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I want to design/build my own house. Where do I start?

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I'm early 30's. Married (happily). 1 child. Work remote. I have a decent amount of money in my reserves and a healthy portofolio. I've only ever rented and I've always been pretty anti-debt/anti-home ownership/pro-investment. I live in the Pacific Northwest but real estate here is unfair, to say the least and while I'd like to stay in this area (close to family and I like access to the city), buying would get me a $500-800K shack anywhere within an hour of the city (Seattle). My dream is to design & build the house that we want to love to live in. Do I re-locate? Do I have to live out in the middle of nowhere? Buy land? Hire architect? Any advice?

Sidenote: Preference is: No HOA, Slightly unconventional space that would never belong in a cookie cutter neighborhood.

Ed ecco le risposte:

My guess, I’m no expert. But you should write/draw on paper what you want in a house. The go to an architect, then see what they say, then you’ll get the size needed, so can figure out where to buy land. There’s gonna be a fuckload of different contractors involved and making sure everything meets standards is something to think about too.

Maybe watch some grand designs to put you off doing it.

I’m an architect and real estate agent, and have a smallish design-build firm in California, I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about the process. But here are some quick thoughts/recommendations:

  • raw land is a much different animal than buying a house and remodeling; there’s also a difference between raw land and a lot that has some utilities in place

  • rural is also different than city/suburban development, so I would encourage you think about your ideal situation. Lots of variables including permit/development fees that can vary widely depending on where the lot is

  • call up some architects, contractors and realtors in some of the areas you’re considering, and just ask for what a ballpark range is for their services. A contractor should be able to give you a rough $/SF estimate, and a realtor would be able to give you a quick idea of what you could get a lot or a comparable house for in their area. All just ballpark ranges of course, but could help you decide which route to go. It will also be helpful to get an idea of whether you’re building yourself out of the local market (i.e. building a house that costs $800k when the local market tops out at $650k, etc.)

  • know your rough program, look at some plans online, explore Houzz, and start putting together a board that reflects what you’d like to achieve with your home

Essential craftsman on YouTube. He is building a spec home in a 100 part series. It is amazing

Given your parameters, I think it just starts with finding land. Maybe even lots of it.