# Buying land for new construction



## d_rek

As home inventory continues plummet to record lows and home prices keep inflating from high demand in Southeast Michigan my wife and I keep circling back to a discussion we've had many times now: Should we buy land and build or simply keep waiting until a home in a community we actually want to live in pops up on the market? 

Competition for existing homes is fierce right now. We looked at a home in a rural area of St. Clair County and there was literally a pile of realtor cards on the kitchen table by the time we got our showing in near the tail end of the weekend. The home was pending sale the following monday. My realtor said he's never seen anything quite like this in 20 years of working as a real estate agent. He claimed a home he put on the market had 40 showings in a weekend and 10 offers come in on that home, several over list price. 

We are currently situated to buy acreage with cash out of pocket. This is money that could otherwise be used for a downpayment. And while i've spoken to a couple of modular homebuilders, and have a relatively good idea of the process involved in purchasing land and financing a new construction, i thought it would be good to get information from folks with experience buying land and financing a new construction. 

What are some important things you learned when you purchased land and built a home? What do you know now that you wish you knew before you began the process? Would you do it again? Why?

Feel free to recommend a builder / realtor who helped you along the way (FYI i'm in st. clair county). 

Thanks much,
d_rek


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## stickman1978

Built about 25 yrs ago. Don't buy land unless it perks. Engineered septic fields are $$$$. We interviewed a handful of builders. Go look at finished homes they have built.

The farther off the road you build the high the cost of putting in utilities and a drive way.


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## JPK

d rek; Well, if you are going to hold out for that certain type of house in that certain setting or area. You may be waiting and looking for a long time. And you are right about homes for sale. The one down the street from me sold for $15,000.00 more than the asking price.!! The realestate company didn't even have time to put a sign in the front yard. That is how quick it sold.
Talked to a guy last month. he bought a piece of land out by milford some where. That is his side of town. Had footings dug and had a new modular built. I guess the modulars have really come a long way, You can make changes and they will customize your build for you. Him and his wife absouletly love it.Sold his 4 bdrm, 2,500 sq. ft. house, which they didn't need any more. Kids all grown and moved out.
So modulars may be worth checking out. Good luck to you.


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## d_rek

stickman1978 said:


> Built about 25 yrs ago. Don't buy land unless it perks. Engineered septic fields are $$$$. We interviewed a handful of builders. Go look at finished homes they have built.
> 
> The farther off the road you build the high the cost of putting in utilities and a drive way.


Yes, i've already been warned about making sure the land perks. Talked to a few builders already too. I have a pretty good idea of the entire construction process (making sure land perks, checking utility availability, surveying, checking zoning and planning regs, etc., etc. etc.)



> I guess the modulars have really come a long way, You can make changes and they will customize your build for you.


Newer modular homes, for all intents and purposes, can be considered stick built homes. My grandparents, aunt and uncle, and in-laws have all had a modular built in the last 10 years and you would never even know that it was basically a floorplan that they purchased. The quality is very good, the warranty is (usually) excellent, and they can be customized to the Nth degree these days. And because they are usually manufactured out of state and shipped to site they have to meet code regs for all 50 states, which can be more stringent than local code regulations.


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## kingfisher 11

We are finding the same thing. We jumped up what we want to pay for a purchase price another $75K. Still either no inventory or way over priced. Anything in the area we are looking will sell right away if its priced right.


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## FREEPOP

We were going to build and then found that for the price of building, you can get a house and property for basically the same price, the past two years. Found a relatively nice house with 35 acres basically for the same price it would've cost us to build.


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## d_rek

FREEPOP said:


> We were going to build and then found that for the price of building, you can get a house and property for basically the same price, the past two years. Found a relatively nice house with 35 acres basically for the same price it would've cost us to build.


Depending on where you're looking prices for existing homes is still relatively 'soft'. And you're not wrong - you can basically get a new home built for the price of an existing home without all the headache of acquiring land and building. The problem right now is inventory. There is virtually nothing on the market in the areas we want to live that isn't a A) Total dump or B) Way beyond our affordability. And what does go on the market is jumping off just as quick. Since we're in a situation where we are not desperate for a new home and are in a living arrangement where we could take the time necessary to find land and build, the option is starting to sound more and more appealing.


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## FREEPOP

Location, location, location


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## d_rek

FREEPOP said:


> Location, location, location


Right now the issue isn't location.. it's inventory! Can't buy houses that aren't on the market


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## FREEPOP

d_rek said:


> Right now the issue isn't location.. it's inventory! Can't buy houses that aren't on the market


For the seller or future seller that's a good thing


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## Jet08

There are a few mortgage companies out there that to a "construction to permanent" loans that the land, and construction costs can be upfront and they will automatically roll into a conventional mortgage with only one set of closing costs. 

If the property doesn't perk its not the end of the world, there are many options. In my experience didn't break the bank. 

I just completed new construction in the last year. In our experience it was cheaper to build what we wanted then it was to buy from the market. If you have more questions on anything related to buying land and building feel free to PM me for more specifics.


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## kingfisher 11

d_rek said:


> Right now the issue isn't location.. it's inventory! Can't buy houses that aren't on the market


You sound like you are in the same boat we are. We want to buy in the Frankenmuth area. We are in no hurry and have the time to wait. Only problem right now is we drive our daughter to school in Muth and my wife wants to relocate closer to the school and work. Like you have experienced so far, they are a dump or I just won't pay what some are asking. This is one of the areas I know of that did not take big drop in housing price after 2007. That is a bonus if we buy in that area since we know if we want to sell quickly we can.

