Moving to expensive area - build or buy?

Rent first. Triple check zoning and get written verification of what they tell you. We went throught the same thing, build or buy and I did a ton of research when we were moving from w. wa. to e. wa. and what i concluded was that if you did the majority of the work and scrounged the majority of materrials and site prep wasn't too high and you found honest sub cntractors and you had lots of time and not too tight a budget, THEN maybe building was cheaper than buying exsisting...at least in this state. Regulations are fierce.

If you wanted to go completelt unconventional you could research yurts, concrete passive solar, etc.

Good luck!

Like others have said, a good contractor should be able to tell you what almost all the construction will cost including permits ect. Get a fixed price contract so you know exactly what you are getting for your money and you don't get stuck if the price of materials goes up. Don't forget about what the rent and interest/fees on the construction loan (if you borrow money that is). If you are borrowing you might want to go ahead and sit down with the banker, a good one should be pretty good at estimating all the costs outside of the contract. In my experience (as a construction lender) most of my clients do not save much money by building over buying existing, they usually break about even. But there is a hassle factor, time and effort spent messing around with contactors, bankers ect. At the same time when you build, you get exactly what you want (or can afford!) and you may do a little better on the resale because it is a newer house.

I believe Adair homes builds alot of houses in that area and do it as affordibly as anyone. My cousin has had them build 3 or 4 for him in the last 2 years.

Be careful with Adair. Our first home was built by them and wasn't the greatest quality. A lot of eye-sore stuff and just generally poor craftmanship.

Unless you are absolutely certain, you will be there for at least 5 years, I would look into renting. And even if you are certain you will be there for a while, there isn't any use into rushing into buying anything.

Find a house with some land that you can rent. Once you are certain you will be there for a while, start looking around for "fix it uppers". Chances are if you keep your eyes out, something will come along selling for a decent price that you can fix up yourself.

Seems like many places are going up for Sheriff's sale or even tax sale. You might be able to find something decent and in your price range from that.

I just don't think all the hoops you have to jump through to build a brand new house are worth it. (And bear in mind, that brand new houses pay alot more in real estate taxes than do older houses - even if they are worth the same in value!)

__________________
Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

Rent for half of the monthly payment, compared to purchasing most likely. Find out if you want to live there or not. Let the other guy take the risk of the housing market crashing into the dust.

You might wnat to get an option to purchase the house that you rent, locking in a purchase price at some date in the future but retaining the right to walk away.

I am also re-locating but don't know exactly where yet except it will be to rural property.

I've considered a high end manufactured home, 2300 sq. ft. on a regular foundation, 6 in. walls, dual pane windows, taped dry wall etc. the best I could come up with is this place, they sell across the country, http://www.factoryexpohomes.com/

Not really sold on one yet, but I did visit one of the factory's and liked what I saw, I actually owned one before, owned it for 10 years and sold it for $50.000 more than I paid for it and the property had only increased$10.000 in value. BUT, homes had increased a lot more but did cost more initially. As someone else mentioned, you have to factor in EVERYTHING, well, septic etc.

That said, I've also noticed that homes prices are coming down, a lot of homes for sale for along time. A good resource is www.realtor.com , you can target any county you want.

Good luck in your search.

Are you sure you want to dive into debt buying property at the beginning of the largest housing crash ever? I believe that's called "catching the falling knife;" but nevertheless some folks will still probably do it and live to regret it.

It will be far far most expensive to build a new home, rather than to purchase an existing home. It has always been this way, regardless of the location.

It sounds like the area is fully civilized and zoning is in full force. Thats good. It means your residentially zoned area will never be assaulted by dog kennels, junkyards, outhouses, trailer parks, hog rendering plants or other venues that will drop your property value like a falling stone.

I would suggest avoiding the purchase of trailers/doublewides and modulars. History has shown their appreciation over the years to be FAR LESS than conventionally built housing. Always think about resale, because life happens.

You're obviously moving to an area of expensive housing because you/your spouse has secured an attractive career opportunity. Congratulations!

Suggestion: If you find an area you are interested in go into each of the various banks and talk to a loan officer. Try to find out if they are in the process of repossessing a home or homes in that area and if they might be interested in letting you take over payments. If interested in a particular property try to compare remaining loan balance to current market value. Remember some folks have no equity built up. Likely you will need to take with you a copy of your current credit report and documentation of earnings.

I know someone who bought land (about 5-8 yrs ago) and wanted to build an inexpensive house on it. None of the builders wanted the work, because they could make much more money building bigger houses from standard plans.

Now with the homebuilding market shrinking, there may be builders that would take the job, but I'd check with builders in your area first.

--sgl

It looks like building is not the way to go. Plus, I am a horrible decision maker and don't handle stress well. So, building is probably not a good plan for me.

But....we managed to find a large rental house that is on a 2 acre field. Not a tree on the lot! But I hope it will be a good place to sit for awhile and wait to see if prices/interest rates come down and wait for that special house to come onto the market....