New Construction

New construction doesn't mean high quality work. A lot of time corners are cut and without a background in building you'll never know.

We're in the 2nd house that hubby built. This one took around 5 yrs with him doing most of the work himself. Beautiful house where everything is perfect for a big family.

We have built, remodeled and we are building again this year.
I will always chose building due to the fact you can choose what you want. An architect who is also a builder has the education of an architect and working knowledge of construction and will help keep you on budget and timeline.

Do you or your Husband, KNOW about construction, how to read blueprints, know the processing for building permits, know how to get and hire subcontractors, know how to walk a construction site and know what you are looking at... and if it is being done properly or not? Sloppily or not? Know construction lingo and terminology?
That is just the most basic things.

My late Dad, built our own house, when I was a kid.
But of course, he was in the business and had construction AND architecture background and education and licensing and had his Real Estate license too etc.
I grew up on construction sites.
Now I can walk through any development or site, and know what is going on and if the workers are doing a sloppy job or not, and if it is all up to code or not etc.

Building your own house, without knowing construction and all it entails, is to me, not what I would do.

AND excuse me, but your Husband... does NOT seem like he can do this. Per your previous posts.
It will be very stressful to say the least, if you both build a house yourselves.

Building a house, is not like home decorating.
And home decorating, is stressful enough for some people.
Imagine, building a house from the ground up.... and not knowing even the basics.

We've done two major *MAJOR* remodels, so although it wasn't a new, custom build from the ground up, it WAS a very similar experience. Personally, I loved it. And my husband and I make an excellent team in this particular area. Both houses ended up perfectly and very close to budget and timing. Even with that, however, it was extremely stressful.

We like to buy crappy houses in fantastic areas, live in them for a couple of years to see how the house operates, then remodel it to fit our needs perfectly. It's worked for us. We told our architect and builder up front that we're extremely picky and detail oriented, and that we'd be keeping a super close eye on everything. That we'd pick all our finishes, that I'd design the kitchens and bathrooms myself, that I'd use grid paper to do a design and the architect simply needed to make sure it could work and incorporate it into the plans. We chose people who were able to work with us on these issues, that understood that we were a pain in the a$$ to work with, that we had high expectations. Contracts were negotiated by the pros and my husband so that everyone was happy up front. EVERYTHING was in writing. Almost EVERY decision (and there are hundreds of decisions) was made before the project started (I had my kitchen faucets picked out before the architect was even hired, for example). The preparation stage took almost a year. Once we broke ground, though, it was smooth sailing (except for a few minor bumps, totally expected with a remodel of this magnitude). But please understand, we put in hours and hours and hours into this. I researched stuff for months, it was practically a full time job for a while there. It was stressful (we had to move out for months) and disruptive and, certainly, we all got snippy with each other at times. It is NOT something to undertake lightly. For most people, finding a home that's already done that comes close to what they want and need is a better way to go.

Regarding new construction, I have never, ever seen a new construction plan that I would consider buying (and we've looked at a lot over the years). They seem to be designed by people who would never live there themselves…or don't have kids…or never cook…or something. Some plans come close, but then I'm like "Well, I'd have to change that…that wall would have to come down…WHY is there a bathroom THERE?…that mudroom is TINY!" And all of a sudden, I'm doing a major remodel in my head. Plus I've heard there can be issues with quality, etc. My best friend lives in a new build - she likes (not loves) her house, but it's not without its issues. I hate her house - it's large and impressive, but it's so impractical! And new construction neighborhoods seem kinda…cold…is that the word I'm looking for? Without character? Everything all laid out perfectly, all the houses looking similar. You know what I mean? It's just not to my personal taste.

Anyway, building a house is a pretty difficult undertaking. It's expensive, time consuming and very, very stressful. And you might STILL not even end up with the perfect house. You have to really consider if you and your husband have the time and temperaments to go through something like this.

We've built 2 homes from group up. It is a very difficult, hard process that will strain your relationship. We laugh and say... we made it through 2 new home constructions so we much be meant to be together....

Just because it is new, does not mean you are getting better, you are just getting new. You have to stay on the contractor and employees to make sure they are doing things properly and the way YOU specify.

I swear I will never go through the building process again because it was a full time job overseeing the builder to make sure they followed through and believe me, even with me or hubby here most of the time, they still found ways to cut corners that we would only find later.

We can't stand either one of our builders and would never recommend them to anyone. We do have a beautiful custom home but we have also ripped out MUCH of what the builder did only to upgrade, replace and repair his mistakes.

Don't fall for the dream that building your own will be perfect. You may get a home you love but it is about a year or more of he$$ to get there.

We did not build because the builders were using the cheap wood. My husband wanted the solid wood and NOT the pressed wood.

