Question for first time house builders/buyers?

[Disney845]

My SO and I recently moved to Carmel Indiana from east central FL. We moved into a nice 2 bedroom apartment up here in Indy. There is our master bedroom and bath, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, and the second bedroom and bath which we use as our office. Before we moved we bough a new living room furniture set. We have a king size bed and a dresser in the bedroom and office furniture in the office. My question is this...We are seriously thinking of building a new home within the next 9 months. We have been looking at homes and it seems as though it will be just as expensive to build than to buy. We know quite a few people that SO works with who have recently (within 6-9 months) built homes from a specific builder. This builder is the top builder in our area and everything looks good. These homes are not my dream homes, but they are in our price range at this point in life (we are in our early 20s). One of the floor plans I am looking at includes the following rooms- 3 bedrooms, 2 full bath, 1 powder room, living room, family room, game/bonus room, kitchen, breakfast area, study, laundry room. Obviously SO and I will have the master bedroom, and we will each have our own office now. The usptairs bonus room we want to make into an entertainment room. My problem is.....after the expense of the move and the new building, we won't have a lot left over right away for furniture. We would be moving to a much large home than our apartment and would need to furnish many rooms. What should we do? Should we save as much as possible now (that will be hard because we are saving to put as much down as possible) and buy what we can. Should we buy middle grade furnishings as fast as we can to fill the house? Or should we just live in a partially furnished house while we save for the pieces of furniture I really want, which are slightly costly?

Items we will need include a whole dining room set including table and hutch, a breakfast table, one whole bedroom set to outfit one of the spare bedrooms, one bedroom might be kept empty at the moment, one room of office furniture, family room furniture, and upstairs entertainment room furniture.

Any insight from people who have gone through this situation would be greatly appreciated

 

[amid chaos]

Live sparse and buy when you can. I would love to move into a house with just a few pieces.....you know how easy that is to keep clean?

 

[olena]

From Clark Howard's page:

Never sign the standard builder contract. It is anti-consumer and passes no responsibility to a builder. Design a contract with an attorney. Include in that contract that a CABO-certified inspector of your choice will perform periodic inspections during four to five building phases. If problems are found during the final walk-through punch-list phase, do not close on the home and hold back money until those problems are fixed. Remember that sub-standard construction found after closing are nearly impossible to have repaired by a builder. That's why the ongoing inspection process is necessary.



He's a well-informed consumer guru. Read more .

 

[tinkerbelle30]

Don't forget other expenses for new homes-Landscaping, sod, window coverings, appliances-not all are always included in new homes! These things really can't be put off. I worked for a lighting showroom for 5 years and could go on forever about horror stories I heard from new home builders!! We just relocated and decided on a 3 1/2 year old home. All of the landscaping, blinds, etc. were done and after looking into new construction prices we got more for our $. If you go for new construction, my best advice is to get enough space that you feel comfortable with now and when you have the finances later finish off the basement for additional space.

 

[Serena]

Do your research. My sister had a home built by a popular company and the homes were cheaply and carelessly put up.
Get references and check them out.

As for furniture, I would buy one big thing that is what you want. Something you want to keep. The other stuff that you need can be bought cheaply, and get replaced when you have the money.
But I'd only get what you absolutely need.

 

[binny]

I would have to agree with tinkerbelle! There are SO many extra expenses whenyou build!! My new house ( closing next week YAY) is 5 years old and has everything done! WE have a lot of painting and cleaning to do but at least we dont have to put in ALL new blinds, landscaping, and everything else.

for furniture have you thought aboutr buying used? we bought a beautiful $3500. sectional a couple of years ago for under $700! You can get some really good deals through the paper.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[GeorgeY]

I say get the house, with rent prices and mortgage payments being the same, it is a better investment. Make your Master Bedroom the best room. Then buy furniture as needed. When we moved into our first house in 1991, (WOW, I'm feeling old now) we met alot of first time buyers as well since we all tend to gravitate to a certain style home. Almost everyone had empty rooms. Once you get comfortable with the mortgage then you can start buying upgrades. Don't worry you'll soon have so much furniture you'll have to buy a new house to accomade it all.