We did make an offer on a house just outside the area. We went in knowing it was much lower than asking price. The problem with the house was, they over paid in 2006, then probably updated around $125K and expected a full return on that and recoup. It needed natural gas hooked up and the roads were shot.


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## multibeard

If you get serious about TRUE modulars take a look at General Housing modulars out of Bay City. It has been a while since I worked on finishing them off after they were set but when I did they were first class. They used only name brand quality materials. You can get a tour of the factory.

I had a bank appraiser almost drop his teeth when I told him that he was looking at modular. The only way I could show him that it was one was one closet had not been dry walled and you could see the hinge in the roof.

The reason I said TRUE in the first sentence was that some of the double wide trailer people like to call their double-wide trailers modular. If there still a metal frame under the house after it is set it is a doublewide . It will depreciate not appreciate over the years.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> If you get serious about TRUE modulars take a look at General Housing modulars out of Bay City. It has been a while since I worked on finishing them off after they were set but when I did they were first class. They used only name brand quality materials. You can get a tour of the factory.
> 
> I had a bank appraiser almost drop his teeth when I told him that he was looking at modular. The only way I could show him that it was one was one closet had not been dry walled and you could see the hinge in the roof.
> 
> The reason I said TRUE in the first sentence was that some of the double wide trailer people like to call their double-wide trailers modular. If there still a metal frame under the house after it is set it is a doublewide . It will depreciate not appreciate over the years.


Yes common misconception is between a 'manufactured' and a 'modular' home. I have been in contact with a rep out of Cass City from Northwoods that put up my Aunt + Uncles modular home in Caseville. So far the experience has been pleasant but i'll definitely look into the company you mentioned.

Also, bank does not distinguish between a modular and a stick-built home anymore; for their purposes they are one and the same. But realtors are required to disclose if the home is manufactured.


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## tcfishes

Looking forward to seeing more replies. My wife and I are in sort of the same boat as you OP, except that we already purchased our vacant land and are getting ready to sell our condo while the market is so hot. We bought 10 acres in Lake county last month and we are planning on building this summer. The only problem is that we don't know exactly the right way to proceed.

I am interested to learn what a 700sf modular would cost. Can you put basements under a modular?


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## greg12

Just moved into our new home around Christmas and it was well worth it with a few major issues. First thing to do is get ahold of an archeticht


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## d_rek

tcfishes said:


> Looking forward to seeing more replies. My wife and I are in sort of the same boat as you OP, except that we already purchased our vacant land and are getting ready to sell our condo while the market is so hot. We bought 10 acres in Lake county last month and we are planning on building this summer. The only problem is that we don't know exactly the right way to proceed.
> 
> I am interested to learn what a 700sf modular would cost. Can you put basements under a modular?



There are a bunch of modular home manufacturers in the state of Michigan. Some of them also act as general contractors and will do all of your land development and construction. While some of them simply provide the modules and you will need to work with an approved general contractor.

I have not seen floorplans for a 700 square-foot modular home yet. I honestly don't know if they come that small. The manufactures we looked at is: general housing, Ritz craft, Northwood homes I don't think I saw a Floorplan smaller than 1000 square-foot. 

You might be looking at a completely custom site built home if you are going with such a low amount of square footage.. In that case as the guy above mentioned you were going to want to work with an ar****ect to develop your floor plan.

If you already on the land out right but you need to finance the construction there are a handful of credit unions offering new construction loans. Generally the rates are the same or very similar to a 30 year fixed mortgage with very similar terms. The construction loan is kind of like an equity line of credit that you can withdraw from throughout the construction to pay off the contractors as needed.

In terms of a general overview of what you can expect for land development and construction unless you have city water and sewer available at the road you are going to need to look into getting a well drilled, the septic field put in, your driveway and or easement, any utility hookups such as propane or natural gasand electric, cost of fill dirt if needed, the construction of your home, and also a garage if you want that.

To answer your question about the foundation on a modular yes absolutely you can have any type of foundation dyou desire on a modular home. Like I said before a modular home,for all intents and purposes, is essentially a stick built home. Think of it is buying a floor plan that you can customize.

And that's about all I know for now. I'm sure I will be learning a heck of a lot more in the next coming weeks and months. Hope that helps.


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## greg12

Get some perk tests done, we discovered we needed an engineered septic system. Which is an added cost to the home build.
After you get your home plans you have to find a builder or general contractor. When you find one, you will have to find a bank that is giving out construction loans. You will have to take the bank your home plans along with builder/general contractor, contract with home build costs. The bank will require you to get your home plans appraised.
After everything is approved by bank, 20 percent down is required at closing. Then you can start building. This first process took us about a year.
Once the building starts you think everything is going to go smooth. Well not always. We had bore tests done on our soil prior to digging and everything looked good. When doing bore tests they can't test every inch of your property. Sometimes what is underground is unknown until they start digging the hole. We hit bad soil and part of our home had to put on helical pilings. Which was a major cost we were not anticipating. 
After about a 2 and a half year project from start to finish our home is done and everything is great. A lot of stress but well worth it in the end. I could cause a little strain on your marriage or relationship, but what doesn't.


