what would you do if you were me?

[david068513]

Ok I am younger, In the next year I will be doing one of these two options. there are some complications though so bear with me.

Option one(This one), Buy land and build my house. My idea was mainly to do a nice garage/shop area and put a house on the second story above it. Nothing huge just apartment style. Also build time would **** and idk what I would do waiting on it to be finished or where I would stay depending on price and if I could afford staying somewhere else till it's finished.

option two(Or this one), Buy a house already built with a 2 car garage or separate garage and make it my own. Houses are pretty cheap around here and some nice houses with big garages for way less then they should be. Less work with this option but also less of making it my own. which is always fun.


here is the catch. I will be living here a LONG time. I see issues with the first one being the fact I have a feeling no women would want to compromise that much lol. I have a girlfriend and we have been together 2 years and are serious so if she was to move in idk how she would like it. She is VERY understanding of my car attention and comes to shows, meets, races ALL the time and accutally likes it. I just don't know how she would be about the house revolving around it lol

What do you guys think?

 

[rsanter]

you have to look at several things that I dont think you are looking at.
you need to look at total cost involved in the project. look at exsisting houses and if you can find the right deal on a house you really like then that is the direction to go.
if however you find a property that you really like you then have the option to build the shop with an apartment in it or even move a mobile home on the property to live in.
to me before you can make a decision you need to figure out the cost of property and a shop verses the cost of property with an exsisting house

bob

 

[ddawg16]

Need a few more details.....are we talking BF Kentucky or BF China? Big difference...

As for the GF....have you done the drunk/road trip test yet?

 

[ajchien]

If your life revolves around the garage, if you choose (or this one), buy a house that is in a community that does NOT have a home owners association.

Although the HOA may be fine when you buy the place, eventually there will be a nosy-always-want-to-get-in-other-people's-business-and-tell-them-what-to-do person that will become prez of that HOA.

 

[rsieracki]

..As for the GF....have you done the drunk/road trip test yet?

if this is the get her drunk and see if you can tolerate her, or go on a road trip and see if you can make the trip without wanting to strangle her or throw her out of the car....

a truer suggestion has never been made... i learned the depths of ones 'psycho bi polarness" on a road trip and how bad drunks a few were... saved my ***.

Oh, back to the OP's question... #1 is what i always wanted to do but unless you have cash upfront its hard to get a bank to loan money to build what you looking for.

#2 is the more rational choice... you can always get a big enough piece of property where you can also have a shed or a bigger garage to be built while you are living in the house. most women tolerate that but not living in a garage appt.

 

[sixt8bird]

Why not buy a house with property and a gargage . At least an Acre and then build a bigger garage when you need it. That keeps the women happy, it gives you a place for your car and lets you build your dream garage. Im living that dream myself right now. Been in the same house for 25 years, paid it of in 2003, in 1991 I built a nice work shop. Instantly knew I needed more and built a two story shed, 300sf and out grew that so we built a 1680ft barn with 2 levels and am promply filling that. You can see my build in the Garage topic.

 

[RobSmith]

I know a couple of people who live above their garage...It's not too pleasant when the smoke, fumes and other stinks rise up into the house. Through the floor or outside, up the wall and back into the house. Seal it up to stop the problem and you will gas yourself in no time.....a nice big garage detached from the house also minimised the rising noises and rumbles too.

 

[TommyD]

Option 2. With a nice chunk of property.

It would be no question for me. I knew a guy that built like #1 option and it reeked from exhaust and garage smells. That and he got tired of taking off his shoes and tracked all manner of **** up in to his living space.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

If I had it all to do over, I'd buy a house that was in nice shape and easy to maintain, with a nice garage. Do you want to work on cars, or houses ?

Why don't you spend some time looking at what is available in your area, and don't jump unless you find something PERFECT for you. If you find something perfect - JUMP, don't crawl. You can always get a deposit back.

Oh yeah - bring the GF.