Speaking on the building process. All I can recommend is visit the site at least 1 time per day and make sure the foreman/Project Manager knows you are there keeping up tabs. If anything questionable comes up, then Confront them immediatly.

Good Luck
George

 

[Rajah]

We're going through the same thing, though we're going to most likely by a used home instead of build (none of the good builders have floorplans we like in sizes we like in our pricerange). Here's what we're doing.

We're saving as much as possible now because we'll need it for the down payment, closing costs, and so on.

We're going to plan on buying (if not furnished) a fridge. Washer and Dryer we're renting now -- we'll either continue to rent for a few months, or buy right away. Probably buy. The rest of the main appliances should come furnished, but if they don't, we'll buy those too.

We have bedroom furniture for one room, lots of shelves, a few tables, couch, couple of desks, a couple of chairs, and that's about it.

I'm going to focus on one room at a time and buy the best we can afford (or at least good quality) and furnish as we go. It'll mean living out of boxes for a little while in some of the rooms, but I know in the long run we'll be much happier with better quality furniture, even if it takes us 2 years to furnish the house. We can do without a second bed, second couch, fancy dining room table and so on for a few months.

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

Run while you still can!!!

We just went thru the building process last year. I haven't met a single person who found the process anything but HORRIBLE!!!!

It always takes longer than expected...we moved twice (about $1000 each time) and had to pay $2600 a month for a 1br furnished apartment (4 people, 2 cats), as well as $325 per month to store our things due to unexpected delays. Christmas was spent in the furnished apt., not in our home that was supposed to be completed in August.

We are still in the process of having things completed/corrected 7 months later (as are our neighbors).

I have to admit, we bought all new furnishings for this house before we moved in. Pottery Barn, Storehouse, and Home Elements (not to mention Best Buy, Circuit City etc.) were making deliveries for 2weeks after we settled. I can't rest until everything's done, so we waited to build until we could afford the house and to furnish it. My SIL on the other hand, bought a house (much larger than mine) 7 years ago, and still has not completely furnished it. It's whatever makes you happy!

Do yourself a favor, buy a home that's only a few years old. Let some other poor soul go thru the headaches! Best of luck, whatever you decide.

 

[Jenzebelle]

I wouldn't build a home if your going to be scraping for $$.
I know many people that have built a house, my parents included, and not one of them were completed on time or within budget.

We are currently in the middle of closing on a house built in the 1940's but completely redone and updated. Even still, it's astonishing how much $ we're going to need to put into the house as far as appliances, furniture, blinds, and things like a lawnmower, shovels, rakes, trash cans, etc... Believe me, it adds up!

We're going to get a new couch and love seat for now and upgrade each room as we save up $

 

[believe]

I say go for it and buy things as you can afford them. DH and I are still working on what we want furniture wise.
You do need to account for all the additional items: blinds/curtains and appliances. Anything else can be added as the money comes in.

 

[KiminChicago]

We had our house built 6 years ago and yes, building is a hassle, but we added the extras that we really wanted and could afford. It's a lot more expensive to add whole house stereo systems, etc. after the walls are already up.

After 6 years, we are finally getting around to getting some of the rooms furnished. We joke around and say we had to live in the house for a while before we could decide what we really needed. We were fortunate in that we received a lot of hand-me-downs from other members of our families, but some of the furniture really isn't my style so we're gradually replacing it.

 

[Kermit]

I agree that you should do your homework before you buy a house, and don't do it if it's going to wipe out your savings. There will be hidden expenses. It sounds like a big house. Could you save a little if you bought a smaller one?