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## d_rek

I have also received some average pricing for all of the above as well as a couple of quotes for modular homes already. I'd be happy to share that information if you want to PM me


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## d_rek

Yes very very important to get a perk test and make sure the land perks! I believe a perk test is good for one year from the date it was last performed. You could also call up well drillers in the area and ask them about neighboring properties and they should be able to give you it really good idea of how deep your well will have to be.

Also Factor in cost of permit and application fees to your municipality. Generally not extravagant but another cost to keep track of.


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## multibeard

Another thing to take into consideration before you buy land is if you do not have city water what is the quality of the water you will get from a drilled well. There are a lot of locations in the state where the water is nasty to put it PC.

Other places it is really deep and some where it is non existent. Some well drillers are only getting you water not necessarily GOOD water. A lot of places you can tell what the water quality is by just driving down the road. If you see orange stains on siding from sprinkling the lawn it is from bad well water.

When I was working on General Housing modulars the company seemed to be pretty easy to work with as far as customization of their plans. They actually changed the design of one of the models to include one of my ideas for getting a walk in closet.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> Another thing to take into consideration before you buy land is if you do not have city water what is the quality of the water you will get from a drilled well. There are a lot of locations in the state where the water is nasty to put it PC.
> 
> 
> 
> Other places it is really deep and some where it is non existent. Some well drillers are only getting you water not necessarily GOOD water. A lot of places you can tell what the water quality is by just driving down the road. If you see orange stains on siding from sprinkling the lawn it is from bad well water.
> 
> 
> 
> When I was working on General Housing modulars the company seemed to be pretty easy to work with as far as customization of their plans. They actually changed the design of one of the models to include one of my ideas for getting a walk in closet.



The water issue can be mitigated to some extent through water softener, carbon filters, or even osmosis purification but it is all added cost. But you're absolutely right some well water is outright undrinkable. Still if you have to have a well put in and the water is bad you're better off paying for a high quality softener system and inline carbon filters because bad well water will chew up plumbing, appliances, and faucets.


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## MossyHorns

When I built my modular home 13 years ago I had them put the electric box, furnace, and water heater in the basement. The electric box is usually put on the main floor, which would make it a pain to add more circuits. My house is very efficient to heat. I only use around 550 gal of propane a year to heat my 1600 sft house with a full basement. 

If I could do it over again, I would have ordered the house without the carpeting. Even after upgrading the carpet it still was not that good. I have already replaced the carpet in 2 rooms.


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## JVoutdoors

I believe you don't need an ar****ect for residential unless it is over 4K sq ft. A good builder can tweak existing plans or even draw them up. Or buy them already done. Get enough copies.


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## brushbuster

d_rek said:


> As home inventory continues plummet to record lows and home prices keep inflating from high demand in Southeast Michigan my wife and I keep circling back to a discussion we've had many times now: Should we buy land and build or simply keep waiting until a home in a community we actually want to live in pops up on the market?
> 
> Competition for existing homes is fierce right now. We looked at a home in a rural area of St. Clair County and there was literally a pile of realtor cards on the kitchen table by the time we got our showing in near the tail end of the weekend. The home was pending sale the following monday. My realtor said he's never seen anything quite like this in 20 years of working as a real estate agent. He claimed a home he put on the market had 40 showings in a weekend and 10 offers come in on that home, several over list price.
> 
> We are currently situated to buy acreage with cash out of pocket. This is money that could otherwise be used for a downpayment. And while i've spoken to a couple of modular homebuilders, and have a relatively good idea of the process involved in purchasing land and financing a new construction, i thought it would be good to get information from folks with experience buying land and financing a new construction.
> 
> What are some important things you learned when you purchased land and built a home? What do you know now that you wish you knew before you began the process? Would you do it again? Why?
> 
> Feel free to recommend a builder / realtor who helped you along the way (FYI i'm in st. clair county).
> 
> Thanks much,
> d_rek


Get good reputable subs with lots of references if you choose to be the general.
I built 3 homes, fortunately i did most of the work my self but when i needed a sub i made sure i spent the money on good ones. Its tempting to go with the low bidder, but unless he checks out it aint worth it. I always checked with my building inspector first and ran my possible subs by them first. Subs can be a blessing or a nightmare.

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## d_rek

Well thought i'd give an update.

I ended up being the winning bidder on a 4 acre parcel that was being sold through an online real estate auction website. I paid $20k for 4.15 buildable acres - about $5k an acre. Well below asking price around these parts (usually $10-12k/acre). A pretty good deal all things considered.

Property had a perk test done back in 2008 and a 5" well installed but no pump the same year. Plenty of road frontage with no chance of development occuring behind it because of power lines. Vacant lot immediately to the west and neighbor to the east. Electric but not gas available at the road.

Signed a PA from the seller and am just waiting on a closing date from the title company.
I was pretty nervous about buying raw land. I still kind of am. But it's really a dream of mine to build and I absolutely love the location. 

I was pretty leary of the entire real estate auction from the get go. But I spoke with the auctioneer and they helped mitigate some of my fears.

So now it looks like I am going to own 4 acres or beautiful rural land in a location my wife and I really love and if all goes well we'll be putting up a home to our exact specification on it soon. 

Phew...


