

I've speckled this post with several of the interim "THAT ONE" moments we had on our way to settling on a design - some lasting for months - but all eventually breaking down under pressure when pondering important design details like: "Where will we put the Bakers Rack?" "The Bonus Room isn't wide enough to accommodate the pool table SIDEWAYS", "The screened-in porch isn't recessed", "or The kitties won't have anywhere to sun". Needless to say, picking a design is a very personal thing when it comes down to it. However, aside from budget (we'll get there in a minute) there are a few things that serve to constrain the actual house that you can put on your lot. For example: If you want/need a basement and you live in the south, you better shop for a lot accordingly. You can't feasibly dig a basement here unless you have a lot that slopes and can walk out of at least one side. Also, you should know the maximum value of each house dimension (Length, width, and possibly height) that your lot/site will accommodate. This is often driven not only by the size and geography of your lot, but more-so by zoning laws that dictate mandatory set back distances that a particular edge of the house must be from the front, side, and back property lines as well as the maximum height. In many cases, there are also DEED-restrictions (requirements written into the deed of the property) that require a minimum square footage or other dimension that must be satisfied when building on the land.


Make sure you know all of those constraints before you really start looking at pictures/floor plans so that you could search the websites (such as http://www.dreamhomesource.com/) to obtain options/results that conform to all those constraints. There are many house-plan sites on the web, and specific architects sites also, such as http://www.dongardner.com/ . Obviously, the house plan you ultimately choose will be the single-most driving factor that determines your cost and therefore your budget needed for construction. This is when it starts getting a little scary, because the design you settle on is of monumental importance to what you end up with when complete. You do NOT want to chose a design and then "tweak it" along the way to make it fit things that you think of later. All that should go into the initial decision on the single design you settle on. EVERY change after that has an associated add-on cost. Take your time (I took almost 9 months), KNOW what you want (and don't want) in a design, and choose wisely.

Here are a few things I learned throughout the design-selection process:

1) Defining a detailed line-item budget for a particular design up-front is impossible and a waste of time/energy. Instead, go with basic cost-per-square-foot guidelines for different styles and classes of homes. They're generally very accurate for estimating purposes. There are a number of things that drive these costs up or down by a few percentage points, such as: (a) Material Costs (lumber varies widely throughout the year), (b) labor costs (labor is cheap now because no ones building due to economy), and (c) fuel (gas prices going up makes everything more expensive). These things affect the cost-per-sq.ft. to build, and unless you're paying cash as you go, the cost of financing/money/interest rates is an add-on at the end subject to its own variables.

2) Building yourself rather than hiring a General Contractor to build the home for you will save between 20-25% (maybe more) of YOUR money. The quality of materials, fixtures, appliances, and amenities will dictate your final cost-per-sq.ft. In general, an average 1200-1800 sq.ft. "starter" home with basic amenities might run you $90-$100/sq.ft from a GC/Builder, but only $75-$85/sq.ft. if you build yourself. Also, builders tend to use cheap-shit materials and cut whatever corners they can (e.g. putting in used fixtures left over or laying around from other jobs or returns) because ultimately they're only interested in the profit. When you build your own, you put in higher quality materials and workmanship by design, get EXACTLY what you want AND STILL SAVE 20%! I'm building a slightly higher-end luxury home which from a builder would run $135-$150/sq. ft. (because of added features like hardwood floors, granite counter tops, ceramic tile, walk-up-attic space, brick/stone veneer, etc.). It looks like I shouldn't have a problem coming in at about $100-$105/sq.ft. as my own builder. BTW - none of these numbers include the cost of the lot.

3) Try and think of everything you ever loved or hated about any house you've ever lived in and try to include/exclude those things accordingly. For example, we absolutely love our recessed screened in porch and hate having a "door-behind-a-door" in our bathroom and have assured the new design accommodates. I also like a large garage to work in with a big flat parking pad in front of it. And don't be too afraid to make it yours - with things like surround sound built in, custom-fitted shower nozzles, measured sink/counter/cabinet heights etc. (I'd love a pit in the garage but that's just not practical - and when you see Judy make sure you tell her that EVERYBODY has a pole in the Master Suite now!!).

Next time, I'll need to do a catch-up post so that we can fast-forward to where things stand today. Things are moving fast now and I'd like this to become a fairly real-time blog of the experience. Til next time...

....AND another thing on Lots....

I would be remiss before starting the next topic without adding one more thing to finish out the discussion of the prior posting on "Lots". My old neighbor Pete would have my ass if I didn't mention the importance of having a Geo-Tech assessment done on the lot before finalizing the closing papers. It is VERY important to know what's under your feet - is there Clay? Rock? Weathered Rock? Jed Clampett's Oil? Shallow ground water? In some cases it's really important to know if it "perks", and how much.

If you want to build on it, you must first assure yourself that the ground (a) can be properly excavated for a reasonable cost (extensive Rock could preclued this), (b) can bear the load of the structure you're placing upon it (some kinds of soil are "weak"), and (c) will not move, sweat, compress, or otherwise deflect over time, causing your house to crack/crumble and deform (extensive clay may cause this). If you have to install a well and septic system, then "perks" must be sufficient to support the size of the house (number of bedrooms/inhabitants) you'd need to build.

