Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
ish.
What were the major problems building the house?
I don't necessarily want to dive into architecting something from scratch, but want to run 20amp circuits everywhere, pick quiet and efficient things like exhaust fans, include conduit so I can pull data cables later on, and have efficient appliances.
I'd build outside of city limits, which usually means no natural gas, which is fine.
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If you have the time and manpower building yourself isn't that bad. My family built a lake house for my grandmother from scratch and my father build a 32 x 32 garage with heat, plumbing, and electrical. We started with an architect approved plan and went from there. No problem upgrading details. It just took a lot of manhours - initially with a crew of friends and family to do the framing and get the building under roof and then LOTS of Saturdays spent working to finish out the interior.
On the other hand I don't know anyone that has had a good experience trying to be the general contractor on their house - unless they were a general contractor. The problem is getting subcontractors to show up on time when you have no leverage. As someone that is building 1 house you will always be prioritized behind the subcontractors regular general contractors or housing developers that give them steady work house after house or even whole subdivisions of homes. Getting the foundation and framing done generally isn't a problem but then it becomes a series of weeks or months delays for each sub. And that goes both ways. Maybe you drywall contractor is ready on time but he can't do his work because the electrician or plumber didn't show up. No the drywall guy is pissed off because he scheduled time for you and you aren't ready so you go to the back of his line.
On the other hand if you just want things like 20 amp outlets and conduit - that is easy. Just hire a general contractor to build you a custom house. Tell him what you want and he will build it - AND - likely build it close to on time because he has a relationship with his subs.
We kinda did that with our first house. We missed out on buying 2 houses in a particular neighborhood by a few hours. On the second case the realtor agreed to sell the house to us in the same hour the contractor agreed to sell it to someone else. So what the contractor did was agree to build his next house for us. That included the lot, base plan, location of the house on the lot, etc. We also picked colors, flooring, add outlets, etc. We ended up adding about 10% to the cost of the house by substituting better quality materials than the contractor grade junk that goes into most spec houses and then gets replaced. AND - I went out to check on construction almost every night to check on things and wasn't shy about pointing out things I didn't like
I finally had to tell him not to mention code to me again - code is just the bare minimum required by law - it is OK to do better. For example I had them 6 nail my shingles to up the wind rating - something REALLY cheap and simple that a contractor won't do unless you make them because it costs $100 more in nails.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Yes, the structure is the depreciating asset, and the land appreciating.
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Depends on if you maintain the home or not. Yes, the IRS will let a property owner depreciate the structure for a rental but when that depreciating schedule is done the owner still has a property with value if proper maintenance was done. It is also like much cheaper to upgrade a home than to demo it and start fresh unless you want to do huge changes like build a McMansion on a lot that currently has a 1000 sq ft ranch.