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## JPK

I've been following this thread. Congrats to you on your purchase. What area did you make this purchase in. And are you still considering a modular ? Keep us updated.


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## d_rek

JPK said:


> I've been following this thread. Congrats to you on your purchase. What area did you make this purchase in. And are you still considering a modular ? Keep us updated.



China township in St. Clair County. Near St. Clair / Marine City. 

Still looking at modular as it's the only thing that makes sense financially. We're not poor but we're not wealthy enough to do a completely custom site built home. Cost per square foot for modular vs custom: $120-140 vs $300-400 just FYI 




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## tcfishes

d_rek said:


> There are a bunch of modular home manufacturers in the state of Michigan. Some of them also act as general contractors and will do all of your land development and construction. While some of them simply provide the modules and you will need to work with an approved general contractor.
> 
> I have not seen floorplans for a 700 square-foot modular home yet. I honestly don't know if they come that small. The manufactures we looked at is: general housing, Ritz craft, Northwood homes I don't think I saw a Floorplan smaller than 1000 square-foot.
> 
> You might be looking at a completely custom site built home if you are going with such a low amount of square footage.. In that case as the guy above mentioned you were going to want to work with an ar****ect to develop your floor plan.
> 
> If you already on the land out right but you need to finance the construction there are a handful of credit unions offering new construction loans. Generally the rates are the same or very similar to a 30 year fixed mortgage with very similar terms. The construction loan is kind of like an equity line of credit that you can withdraw from throughout the construction to pay off the contractors as needed.
> 
> In terms of a general overview of what you can expect for land development and construction unless you have city water and sewer available at the road you are going to need to look into getting a well drilled, the septic field put in, your driveway and or easement, any utility hookups such as propane or natural gasand electric, cost of fill dirt if needed, the construction of your home, and also a garage if you want that.
> 
> To answer your question about the foundation on a modular yes absolutely you can have any type of foundation dyou desire on a modular home. Like I said before a modular home,for all intents and purposes, is essentially a stick built home. Think of it is buying a floor plan that you can customize.
> 
> And that's about all I know for now. I'm sure I will be learning a heck of a lot more in the next coming weeks and months. Hope that helps.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I never saw this response to me earlier, sorry for not responding, and thank you for all of the info. Also, congrats on your new land! I look forward to seeing your progress. 

To update about my situation: We still have not done anything with our land other than camping on it and planting some veggies. We decided that we are going to do a 10x16 bath/kitchen house, and then build a deck and a yurt to live in year round. We do not have water or sewer available to us, so we are planning to put in our own systems. We are just trying to figure out the right order in which to do things. Our well needs to be at least 190' deep in order to get top quality water, and our land perks well for a septic as the ground is all sand underneath a 3-4" layer of soil. . We have our general building areas decided on, and a 2-track up to the building area, but no driveway or electricity, other than a small solar array and battery bank. 

Is there an order in which we need to be planning on doing things? We were thinking of doing the well first, then the septic and 10x16 house second. Is there any reason the house needs to be built first? If we put a hand or solar pump on the well at first, is that easy to hook up to the house when we put in our septic and house? Does the house need to be there before the septic?


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## JPK

Sounds great. Looks to me that you have done a lot of homework and are on top of things. Good for you.
Remember the 5 - " P " rule.
proper
planning
prevents 
poor
performance

Keep us updated. And post some pics when the time comes.
Again, Congrats !!


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## d_rek

tcfishes said:


> Is there an order in which we need to be planning on doing things? We were thinking of doing the well first, then the septic and 10x16 house second. Is there any reason the house needs to be built first? If we put a hand or solar pump on the well at first, is that easy to hook up to the house when we put in our septic and house? Does the house need to be there before the septic?


Goto your local city/twp/village hall and ask for building application permit instructions and guidelines. This should give you an a pretty good outline and the order in which things need to be completed. 

But, yes, generally you need to make sure the land perks and you can properly place sewage disposal (ie: septic) on the property before you want to considering adding permanent structures. Call your county environmental health deptartment. They may be able to share if the land previously perked (if a test was done) although those tests are generally only good 1 yr from the date they are performed. 

Some municipalities wont allow you to build if there is not a verifiable water supply while others may allow a variance for holding tanks if you cannot reach ground water. All depends on your municipality and their local zoning ordinances. 

They should also be able to give you guidelines with the required setbacks for everything. If your property is irregular or you have existing structures or easements it could really screw up your building plans. 

Here's some pictures of the property from the auction website:


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## JPK

Get friendly with your neighbors. Looks like you could do your fair share of fishing in all those ponds they had dug. A blue gill dinner sounds perfect. ( Of course offer them some )


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## multibeard

I have a question about the power line. Is it on an easement or is it on a piece of property that the power company owns? 

Either way you need to have the details of what the power copay can do on that property. I know on the transmission lines coming from the pumped storage at Ludington, Consumers bought a 10 acre piece across each 1/4 mile for the lines. You can rent the land to farm but they do not allow hunting on their property. They have run gas lines through these lands.

If it is an easement you would own the land as I do on the easement across my property. They paid a whopping $40 to use my land for ever. this was done a few years before I bought the property. I see no where in my abstract that they can run anything additional on this 100 foot easement. They do come through every 8 years and mow off the regrowth of trees. They would love to use spray and make it a waste land but I will not let them as it is MY land.

