we're going with a builder that already has floor plans, you know the kind--this is standard, this is an upgrade, they give the models names like 'the winchester' and 'the farmhouse' lol.
we have the site chosen, and the house style picked. now we have to choose all the stuff--flooring, colors, exterior, etc, etc, etc. it's nervewracking and scary as hell but we're really excited.

anyone ever built new? bought or built one of these types of homes?

tell me about your experiences. give us some advice, please.

__________________
Trees give peace to the souls of men * Nora Waln

The forest would be very quiet if no other birds sang than those who sing the best * Henry van Dyke

some fairly sordid tales, rambles, and anecdotes
Hypothetically Speaking * Something More * Cammy Interrupted * An Experimental Vacation * Masked * so..damn..hot * Thank You * My toy, his idea * no.19 Maple Lane * I Have A Surprise For You * Yesterday * In a Quiet Kitchen * help me decide * untitled prose * more untitled prose

I've built a house--pretty much literally. My dad built my parents' house, and anything we couldn't do when we built mine we sub-contracted out.

In your situation, just make sure that you choose a builder you can work with, first of all, and maybe ask for some references. Talk to some people that builder's done work for before and ask their opinion on a variety of topics. Is the builder easily reachable? Does he/she return phone calls quickly, answer questions? How much of a cost overrun did you have when building your home compared to what the builder quoted you? Stuff like that.

Of course, WI probably has some words of wisdom much more insightful than mine.

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"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, then let it, and if you have to wait for what you really want, take the time because nobody said that life would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it." ~ Unknown author

If you think a floorplan might have a detail left out or something that may bother you....fix it now. Girlfriend didn't make them change a bathroom/mudroom issue and 5 years later it has just driven her nuts. Now she has to spend tons more $$ having it fixed. Go with your instinct about that sort of thing.

Do what you can yourself. Why pay them to do a crap painting job when you can do a much better job?

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
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==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
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I have built new 2 times now. Built the first one about 3 years ago and are selling it to move into another house that I've had built.

I found it helpful to go through a showhome of the same floorplan that I'd chosen so that I could better envision things that we liked, things we'd like changed, etc.

Some things to think about are locations of lights and location of wall plugs, including telephone and cable outlets. They may seem like minor things now, but they are pretty hard to change later on. If you haven't gone for wireless LAN connections in your house, think about adding in your own LAN connections. All of this can be done through the builder, but if you have a friend that can do wiring, it's much cheaper.

The choices are pretty much endless in terms of what you can change. I spent a lot of time looking through design magazines looking for ideas that could be incorporated.

Be sure to go to the site as often as possible to check the progress of the house. There are constant errors and if you don't stay on top of them, they could just get ignored and covered over.

More importantly though, have fun with the process! Grats on the house!

I have never built, but will be in the next few years. I have looked at new houses for about 10 years dreaming about the day we could afford one so have walked through a lot. I have seen $750,000 houses that I would not buy due to design and construction flaws.

If you can, take a look at finished houses from the builder. If you can have an engineer who does housing inspections walk through a couple before you commit. They can help you spot significant issues. This is good advice for any house you buy. They can cost several hundred dollars, but kept us from buying a house that had significant water damage that could not have been detected without him.

I agree whole heartedly with Lil about fixing design problems in the design stage. Also, budget for at least 10% cost over runs. That way if you decied you are going to go with granite counter tops instead of the formica, you can afford it or you decide you don't like the plain light fixtures you can upgrade to nice ones.

Something that alot of people don't think about but I have found can be helpful is to have the Heating/AC, water heater, water softener etc, moved to a corner. It is easier and cheaper to have the HVAC in the center of the house, but you can end up with unusable space.

Even if you plan on using wireless, I would always recommend having a copper LAN installed. You may not use it, but it never hurts to have it in place.

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almost nothing better

the builder is already chosen, price and location pretty much determined who we're using. they've got a good reputation, though and the realtor seems to be on top of everything. and as far as changes go...omg! we def have to be ontop of that shit! they want the options chosen in less than 3 weeks and anything not decided on now will cost the price of the change/upgrade PLUS 250$ just for dragging our heels. we are actually trying to cut some stuff out and "downgrade" some things to save $$$. we already plan on doing some of the painting and stuff ourselves.

thanks for the feedback. and the 'grats" trogdor...like i said we are sooooooooo excited but that doesn't even describe it. we just can't wait. i'm all jumpy with it :jump:

__________________
Trees give peace to the souls of men * Nora Waln

The forest would be very quiet if no other birds sang than those who sing the best * Henry van Dyke

some fairly sordid tales, rambles, and anecdotes
Hypothetically Speaking * Something More * Cammy Interrupted * An Experimental Vacation * Masked * so..damn..hot * Thank You * My toy, his idea * no.19 Maple Lane * I Have A Surprise For You * Yesterday * In a Quiet Kitchen * help me decide * untitled prose * more untitled prose

Oh Wyndhy, how exciting!! I've never built a house, but I'm jumping right along with you. I've always wanted to do that sort of thing.

I'm just gonna watch, demand periodic updates, and dream .

Congrats on the project, wyndhy! It's an exciting and terrifying time. Don't let the stress keep you from enjoying what you can.

I've never had a house built for me, but am on #2 for Habitat. That's different though. We have a little flexibility, but all in all...we provide affordable housing with not a lot of frills. One thing I'd suggest is to have every room wired for computers, cable tv & telephones. It's cheaper to never use them than to wire one afterwards.


Oh yeah, don't forget the hidden cameras.

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Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

thanks you guys

hidden cameras huh?
is there a way to hide this thread from bigbad...i' don't want him getting any kinky ideas

nevermind, it's too late for that.

__________________
Trees give peace to the souls of men * Nora Waln

The forest would be very quiet if no other birds sang than those who sing the best * Henry van Dyke

some fairly sordid tales, rambles, and anecdotes
Hypothetically Speaking * Something More * Cammy Interrupted * An Experimental Vacation * Masked * so..damn..hot * Thank You * My toy, his idea * no.19 Maple Lane * I Have A Surprise For You * Yesterday * In a Quiet Kitchen * help me decide * untitled prose * more untitled prose

electrical outlets... you can never have enough of them in the kitchen... bathroom... living room... that was one of my favorite things about my house, every wall in the house had at least one electrical outlet... it sucked when I got the brainy idea to change all the outlets, switches and covers from beige to white though.

kitchen cabinets... again can never have enough well organized space.

storage... do you ever really have enough closets?