Hire a good Geo-Technical Engineer/Geologist type to bore some holes down deep into your lot and pull up samples of what's down there, then prepare a professional report of their findings. This could save you from "buying a lemon". You could gamble and assume "it'll be ok", but leaving that stone unturned could end up costing you dearly.

Getting Started

Did I mention that I am my own General Contractor? I have no builder - I am the builder. When I mention that most people gasp (or laugh loudly - BRIAN!), but I feel quite capable to take on the task. Years of project management experience (and certification) and a couple Engineering degrees seem to lend themself to doing such a thing. So what the heck. By my calculations, it's saving me around 20-25% over the cost of paying a builder to do a job that most likely (as in the past) will just piss me off. So with my best dose of humility - I'm in charge!

My first discussion is about the lot. I've attached a picture of the lot as seen from the road driving by as it was the day I bought it. As you could see, there's not much around it, but a bunch of trees, which is exactly what I wanted. 15 months later, I couldn't be more pleased with the lot. So my first advice on the lot is (a) Make sure you know what you want and why you want it (see my prior post), and (b) make sure you're getting what you want and take the time to put in ample due-dilligence. One piece of information I learned in my discovery was that even though the seller was touting the lot as having access to City Water and Sewer Service (which it does), it was not "Tapped" in yet and didn't have a meter. So I called the city to find out how much that would cost and quickly learned that they charge by the Linear Foot of Road Frontage that the lot has (this has 125 ft.). That interpreted to close to $14,000.00 to get a water meter set, a sewer cleanout pipe attached, and making the services usable to the property. After a little shock, I was ok with that and realized that was fairly normal for a rural lot.

Next before-you-buy suggestion on the lot: Know what IS and what WILL BE on the adjoining properties around you. That means looking up the plat plan w/the city and inquiring about any city plans for development. I went one step further and interrogated the neighboring property owners about their plans. I was pleased to find out that the large parcel to my east (right side facing) was owned by a retired EPA scientist-turned real-estate developer, and he was in the process of approving plans to put in an environmental conservation subdivision there. Lucky for me, the large piece of wooded acreage directly adjacent to and behind my tentative property would be the "conservation" part, and NOT the subdivision, meaning it would ALWAYS-AND-FOREVER be wooded!

Final advice on the lot - Make sure whomever you're buying the property from pays to have a Final Current Survey performed and drawn by a surveyor and included in your closing package. It is the proof of your property lines and will be very useful going forward - a must-have. Asking to have it as part of your closing package will save you about $500.00 over having it done yourself afterwards. I was able to get mine (AND the plot plan later) for free with some prudent negotiation (more on that later). That's about it for pre-lot-purchase work. I can't give much advice on determining what a fair price to pay for a lot is. That's up to you. It's alot like buying a car though. The one with the money (you) has the power of negotiation. Don't let them shame you out of low-balling. Walk away at least once and let them call YOU back.

Next thing I did (after buying the perfect lot) was downloaded a comprehensive "How to Build your own House" guide here: http://www.byoh.com/ and spent about 2 months studying it inside out, making sure I understood every detail. In my next blog entry, I'll talk a little about budgets, planning, and taking on what seems like an insurmountable task.

A Leap of Faith

In January of 2010, I took a leap of faith and purchased a piece of property on which I had visions of building my own house. This was something that had been in the back of my mind for a long time, just waiting for all of the right pieces to fall into place. At that time, the economy had taken a tumble and the real-estate market was in the toilet, so it was a bit of a buyers market and I'm all about taking advantage of economic opportunities. Aside from that, any savings I had in the bank was making nearly nothing on interest/appreciation so I saw little risk in taking that money and putting it into an undervalued land investment.

It was important that the land I ultimately settled on would meet a number of specific qualities/requirement for what I wanted, some of which included:

• At least 1/2 acre in size.
• Not in a subdivision, and thus with NO Homeowners association to dictate or restrict my use of the property.
  
• A naturally wooded area with a very gentle slope from back to front.
• Perched on top of at least a small hill, so that water would flow away from the property in most every direction.
• Generally flat for a nice usable yard all the way around without hills/slopes to navigate or drive up.
• An excellent spot for an in-ground pool in the back.
  
• Not in the city limits so there are NO city Taxes, encumbrances, or zoning requirements to adhere.
  
• City water and sewer service available to the property so no septic system is required.
  
• No immediate neighbors and the potential to remain fairly secluded.
  
• Located in close proximity to work, shopping, parks, and entertainment (e.g. a large recreational lake).
• Easily accessible to major highways and airports.

Believe it or not, the lot I found had ALL of these qualities, and more. So I decided to take the leap of faith, make a bit of a lowball cash offer on the property and attempt to purchase what appeared to be a nearly perfect setting for construction of my next home-to-be. As of January 27th, 2010, this became a reality and my name was put on the deed for a lot in extreme southern Durham County, zoned RR (Rural Residential), affixed less than 4 miles from RTP, I-40, I-540, and the Southpoint Shopping complex, also within about 5 miles of a northern tip of Jordan Lake, centrally located right between Raleigh, Cary, Durham, and Chapel Hill. How could this be? Well, it was.

So - I've decided to set up a blog to record my trials and tribulations of taking on such an endeavor so that others could learn from it and possibly assist them in the future, as well as tracking my own progress for reference purposes. I encourage your comment/feedback.