 

[RVDan]

Building your own is everyone's dream, the problem is as you mention, where you're going to live during the two year build time

 

[buzz4041]

I think you can find something now at these cheap prices and then add on to it at a later date. Look for a house with on an acre. I have 1 acre and it is plenty big. I bought land then built 7 years later but that was my plan from the get go. Take your time they are out there for the picking.

 

[Steevo]

Knowing what country, state, city, and whether in rural, suburban or metro area would be important before making any recommendation about what to buy/build.

That said, in 80% of US right now, buying a house (second option) is a better long term investment, assuming it has a decent garage that will suffice while you plan the future addition of a detached second garage.
Just make sure the lot and the local ordinances allow what you want in the future.

 

[djjsr]

You can currently find some great bargains on existing homes. You won't get a great bargain if you build a new one.

 

[FJ 432]

Option 2

1. Chances are you will move again if you're under the age of 30.
2. A built house is a better investment and can help you determine what is most important to you if you decide to build later.
3. Announcing your plans (e.g. "I will be living here a LONG time) is a good way to hear God laugh!

 

[wssix99]

Knowing what country, state, city, and whether in rural, suburban or metro area would be important before making any recommendation about what to buy/build.

That said, in 80% of US right now, buying a house (second option) is a better long term investment, assuming it has a decent garage that will suffice while you plan the future addition of a detached second garage.
Just make sure the lot and the local ordinances allow what you want in the future.

+1. In most places you can buy an existing house for more than it costs to build it from scratch.

Whatever you do, don't get married. The minute the girlfriend becomes a wife, which ever option you pick will be the "wrong" one and you'll never hear the end of it.

 

[W650Mike]

It would be hard to justify building in today's housing market.

As other's have added; buy on a large lot that allows future expansion without undue restrictions. Deed restricions can be both good and bad. Read them carefully and be sure that you are willing to live within them - and be willing to act on their enforcement.

 

[little d]

An "old" contractor I worked with when I was young told me that no house is perfict, there are give and takes to every home. With that said and depending on your skills, buy what you think will work for you and redo it to fit you. Buy it as cheep as you can, a forcloseure may be, and if and when ya move on, ya can get your $ back out and maybe a little more.

 

[A_Pmech]

Option 1 is what I did and it works great for me. In fact, I'll be adding on soon. Most of the objections to living above a shop space are unfounded, especially if some basic precautions are taken in the design and construction stages.

I built my house integral to my shop because I wanted to be closer to my work, just as it used to be. It wasn't all that long ago that Mom and Pop lived above the shop. There's something to be said for it.

 

[david068513]

Need a few more details.....are we talking BF Kentucky or BF China? Big difference...

As for the GF....have you done the drunk/road trip test yet?

I have not lol neither of us really drink though.



It will be in north ga. I live in gainesville but anywhere up here is fine.

 

[sixt8bird]

If you buy the right house no matter what age you are, you will never move. It's a big decision so take time to find it. As I stated earlier and others agree, buy a house on property. Build the dream garage shop in your leisure. Do not buy toys unless you can cover them and keep them safe. After you build your shop/garage, then the toys will follow. I never plan on moving and have been happy on my 1.2 acres for 25 years. My wife feels the same. Heres my little sheds.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138731

 

[david068513]

Thats a very nice shed lol. And I already have two toys and they sit in mt carport now under covers...I hate it. All together I have 5 cars so parking kinda *****....lol

 

[sixt8bird]

I have 11 and all in alarmed buildings that notify me silently and If I don't answer the alarm, it switches to a neighbors house. It will call 5 different numbers until the first phone picks up. I like having the silent mode to be able to catch a thief in the action if the day ever comes. I mean sheds.

 

[Aberdale]

Option 3. Live cheap. Save your money like a madman. Do not go into debt for anything that you don't absolutely positively need to survive. When you have saved $100,000 or so, go house shopping and buy one for cash. Continue to save. After a couple years, sell the $100,000 house for $150,000+. Buy a nicer house with the cash. In a couple years, sell the $150,000 house for $300,000+ and then start looking for something you really like.

