Building a New House New Home Construction Minnesota Blog

10/18/2004

In 1999 my wife and I built our first new construction home.  The process began in March of 1999 and ended in late August 1999.  Being our first home we found the process to be very frustrating.  The house required constant supervision and we were always on the builders ass to get things fixed or to do things correct in the first place.  By the time we moved into our completed house we were over a month late and had to live with my mother in law.  Our belongings were stored in a semi-trailer a few miles from our build site and we had to conduct two moves due to builder being late on the project.  I was completely soured on building a new home as new construction.  In the end our house was nice and built well enough that there have been no major problems.  Over the years we've added landscaping, decks and made many improvements.  The only problem is that when you build your first home there is much to overlook.  Many builders want to come in at the lowest possible price and they aren't helped by buyers trying to do the same.  As a result our house has too few outlets, a garage that is too small and a lower bathroom with a shower when it should have a tub.

 

Last week on a motorcycle ride I went lot shopping.  I've done this many times over the years but never seriously intending to make a purchase.  The hassle of selling my home and moving has always made me put off this next move.  Besides, we've refinanced and our payments in this house are easy to make each month.  This weekend was different as I'm quickly realizing that the 2.5 acre lots for $80,000 which I would have shunned a year ago are now quickly becoming a thing of the past.  In short, we're getting priced out of the market in the Sherburne County area of Minnesota.  I went to a development that we liked a couple years ago, sure enough all the $70,000 lots were sold and only three $140,000 lots remained.  The realtor referred me to a new development right next to a lake.  The next day my wife and I stopped by and found a lot that might work.  The only problem is that we didn't know the builder and the only house we'd seen of theirs was overpriced in our opinion. 

  My wife found a builder she liked NIH Homes in Elk River but we didn't know of any lots they owned that would work.  Yesterday we met with the owner Larry and told him we wanted to build his $599,000 home but could only afford $400,000.  I was impressed that he didn't start laughing.  Instead he recommended we check out another development with $75k lots and offered ways we could remove square footage from the plan and remain in our budget.  We visited the development which was just south of Zimmerman Minnesota.  Only 15 minutes from our current house so we'd be close to all the shopping and conveniences of Elk River.  It would also be easy to keep an eye on the construction from our current home.  We looked at several lots and found a gem at the back of the development.  Its a 2.63 acre lot that backs up to a wetlands.  There are small trees lining the back of the lot but we'll be able to put the house on a hill and sod the yard.  Perfect for our dogs yet it isn't a flat corn field.  Best part NO BACKYARD NEIGHBORS!  NIH Homes let use put $1000.00 down to hold the lot.  In 30 days we pay $6400.00 to get 10% down.  We can then wait up to a year to complete the house.  I immediately went home and put the house up for sale by owner on the internet.  We'll need to get the NIH Homes realtor in here to get a market analysis done and see when we might list the home.  Wednesday we meet with an architect to determine what the house will have for features and square footage.  It will be interesting to see what we end up with for around $400,000.

 

   

This is my new lot, the wetlands should make a sweet back yard. 

We'll be able to sod almost two acres.

This is the NIH Homes model we're trying to build.  We'll need to cut the cost from $599,000 to somewhere around $400,00

10/21/2004 A deal gone bust....

Well we met with Larry from NIH Homes and the architect today.  I was wondering how it was possible to shave $200,000 from a home but figured it would be interesting to find out.  Turns out you can't, it really isn't possible without radically altering the house in such a was that its no longer the house you wanted in the first place.  What's happened is that since we built our first house the difference in price between existing homes and new construction has grown to much to be affordable.  We found plans that would fit in our $400,000 budget but we'd end up with the same square footage on a different lot.  Not enough benefit to go through the hassle of selling, moving, re-landscaping etc.  In a nutshell our existing home just hasn't kept up with the rising cost of raw materials and government fees for permits etc.  This means that our only option is the existing home market and its pretty unlikely we'll find a house that we deem as perfect enough to uproot ourselves and our low 4.25% interest rate.  For now this article is over, maybe we'll pick it up again in the future.  Special thanks to Scott Phillips of the Edina Realty in Monticello, he represents Baune Construction in Big Lake and was patient with us in this process.  I'd also like to thank Paul Loso a Counselor realtor representing Highland Builders for his assistance in our process.