Also take in consideration the 450 foot law from the house on the right in the picture. Also if some one outs a house on the piece on the piece to the other side they can screw your hunting of they put it way back on the property.

I had a doublewide get set with in 400 feet of a blind I have had for 10+ years. Luckily the guy had no problem with me hunting the blind. If he had it would have become a shooting range as he could not stop me from target practicing. :evil:


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> I have a question about the power line. Is it on an easement or is it on a piece of property that the power company owns?


Power company owns the property the power lines are on. There is no easement (that I know of) on any of the parcels on this road because their property is accessed from a main road about 1/2 mile away.




multibeard said:


> Also take in consideration the 450 foot law from the house on the right in the picture. Also if some one outs a house on the piece on the piece to the other side they can screw your hunting of they put it way back on the property.
> 
> I had a doublewide get set with in 400 feet of a blind I have had for 10+ years. Luckily the guy had no problem with me hunting the blind. If he had it would have become a shooting range as he could not stop me from target practicing. :evil:


I didn't purchase with the intention of making this hunting property but it's certainly not out of the question. :lol:

I'm not aware of the 450ft law. Is that something that is statewide or varies by municipality? 

I'm looking at a map of the setbacks for this particular township and the required side yard is 20ft on the property lines. There are no requirements for side yard from the main building. I assume this is to allow for variability i your layout and how you intend to develop the land.


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## Luv2hunteup

d_rek said:


> Power company owns the property the power lines are on. There is no easement (that I know of) on any of the parcels on this road because their property is accessed from a main road about 1/2 mile away.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't purchase with the intention of making this hunting property but it's certainly not out of the question. :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not aware of the 450ft law. Is that something that is statewide or varies by municipality?
> 
> 
> 
> I'm looking at a map of the setbacks for this particular township and the required side yard is 20ft on the property lines. There are no requirements for side yard from the main building. I assume this is to allow for variability i your layout and how you intend to develop the land.



You can not within 450' of a dwelling without written permission. Your township may have stricter rules.


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## d_rek

Luv2hunteup said:


> You can not within 450' of a dwelling without written permission. Your township may have stricter rules.


Oh this applies to *hunting* within 450ft of a dwelling. Gotcha.


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## kracker

Use the best LOCAL companies and tradesmen as possible. Trying to get people to come take care of small details or problems can be difficult if they aren't local. Allow a realistic timeline to get the work done properly. Trying to cram to many people in the house at one time usually doesn't make for the best quality work.


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## toto

My wife and I have built 4 homes over the years, and each one came with it's unique set of circumstances. As stated earlier, make sure it perks, if you buy some property you may be able to put that into the contingency for buying it. Secondly, also as stated, look at some of the builders homes, going with least expensive will not be the way to go, on the other hand going with the most expensive isn't called for either. You may want to do research on codes as to what you can and cannot do with your property, as aggrevating as that could be. Some areas may not accept modulars etc. Just make sure you buy a piece of property you really like, not just something in your price range. Some builders offer package deals, house property etc all combined. Bare in mind, the interest rates on construction loans is usually a little higher and should you choose to build something, most builders work off draws, and only get paid for the work they have already done. Make sure your bank understands they are not to pay the contractors the draw until you sign off for the work done, had this happen to us once, but we were lucky in that the builder made sure stuff was done. One last little idea, stop at a store that sells magazines and buy one of house plan books. You may not use it, but it may give you some good plan ideas. I would think, with housing market the way it is in your area, you may be better off to build, in the end, rather than keep being late on the one you like, if that statement makes sense. Good luck, it can be a lot of fun, and exciting, but it can be a pain the you know what.


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## d_rek

toto said:


> My wife and I have built 4 homes over the years, and each one came with it's unique set of circumstances. As stated earlier, make sure it perks, if you buy some property you may be able to put that into the contingency for buying it. Secondly, also as stated, look at some of the builders homes, going with least expensive will not be the way to go, on the other hand going with the most expensive isn't called for either. You may want to do research on codes as to what you can and cannot do with your property, as aggrevating as that could be. Some areas may not accept modulars etc. Just make sure you buy a piece of property you really like, not just something in your price range. Some builders offer package deals, house property etc all combined. Bare in mind, the interest rates on construction loans is usually a little higher and should you choose to build something, most builders work off draws, and only get paid for the work they have already done. Make sure your bank understands they are not to pay the contractors the draw until you sign off for the work done, had this happen to us once, but we were lucky in that the builder made sure stuff was done. One last little idea, stop at a store that sells magazines and buy one of house plan books. You may not use it, but it may give you some good plan ideas. I would think, with housing market the way it is in your area, you may be better off to build, in the end, rather than keep being late on the one you like, if that statement makes sense. Good luck, it can be a lot of fun, and exciting, but it can be a pain the you know what.


Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to keep a lot of this in mind. I've already been on contact with the county, township, and even a few builders getting ideas and some ballpark pricing. 

This municipality accepts modular homes no less than 1000 sq. ft. but you would have to get a variance for a manufactured home, which they said is very difficult as the township building inspector said that they generally don't allow manufactured homes on rural parcels anymore because they had a string of those before they had a master plan and they ended up devaluing neighboring properties and most fall into disrepair sooner than later.