I've done this by the time I was 32, and I wish I had started earlier. It works. And you will develop a desire for saving along the way that will help you even more when you retire someday.

You don't say where you live so it's difficult to give house buying advice since property values vary widely across the country. You say you will be living there a long time. We all think this. For a few of us it's been true. For most of us, job changes, advancement opportunities, family issues, and natural disasters change things fast.

My first job lasted 6 months. My second job lasted 5 years, and I thought at the time I would retire there. I have worked for 10 different employers over 25 years. It's just the way the job market is today, nothing lasts. Stay liquid and stay flexible while you can. It will allow you to follow opportunities for advancement much more easily and painlessly.

If you take this advice, someday you will thank me when you have a half million dollar house and over a million in retirement savings, and most of the toys you thought you ever wanted. Going into debt, especially a mortgage, is a dollar sucking machine. Calculate how much of your first year's payments go to interest. If you save, all of that money goes on the house.

Dale

 

[david068513]

Its north ga.

Job wont chanr unless I choice too. I own my oen business and I can go anywhere. I go cross country for work.

 

[On1Wheel]

I, too, wanted to build but cooler heads prevailed. We just bought a foreclosure that's 1000 sq ft larger than our current home and about $15K LESS in a much nicer neighborhood. Sure, it needs work, but it isn't anything I can't do or hire out to do.

In a few years I'll sell it and make a killing, even if the market never fully recovers. THEN I BUILD!!

 

[carhunter]

Option 3. Live cheap. Save your money like a madman. Do not go into debt for anything that you don't absolutely positively need to survive. When you have saved $100,000 or so, go house shopping and buy one for cash. Continue to save. After a couple years, sell the $100,000 house for $150,000+. Buy a nicer house with the cash. In a couple years, sell the $150,000 house for $300,000+ and then start looking for something you really like.


If you take this advice, someday you will thank me when you have a half million dollar house and over a million in retirement savings, and most of the toys you thought you ever wanted. Going into debt, especially a mortgage, is a dollar sucking machine. Calculate how much of your first year's payments go to interest. If you save, all of that money goes on the house.

Dale

this

also always consider resale value. even if you plan on dying there, your kids may have to sell the house someday

 

[Need4racin]

Make sure you will ALWAYS have the income to make the payment and taxes.

 

[ed_v]

As you get older, A garage is just a place to go to get a way from women. Without a house, you won't have the women to get away from

option#2 my friend. It will be cheaper in the long run.

Ed

 

[financer83rs]

Buy a nice house with plenty of land and additional garage options. this is what i did in clinton Maine. Theni built a 26'X30' garage and added a tall bay on the attached garage so i could install a lift.

 

[SuperSocket]

Option two you can qualify as a first time home buyer or qualify under the FHA/VA/HomePath financing options, which means you just need 3.5% down and you get a better purchasing ability.


With option 1 you need to put at least 20% down, in some cases 25% down, you would need to either A) finance the construction loan and the land together, which means you'd need 20% down for the total construction and lot. or B) purchase the land first which means you need to put 20-25% down and will have a very hard time getting financing if not near impossible. or C) Purchase the land cash, then use the land as a down-payment on your construction loan.


I am waiting on a call right now actually on financing some land but I am having a hell of a hard time getting anyone willing to finance vacant land... so I may have to push cash option... which is not something I wanted to do right now.

 

[sixt8bird]

If you like moving and not aquiring much then buying and selling can make you money but when your house goes up so does every other house. I like just buying a house you can grow with and just watch the house value increase. If I were to move, it ould probably cost $100,000 just to move all my stuff. My house went up over 4 1/2 times and I paid it off in 15 years. Been here for 25 so 10 years no morgage, no hassel of moving, and house increase of 4 1/2 times me feel like buying and selling isn't all its cracked up to be. Unless of coarse you don't like your house or your neighborhood etc.
Buy something you like and grow roots!!! LOL!!!