So we did a house on our own and it was sooooo time consuming and it took a lot longer than it was supposed to---which is the NORM.

The architect screwed up a few times. Luckily, my husband knew exactly what to do.

The electrician mad so many mistakes---a lot had to be redone !

You need to know the construction business---to avoid short cuts and mistakes.

We do not have a massively big house, but, it's our own style --and lots of stress behind the process...A few things I would redo --years later.

Then, I had to sleep w/ the windows open for months because of all the toxins outgassing. It was horrible !!! Not good for allergies or asthma.

I would buy a house built already...

Every 7 yrs or so, decorating trends change...My kitchen is the first rm we did and it is dated already!

We are a year into a new construction home. It was a 'spec' home (we didn't get to pick anything out) and we won't go this route again.
Not so much the construction of the house but the cramming of all these houses in the neighborhood.
The home itself has been perfect, everything is shiny and new. Utility costs are almost non existent. The energy efficiency built into new construction is amazing and worth every penny.
Our previous homes have been rehabs or remodels. And we miss that. We miss some space between us and the neighbors. We miss character in a home.

I haven't but read about a marriage counselor once who specializes in couples building or doing major remodels. It is usually that stressful... I know many people who have done either one including my parents and there's never been a good story. Never "it was fun! On time, on budget, we easily agreed on most things and found it fun to pick out every light switch and outlet placement and type of handles and trim etc etc" Only time I will consider one is when our kids are grown or about grown and I have oodles of time to devote to it and we have all the time in the world for it to be done. Talking about building ourselves of course.

ETA: also, my husband is an engineer and worked construction so I trust that he knows what he's doing. We had a small remodel from a very reputable building who typically did much bigger jobs. My husband instantly knew they needed to reinforce the "header'. Knowing stuff like that would be a big help.

We are in the process of buying and selling. We considered long and hard whether we should build our dream house. Like Jim mentions we hate the burbs and the sameness, the utter lack of character, the small lots and and and. However, finding a good plot of land has been really hard for us. We don't plan on selling but we knew better than to have that mindset. Life changes, things happen and selling could become necessary. We were concerned what we wanted to build, our dream home, would not appeal to a wider audience and selling would be a burden. Plus then you have to factor in things like location, schools, community, etc. which would all be things we might be willing to overlook but a future buyer would not. Next we talked to a very good friend of ours who is an experienced builder. She gave us the straight talk on building. As Doris mentions building is an enormous, time consuming, all consuming, draining endeavor. Even with the best builder and crews, the build is going to have problems and each problem has to be solved and might impact other aspects. Talk about a lot of spinning plates. We were also told start to finish on a total new design construction expect it to take two years at minimum from design to move in. The timeframe was everyone's best guess with the build having minimal issues. With two small children that was not a feasible timeframe for us. Finally the cost. At the end of it all it was simply cheaper for us to buy an already built house even if it needed work.

In general building is not something to enter into lightly. Based on your previous posts, I would be concerned if I were you. Your husband seems to be gone a lot and the brunt of the family mechanics falls to you. You would then have to add the stresses of the build to your daily list. Everyone I have known who has built spends at least some time of every day at their build. I personally would not want that commitment with young children in tow. Good luck whatever you decide.

Yes we built our home in 2011. My husband is a super for a huge construction company that bids on commercial buildings. They used to do a lot of residential but found there was more $$ on the commercial side. My husband pretty much built our house, we used the construction company he worked for and since my husband knows the ins/outs of construction we saved at least $70,000! I know not everyone will get to be in that situation and i totally agree with TF Plano! You have to constantly be at the house to make sure things are going right and they ARE NOT taking short cuts. We have found a few mistakes that the sub-contractors did while building. We have since then had those mistakes fixed but it is a huge pain in the arse! Him and i have such different taste that picking out stuff for the interior is what we had a hard time dealing with. We managed but it was very stressful. In the end it was all worth it because we got the house we wanted! We plan on building again in another 5 years! Good luck!

One thing to consider with newer construction is that the materials may not be of the same quality that older houses are built of. The wood may not be 'old wood', cured for as long as the wood builders used in the past. (That accounted for a lot of mold issues in our town; new construction and too- green wood which split later or held moisture).

What I have noticed about the newer houses I have stayed in: they tend to feel pretty stuffy. There's a lot of emphasis on newer materials which eliminate drafts... I am of the belief that a small draft is not a bad thing and keeps the house healthier (through the passive circulation of air)... small fixes like storm windows (we did replace a few old windows which weren't working) often do the trick.

Add to that, the popular options for new construction often include occupant un-friendly features like incredibly high ceilings (I've seen more than one question on this site about changing the lightbulbs on those fixtures) or materials which aren't as easy to maintain.