The parcel I purchased already had a 5" well installed. I called up the county before I bought and they came out and verified the well. Everything checked out. I also called the well driller who works in the area and they had a record of installing it. So I was very lucky to get the property at a great price with a functional well already installed. Should save a couple thousand on overall cost to develop the land. 

General question: I will probably need the front 1-1.5 acres brush hogged and graded to accommodate site layout. Wondering if it's worth it to pay the builder to do this or if I can get away with doing this myself. I have access to brush hog and front loader through my uncle. Was thinking this is something I might be able to knock out in a couple of weekends. The current growth is mostly overgrown field vegetation with a few mature trees near the rear of the property. At some point in the last 20 years it was probably all clear cut but has since grown out.


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## Luv2hunteup

Anything that you can do yourself, that involves equipment, will save you $75/hr minimum plus transport costs unless you know someone who will cut you a deal for less. Plus you can do it while you are getting your ducks in a row.


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## d_rek

Luv2hunteup said:


> Anything that you can do yourself, that involves equipment, will save you $75/hr minimum plus transport costs unless you know someone who will cut you a deal for less. Plus you can do it while you are getting your ducks in a row.


My thoughts too. Since i'm purchasing it with cash I wont be constrained to a timeline for building since I won't be borrowing for new construction at the same time. I was thinking I would improve on the land on my own time and dime initially until we're ready to pull the trigger with a builder.


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## FREEPOP

Don't know if it's been mentioned but I would look up the twp zoning laws, some areas can be real doozies, like me getting a separate address for my pole barn (it's 100 ft from the house) 

Most of all be patient and remember things will take at least twice as long to happen compared to what you'd like.


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## d_rek

Starting to get builder quotes in. Still can't believe that it's as affordable for us to buy land + build as it would have been to buy an existing home on the market. Crazy.

Couple of questions: 

The only utility I have available at the road is electric. Which means i'll be doing one of two things: Exploring alternative heating/cooling (AKA geothermal) or augmenting propane with an Outdoor Woodburning Furnace 

For geothermal... does it make sense to invest in that kind of unit for a 1500 sq. ft. home? The upfront cost is double that of an HE furnace w/ propane fuel. And the long-term repayment is 15-20 years. And there is the possibility of the unit failing before it pays for itself. And i'm locked into a dealer who may or may not be around when the unit fails. And i'm just not sure it makes sense to have geo for that small footprint of a house. 

It makes sense if we plan on being here that long but on the other hand...

An outdoor woodburning furance is 1/2 the cost of geothermal, but still an added cost. I'm totally fine hauling, chopping, seasoning, storing timber to burn. 

Just looking for some opinion on one or the other.


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## JPK

Well, My two cents worth. If you insulate properly, crawl space,sill plate,walls,attic,attached garage, insulated garage door, proper house wrap and vapor barriers where needed. Also double or triple pane low e glass windows. Insulated doors with proper weather stripping. High energy furnace, on demand tankless hot water heater. You may be surprised at actually how low your heat bills may be (propane). You can always address the wood burner at a later date. If geothermal was all that great. It all would have been code by now.
Good Luck, and keep us posted !!


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## d_rek

JPK said:


> You can always address the wood burner at a later date. If geothermal was all that great. It all would have been code by now.
> Good Luck, and keep us posted !!



Another reason I Iike the wood burner over geo I can drop it in pretty much any time post construction.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## d_rek

Closed on the property today. I officially own 3.75 country acres! Very exciting! I'll be getting in there next week to start clearing and rough site development. We're targeting end of summer to start construction assuming all goes well between township, county, lenders, and builder. 

I'll try to keep everyone updated with progress and pictures.


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## JPK

d_rek said:


> Closed on the property today. I officially own 3.75 country acres! Very exciting! I'll be getting in there next week to start clearing and rough site development. We're targeting end of summer to start construction assuming all goes well between township, county, lenders, and builder.
> 
> I'll try to keep everyone updated with progress and pictures.


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## JPK

Congrats on the purchase. I can tell you are pretty excited about it. Good luck with your plans. And keep us posted.
NOW GET TO WORK !!!


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## MarriedNative

I just signed up to this forum to follow along this thread and maybe ask a question now and then. Congratulations d_rek! My Traverse City native husband and I just bought a parcel south of TC to build on so I'm doing my research and really enjoy hearing from people with experience as on this forum. Thanks to all who have already shared knowledge and looking forward to more.


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## d_rek

MarriedNative said:


> I just signed up to this forum to follow along this thread and maybe ask a question now and then. Congratulations d_rek! My Traverse City native husband and I just bought a parcel south of TC to build on so I'm doing my research and really enjoy hearing from people with experience as on this forum. Thanks to all who have already shared knowledge and looking forward to more.


Ask away! I received the deed to the property last week. Currently in the process of crunching numbers with lenders and getting quotes from builders. I hope to get over to the property this weekend to start logging and clearing out the build site. Happy to share the information I've already received.


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## d_rek

Update 7-16-11:

We narrowed down both the lender we are going to work with and the builder. That process alone was enough to upset my wife lol!

Regarding lending for a new construction the best advice I can give is SHOP AROUND. No lender offers the same loan package. I had it narrowed down to two lenders - one which was local to me that has a history with the builder and another that was referred to me by someone on this board.

