Wyoming B.S. Thread

Is building ever a good option? I know land is expensive but you get get exactly what you think you want and it’s brand new.

 

No it's not a bad option but it is certainly not a cheap option either

 

Up here that’s probably the route we will be going. The houses for 350k in our price range have like 5 bedrooms and a 2 car garage and are 3200 sqft which we don’t want, so instead 3 car 2200 sq ft 3 bed 2 bath and nice interior. Plus room for a shop in the back as my dads a home builder in Montana and said we could build one over a summer just us for cheap.

 

Building is actually usually a cheaper option...and since you end up with what you want, doubly good. The problem with building for a lot of folks however boils down to a few things:

1. The loans are different - because there's no physical house to back the loan, banks charge higher rates and often require other collateral. Tough for first-time or younger buyers.
2. Building a house is hard. Unless you've got a lot of experience, managing the project and coordinating all the trades is basically very hard to do "the first time."
3. Many people run into feature creep, and never finish b/c they run out of money. Then, it's hard to sell b/c other people want finished houses, and it's not worth as much b/c it was never completed.

But, if you've got the means ($) and skills to do it, it can be a really great option.

 

I do it but I don't have the time to worry about it mostly. Be nice but idk if it would ever get done. Certainly not fast enough.

 

Most times I see people use a contractor to build there home. Renovations I’ve seen people do on there own and most of the time it’s not very quality.

 

Yeah, that’s how it happened to my sister in Alaska. Same size house but an extra 100k and some change. We got super lucky in finding this place and did it through Facebook groups. It wasn’t listed but they just happened to be ready to sell. That might be an option for you? Just happened to be a couple very similar to us that wanted their house (and the hard work they put into it) to go to someone that would put the same effort towards it.

 

Yeah the house we went and looked at is kinda like that. But still 240k haha Only things I can't find really under 200k are manufactured homes/trailer houses. Or really really really small run down houses.

Something will come up. I hope.

I have about 4 houses to go look at now but all are pretty pricey and none check all the boxes or even a majority. Just have to wait I guess.

 

Ha! Didn't you give me Shit once upon a time for being in the civil world?

Working on my last few credits before I go for my FS and PS and juristictional exams. Will be nice to get stamped. Even it sits on the shelf for a while

 

5 bedrooms & 3200 sqf for 350k? Sign me up now...

 

Idaho is full go home.

 

If you can fabricate on a Tacoma, you can renovate your own house. Don’t put undue pressure on yourself, but also don’t sit around waiting for life to be perfect, it never will be. If you can get something for 240k that you’d be comfortable in from day one it’s probably worth it. You’ll never know true expenses until you have a couple of kids

 

Don’t worry, you have state income tax, I would have moved to victor or driggs 10 years ago if it was otherwise.

 

I'm not expecting perfection. But looking at price history around here. 2014 most houses for some reason gained 100-130% in worth. Huge spike.

So I don't want to buy something for 250k that I'd redo and then the market gose back down and my house is worth way less even after redoing it.

 

Miss that. Mt hits you hard on income tax.

 

Lol I shop enough and don’t own anything so I’m not worried. Plus I can afford it up here fine.

 

Yes that is worrisome. In that case I would probably look more towards buying land and building a shop with living quarters, or living in a big ass 5th wheel and building a house myself. While you can’t conteol the cost of building materials, you know exactly what your time is worth.

 

Yeah I'm going to explore that more. Lots of land for sale. But no way Devin would live in a shop with me hahaha

 

On a 2500sqf shop, you can finish 500-800sqf of it pretty affordable. It also adds major resale value once you build the main house, having any kind of guest quarters in our neck of the woods returns at least 100% of the cost of construction.

 

Yeah that's a good point and would be a good way to go. I'll just have to do more research.