I would wait on the furniture until you can buy stuff you really want. Don't buy the best available, since you'll still eventually have to replace almost all of it (especially upholstered pieces), but buy stuff that fits with your lifestyle. You'll soon start to realize that a lot of your friends in your age range don't have rooms full of furniture. We've lived in our house for almost 3 years, and the dining room is still empty.

 

[Disney845]

Thank you to all who replied.

Get references and check them out.

We have not settled on a specific builder yet, and are still checking them out. We have toured many of their models and have been in actual homes our friends have built. We have been researching their company and building methods. Trust me this is not something we will rush into. You should have seen how long it took us to find an apartment.

with rent prices and mortgage payments being the same

this is one of our main deciding factors. We might (when all is said and done) end up paying less in mortgage and other currently included costs (pest control, lawn care,...) than we do in our rent every month.

I wouldn't build a home if your going to be scraping for $$.

I did not say that we would be scrapping together the money to build a house. We will have no problem paying our mortgage or any of the closing costs or fees. I was merely saying that we were saving to put down as much as possible, and taking that into consideration, was asking what other people would do in our same situation in regards to furniture. There is a large difference between putting down the usual 3-5% than putting down 10-20%. The more you put down, the less your monthly payment is, that is simple math. And to be quite honest, my tastes range toward the rather expensive. I know what types of furniture I would want in my house and I know that we can not afford to purchase them all out right, as we have a no credit card policy. Anything we purchase we want to be able to afford. We are trying to prevent the traps of debt that so many people find themselves in. MY SO and I both have debit credit cards for our checking accounts (it makes it easier since credit cards are excepted so many places). My SO also has 1 credit card that is used for business purposes, like hotel, car rental, and plane tickets, when he travels, cell phone bill, and other business related purchases, but this card never has an outstanding balance because he is reimbursed for his expenses monthly.

It sounds like a big house. Could you save a little if you bought a smaller one?

Again, just trying to be honest. This is one of the smaller homes we have looked at. We want a lot of space. We will have no trouble affording the house itself, and I am no so naive as to believe there won't be hidden expenses. We are young, but we have a very healthy income. Still after the costs of new home building and all extras involved I am just saying that for the time being the kind of furniture I want is slightly out of reach. That is why I was asking this question.

Would it be better to buy more economical furniture and upgrade later? Or wait and buy each piece as we have the out of pocket funds?

We both know what we want in life and do not feel that we are rushing into a home purchase. We are giving it careful thought. We have thought about purchasing a pre-built home, but are eager to custom build this to our tastes.

 

[luvmy2sams]

There is a large difference between putting down the usual 3-5% than putting down 10-20%.

Just an FYI...The majority of lenders require a minimum of 10% down when purchasing or building a home, unless, of course, you're using some of the low-income federal or state programs. If a substantial down payment is not made you'll be required to purchase mortgage insurance, which is quite costly.


We recently purchased a new construction home and have dear friends who just finished building a new home, so I know that there are drawbacks with whatever method you choose. Back to your main question...we decided to purchase the furniture we wanted as funds became available instead of settling for something that we knew we'd replace as soon as we could afford to do so. I hope you have a wonderful purchasing experience, regardless of what you decide.

 

[CarolA]

OK.

I am in the process of preparing to build a home. (I have heard the horror stories, but I have also heard really good stories.) I know my house will have lots of empty rooms. (Does a single woman really NEED a formal dining room and living room?) However, I would rather wait and get what I really want for those rooms than buy something I am not happy with. I think that what you are saying is should you "settle" for cheaper furniture and it sounds to me like you know in your heart you would not be happy. So you would really just be throwing that money away. Just rattle around the place until you are ready to buy what you want. Who cares if half the rooms are empty?

My only suggestion is to use a realtor to help you negoiate with the builder. It has occured to me that my realtor is acting as my "buyers agent" just as if I was buying an older home. Plus I figure they will want to make her happier since she can steer more buyers their way whereas I am a one time sale!