While I really liked the local guy his company's new construction package simply wasn't competitive compared to the other lender. Which is unfortunate because I really liked the guy. But i can't let him cost me thousands of dollars just because he's a nice guy.

The lender we are proceeding with is Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU). They allowed us to use the land I bought with cash as an equity downpayment towards the new construction loan. So we will be bringing about 20% downpayment in the land itself to the closing, which was a huge advantage versus what the other lender was offering.

We asked 3 different builders who specialize in modular builds for estimates. One was local to us and referred by one of the lenders we were courting. The other two were basically google searches. One builder out of Sandusky was really nice and accommodating but also an hour away from us. The other builder we asked for quotes out of Almont said that our budget was not enough to consider working with them which was the most ridiculous thing they could have said to us. Further research revealed they have a long history of complaints about not meeting deadlines or delivering on time. So that narrowed it down to two builders, both of which offered very competitive quotes. Ultimately the deciding factor was going with someone who was much more local to us - 15 minutes away versus 1hr. 

For our builder we ended up going with someone local who has a lot of experience with modular construciton and the local municipal code and geography. We are very confident in their ability, as was evidenced by the homes they let us tour and also the many, many booklets of build-site documentation they had captured and collected over the years. It was very impressive to say the least.

I'd be happy to share the loan officers and builders name if anyone is interested. Feel free to PM me with questions.


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## JPK

d_rek said:


> Update 7-16-11:
> 
> We narrowed down both the lender we are going to work with and the builder. That process alone was enough to upset my wife lol!
> 
> Regarding lending for a new construction the best advice I can give is SHOP AROUND. No lender offers the same loan package. I had it narrowed down to two lenders - one which was local to me that has a history with the builder and another that was referred to me by someone on this board.
> 
> While I really liked the local guy his company's new construction package simply wasn't competitive compared to the other lender. Which is unfortunate because I really liked the guy. But i can't let him cost me thousands of dollars just because he's a nice guy.
> 
> The lender we are proceeding with is Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU). They allowed us to use the land I bought with cash as an equity downpayment towards the new construction loan. So we will be bringing about 20% downpayment in the land itself to the closing, which was a huge advantage versus what the other lender was offering.
> 
> We asked 3 different builders who specialize in modular builds for estimates. One was local to us and referred by one of the lenders we were courting. The other two were basically google searches. One builder out of Sandusky was really nice and accommodating but also an hour away from us. The other builder we asked for quotes out of Almont said that our budget was not enough to consider working with them which was the most ridiculous thing they could have said to us. Further research revealed they have a long history of complaints about not meeting deadlines or delivering on time. So that narrowed it down to two builders, both of which offered very competitive quotes. Ultimately the deciding factor was going with someone who was much more local to us - 15 minutes away versus 1hr.
> 
> For our builder we ended up going with someone local who has a lot of experience with modular construciton and the local municipal code and geography. We are very confident in their ability, as was evidenced by the homes they let us tour and also the many, many booklets of build-site documentation they had captured and collected over the years. It was very impressive to say the least.
> 
> I'd be happy to share the loan officers and builders name if anyone is interested. Feel free to PM me with questions.


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## JPK

Well d rek; It looks like you are proceeding along quite well. Any target date as to when the first scoop of dirt will come out of the ground ? I know things take time to do them right. But you must have somewhat of a target date.
As always good luck and keep us posted. Don't forget to post pics of the progess if you don't mind.


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## d_rek

JPK said:


> Well d rek; It looks like you are proceeding along quite well. Any target date as to when the first scoop of dirt will come out of the ground ? I know things take time to do them right. But you must have somewhat of a target date.
> As always good luck and keep us posted. Don't forget to post pics of the progess if you don't mind.


We'd be looking to break ground end of end of august / beginning of septemberish. The builder would want to get foundation in and home set before Nov 1st, hopefully before the weather turns, and then come in and finish the interior. 

Right now we're waiting on the surveyor to come out and draw up a legal survey. Once that's done the builder can draw up the site plan so we can submit to lender + township. Unfortunately the surveyor wont make it out for another week or two.


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## Luv2hunteup

Is your builder taking care of your utilities too.


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## d_rek

Luv2hunteup said:


> Is your builder taking care of your utilities too.


Utility hookup is a floating cost but yes they are going to take care of utilities. This will include subcontracting out for well, septic, and geothermal HVAC.

Well and septic are floating costs, but we have budgeted for worst-case scenarios here - although there is already a 5" pvc cased well on the property which saves us considerable money by not having to drill. Septic will be determined by perk test although I know the ground in the area is mostly clay.

Geothermal price will be quoted based on our floorplan and square footage but we are budgeting $20k for geothermal. What's nice about geothermal is that there is a 30% tax credit for total installation cost that doesn't expire until the end of 2016. So if we spent $20k on geothermal (let's hope it's a litlte cheaper ) then we would get a nice $6k tax credit back. DTE also offers a discounted kw/hr rate with geothermal, although it requires a seperate meter.

The only utility from the road we will be running is electric, which will be installed underground. Builder has included an average cost currently for this as it is again an unknown as to how many feet they will need to run electric from road.


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## d_rek

Well.. guess i'm overdue for an update. Things are moving along steadily but surely.

Ball is in the lender's court currently. Builder has provided a finalized construction quote based on floorplan from the factory and all of our upgrades and amenities, along with a contract, sworn statement, and elevation drawings of the home to provide to the lender. I'll be meeting with the lender this week just as a checkup and to give them all the documents they will require for underwriting. So far so good.