 

[Viriiguy]

We recently bought a house. I looked into buying land and building a house, but you cannot build for anywhere near as cheap as you can buy right now. Here locally, having a house build will cost you between $100 and $180 a square foot... NOT including land...
You can buy a pre-existing house for $40-$100 a square foot.. land included!!

I bought a 3600 sq foot house, oversized 2 car garage and 2.5 PRIVATE acres... For a LOT less than I could have built a 2200 sq foot house on a postage stamp.

Sure it needs a little work and needs to be made ours... But the money we saved will MORE than cover it

 

[sixt8bird]

Option 3. Live cheap. Save your money like a madman. Do not go into debt for anything that you don't absolutely positively need to survive. When you have saved $100,000 or so, go house shopping and buy one for cash. Continue to save. After a couple years, sell the $100,000 house for $150,000+. Buy a nicer house with the cash. In a couple years, sell the $150,000 house for $300,000+ and then start looking for something you really like.

I've done this by the time I was 32, and I wish I had started earlier. It works. And you will develop a desire for saving along the way that will help you even more when you retire someday.

You don't say where you live so it's difficult to give house buying advice since property values vary widely across the country. You say you will be living there a long time. We all think this. For a few of us it's been true. For most of us, job changes, advancement opportunities, family issues, and natural disasters change things fast.

My first job lasted 6 months. My second job lasted 5 years, and I thought at the time I would retire there. I have worked for 10 different employers over 25 years. It's just the way the job market is today, nothing lasts. Stay liquid and stay flexible while you can. It will allow you to follow opportunities for advancement much more easily and painlessly.

If you take this advice, someday you will thank me when you have a half million dollar house and over a million in retirement savings, and most of the toys you thought you ever wanted. Going into debt, especially a mortgage, is a dollar sucking machine. Calculate how much of your first year's payments go to interest. If you save, all of that money goes on the house.

Dale

This may have worked for you before 2008 but I know people, lots of people that bought in 2007 and are now way under water with their mortgage. So many people bought houses thinking about buying and selling before 2008 and look what their house is worth now. A buddy bought his for 336,000. Its now worth 195,000.
Another couple of friends bought theirs for $760,000. Now worth $500,000.
I say, buy the house you can afford where you want to live with some property. Pay off that sucker fast. Then reap the rewards of no interest or mortgage. That money you can now invest. Buy some toys along the way.
i have always lived out of debt. We never had a car payment but now have some killer classics.
So as you can see theres always differences of opinions and ways to reach your goles. It ultimately will be up to you. In my life I have only moved 4 times. Growing up, we lived in one house, parents got divorced, moved in at my Dads house at 20, moved into a condo at 24, bought the house my wife and I live in at 25. Paid off at 39. I don't like moving.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Well, I will be the killjoy on this one. If you build your own house, I can all but guarantee that you will put more physical work into it than she does. In this day and age, divorce is a high possibility. If the house is sold, who makes out like a bandit, the one who built it, or the one who watched? I am a diehard DIY guy, but I learned some things along the way, and this was one of them. You will get a better deal in this market on an existing house, and if things go South in the marriage, it will be financially and physically more equal, HOPEFULLY.

 

[c/o say]

Think of it this way hard to get away from her if the house is the shop and you know sooner or later she will want to have a bigger house/kids. Where is that going to come from ya thats right hey lets put up a new wall tear that one down and make the house bigger. Then before ya know it you don't have a shop. My two cents buy a house with a garage then build a SHOP. Had a friend his house was three two car garages. He built the fourth across the yard from the house that used to be his garages. Just sayin

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Option 3. Live cheap. Save your money like a madman. Do not go into debt for anything that you don't absolutely positively need to survive. When you have saved $100,000 or so, go house shopping and buy one for cash. Continue to save. After a couple years, sell the $100,000 house for $150,000+. Buy a nicer house with the cash. In a couple years, sell the $150,000 house for $300,000+ and then start looking for something you really like.