As a nanny, I was with three families which did remodels-- those were pretty tough on everyone, but were wrapped up within a year. Still, things like sorting through materials, agreeing on plans with spouse, getting contractors to coordinate, etc.... some of these projects had finish work being done after the family had moved back in (they'd rent elsewhere for a while), at the homeowner's convenience. That seems preferable to me than building from scratch. Especially if it's a lot in a cookie-cutter subdivision with a postage-stamp yard and and HOA telling you what you can and cannot grow in your yard, etc.

We've bought 2 new construction townhomes since 2012. Bottom line, you get what you pay for. We knew we were going with a cheaper builder (DR Horton), and their construction shows it. Since we are renting them out, we don't really care too much about the longevity--we don't plan to hold them for more than 10 years. We had a homeowners warranty for the first year and that took care of a few minor problems.

Last week one of our tenants noticed water leaking in the bathroom, and it turns out that both bathrooms need repairs behind the walls. Rushed new developments will do that.

I know a very reliable builder in western suburbs, Lakewest Custom Homes, is really great. I would buy from them in a heartbeat.

It can be very stressful to build since you have to pick out basically everything. So, if you plan to build, make sure you and your husband know that you will need to devote a significant amount of time to going to meet with the builder to make the selections.

Hmmm..... okay, I can see where you're going. Nothing's quite "perfect" from what you're seeing between your ideas and your husband's ideas, so you're thinking that you can build your dream house.

Sigh...

I built 3 houses in my time. All 3 of them wore us out. Either we had to fight with the builders to do what we wanted, or we had to add so much ourselves because it cost too much to include all the add-ons.

After our 3rd one, we decided that we would never buy new construction or build again. Never. The next houses we bought were owned by someone before us. The first one we bought had all the kinks worked out. We did put a nice patio in the back yard, but everything else was done. The last house we built did need new systems and a new roof, but the house was discounted with that in mind.

The pre-owned houses have been much easier. I STILL will never buy new construction or build a house...

I think my perfect home would be new construction of my own design on a lot of land...the best of both worlds! We built our home almost 6 tears ago and we like it, but definitely some things we'd do differently if we didn't have to pick a "model" and go with it, with minor changes.

We did have to stay on top of our builders throguh the whole process, but I would do that anyways because it's my personality to make sure things are done to my satisfaction.

We did a major remodel that basically was like building a new house, large addition and all new bathrooms and kitchen.
Of course it was worth it in the end but it was VERY stressful, especially on the marriage. When people tell you to count on it taking twice as long and costing twice as much as you think it's going to, believe them.
Never bought new construction but that seems easy, right? Just move right in and everything is new and shiny and under warranty? Sounds pretty good to me!

Building is a stressful situation. You need to check out the builder - are they solvent? What's the quality of work they do?

Who will be responsible for building permits?
What happens when it doesn't pass inspection?
What is their timeframe for the build? do they take into consideration weather?
Are they wrapping with something like Tyvek Weather Insulation? Or just plain House Wrap?
Insulation rating? Will they blow it in? Or spray it in?
Are you ensuring wiring is Wi-Fi ready for EVERY room?
What about a sound system?

Is your marriage strong? If it has any chinks? Remodeling and New Construction will bring out the worst in you and your spouse and cause a LOT of stress.

Make sure you understand your budget, what it is you want, what the builder has and can provide - are you shopping with the designer or just going off what they tell you?

Are they hiring an architect - as if this is a custom build instead of a cookie-cutter builder. Do you know how to read the design and blue print? Do you understand the spacing of rooms? Once the walls go up - drywall, etc. a room might not be as big as you imagined.

There is a LOT to consider. If you know what you are doing and who you are dealing with - it might not be too bad. But remember - construction or remodeling is EXTREMELY stressful....so take that into consideration when taking on this project. If your husband is traveling a lot - the onus will be on you to talk with the developer, architect, designer, financier, permits, coding laws, etc...better to understand then look like a deer in the headlights!!

Good luck!

A reputable builder built our house in a development. We picked our house from the builder's brochure. There were a lot of options to consider and they add up fast. For example, our builder had 5 houses to choose from then each house had about five different front facades to choose from. (Ie. 2' bump out in foyer area with Palladian window vs portico etc). We then had to pick our stone or brick style and color. We had almost $100,000 in options so most of the stress came from me second guessing our choices. The counter top sample for example was 3"x4", so it was very difficult to picture it on counters that weren't even there yet.

Overall, we had a great experience and I would do it again. It is a lot of work however.

Be sure to visit as many sample houses as you can by the the builder you are considering. It will help narrow down your decisions.

Best of luck!!