I've done this by the time I was 32, and I wish I had started earlier. It works. And you will develop a desire for saving along the way that will help you even more when you retire someday.

You don't say where you live so it's difficult to give house buying advice since property values vary widely across the country. You say you will be living there a long time. We all think this. For a few of us it's been true. For most of us, job changes, advancement opportunities, family issues, and natural disasters change things fast.

My first job lasted 6 months. My second job lasted 5 years, and I thought at the time I would retire there. I have worked for 10 different employers over 25 years. It's just the way the job market is today, nothing lasts. Stay liquid and stay flexible while you can. It will allow you to follow opportunities for advancement much more easily and painlessly.

If you take this advice, someday you will thank me when you have a half million dollar house and over a million in retirement savings, and most of the toys you thought you ever wanted. Going into debt, especially a mortgage, is a dollar sucking machine. Calculate how much of your first year's payments go to interest. If you save, all of that money goes on the house.

Dale

This is the best option. But is also the one that takes the most discipline.

But only taking the first two options in consideration. I'd chose #1. But with the following rules. One; let the GF plan the APT. Two; put the garage/apt at the back of the lot so a future home can be built in front of it. When that's built, Rent out the APT to pay for the house.

You can get into a metal building fairly reasonably. If you don't go crazy with fancy fixtures and trim. Do a lot of the work your self. You should be able to get into it for less then 60 dollars a foot.

 

[gc427]

Option 3. Live cheap. Save your money like a madman. Do not go into debt for anything that you don't absolutely positively need to survive. When you have saved $100,000 or so, go house shopping and buy one for cash. Continue to save. After a couple years, sell the $100,000 house for $150,000+. Buy a nicer house with the cash. In a couple years, sell the $150,000 house for $300,000+ and then start looking for something you really like.

I've done this by the time I was 32, and I wish I had started earlier. It works. And you will develop a desire for saving along the way that will help you even more when you retire someday.

You don't say where you live so it's difficult to give house buying advice since property values vary widely across the country. You say you will be living there a long time. We all think this. For a few of us it's been true. For most of us, job changes, advancement opportunities, family issues, and natural disasters change things fast.

My first job lasted 6 months. My second job lasted 5 years, and I thought at the time I would retire there. I have worked for 10 different employers over 25 years. It's just the way the job market is today, nothing lasts. Stay liquid and stay flexible while you can. It will allow you to follow opportunities for advancement much more easily and painlessly.

If you take this advice, someday you will thank me when you have a half million dollar house and over a million in retirement savings, and most of the toys you thought you ever wanted. Going into debt, especially a mortgage, is a dollar sucking machine. Calculate how much of your first year's payments go to interest. If you save, all of that money goes on the house.

Dale

I agree! Save your money and jump on a bargain house with plenty of property so you can build a shop in the future.

 

[Grumpy365]

I know a couple of people who live above their garage...It's not too pleasant when the smoke, fumes and other stinks rise up into the house. Through the floor or outside, up the wall and back into the house. Seal it up to stop the problem and you will gas yourself in no time.....a nice big garage detached from the house also minimised the rising noises and rumbles too.

This ^^^^^^

Also keep in mind, there are a lt of flamabes, old equipment with leaking carburators, etc. having a shop fire is bad news, the only thing worse, is a house fire where your possible means of exit is through a garage.


I always dreamed about living in my shop, but as I grow older and look at the real world pitfalls that could come with this arrangement.

 

[david068513]

This ^^^^^^

Also keep in mind, there are a lt of flamabes, old equipment with leaking carburators, etc. having a shop fire is bad news, the only thing worse, is a house fire where your possible means of exit is through a garage.


I always dreamed about living in my shop, but as I grow older and look at the real world pitfalls that could come with this arrangement.

Can't stairs to a above door from the outside solve that ? lol I am listening guys

 

[bazzateer]

Got to be option 2 mate. If you're going to be there a long time you'll have plenty of opportunities to make it your own.

If you're going to be setting up home/have a family I think it's good to have the garage seperate from the house.