Surveyor was out last Tuesday and Weds. and the property was staked at the fourt corners with points on line. Now I know my property lines and, somewhat surprisingly, the neighbors now know theirs (you'd think as a property owner you'd want to know where your property lines are.) I should have my legal drawing early this week.

Since I had a rare weekend where my wife was not working and I wasn't saddled with kids I took the opportunity to begin clearing out the property. I rented a compact loader w/ a brushhog attachment and got to work. I put about 12 hours on the tractor and I cleared out a really good chunk of land - probably about an acre. My plan was to clear out about 1.5 acres from the front of the property and leave the back 2 alone. So far we made really good progress - clearing out about 1 acre or so. Unfortunately there were a lot of trees near the front of the property and there were only 2 of us felling trees so the going was a bit slow.

Still over the next few weeks I will get in there and clear out the last bit of trees from the front of the property that I want gone. We'll leave a few of the nice pines and a couple of the maple. We also have some nice wild cherry saplings that we'll try to preserve and a nice mature wild pear tree that's loaded with fruit. Outside of that it's mostly diseased Elm (dutch elm disease), nice white pines, some native bushes - hawthorne, buckthorn, etc., a few invasive trees (autumn olive), and lots and lots of maples.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the fun:


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## d_rek

A few more


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## d_rek

last one for now! My new Stihl MS251 wood boss put in some serious work this weekend.


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## JPK

d_rek; Looks good. One project at a time. Where did you rent the equipment from?


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## d_rek

The tractor was rented from Jones Equipment in marysville, mi. It was $200/day for the tractor and another $80 for the brush hog. I had it for the weekend and paid up for two days but didn't use it all so I did get some money back. That little tractor got quite the workout this weekend!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JPK

Sweet. Did they deliver the equipment to you. Or did u pick up and haul yourself?


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## d_rek

JPK said:


> Sweet. Did they deliver the equipment to you. Or did u pick up and haul yourself?


We had to pickup ourselves but they provided the trailer and tie downs.


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## Flyhack

The most important thing is to make sure you and the wife agree more than not and have similar tastes. There are a lot of decisions to be made when building and you need to agree often to keep the project moving. I'm just saying...

I love my wife, but I couldnt build a house with her.


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## d_rek

The entire process is already too much for her to handle lol. She basically said "Just pick everything out and let me know when we can move in."


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## JPK

d_rek said:


> The entire process is already too much for her to handle lol. She basically said "Just pick everything out and let me know when we can move in."


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## JPK

Now that's to funny !! Kind of like me right now, but only in reverse.Getting new counter top,sink,faucet,disposal.Entire inside of the house painted,3 bdrm ranch. All new carpet entire house. New tile floor in kitchen and 1/2 bath. So she has handled picking out all colors,arranged for estimates and getting quotes. She handled everything. Of course we reviewed it all together and said o.k. I asked her when they will start and when will they be finished. She is home this summer and wanted to handle this. So she did, And what a fine job she did do.I work 50-55 hrs. per week. So kind of hard to meet contractors during the day.
Good luck to you d_rek, I'm sure you will make out just fine.

How far are you moving from where you live now?


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## d_rek

JPK said:


> How far are you moving from where you live now?


Just under 1/2 mile from where we're living now. It's the same road my wife grew up on and her parents have lived on for 30+ years. About 2 miles down the road from where my grandparents + mom live. 

I hear you on working... right now i'm doing 40-50hrs/week at my regular job and have taken on some side work that I estimated out at about 90 hours of work over the next two months. The extra money will be really nice to have from the side job but starting to feel a little strung out. A lot going on but in a good way.. although nothing will ever be as stressful when we bought our first house! My wife was 6mos pregnant, I was starting a new job, closing on a house, and moving all in less than 6 mos time. Right about the time I developed my 'stress-related back spasms' lol.


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## JPK

d_rek said:


> Just under 1/2 mile from where we're living now. It's the same road my wife grew up on and her parents have lived on for 30+ years. About 2 miles down the road from where my grandparents + mom live.
> 
> I hear you on working... right now i'm doing 40-50hrs/week at my regular job and have taken on some side work that I estimated out at about 90 hours of work over the next two months. The extra money will be really nice to have from the side job but starting to feel a little strung out. A lot going on but in a good way.. although nothing will ever be as stressful when we bought our first house! My wife was 6mos pregnant, I was starting a new job, closing on a house, and moving all in less than 6 mos time. Right about the time I developed my 'stress-related back spasms' lol.


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## JPK

Good for you. Keep at it. Oh, and by the way. I had 2 yards of topsoil dumped. It took her three days to spread it and rake it. So we are moving along too on our plans.
Keep us posted on your progress.


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## d_rek

Update 8-26-15

Not a whole lot to report. Things are still moving along steadily.

Loan application has been submitted to the lender and is formally in review. (has been for last week), appraiser was out at the property today, and hoping to close in the next few weeks so the Builder can get a deposit into the home manufacturer and start breaking ground by mid-Sept.

We have clearcut most of the brush and trees out of the front 1 1/2 acres of the property, keeping a few select mature Maple and Northern Pine, and wild Black Cherry saplings. Almost all of the Elm trees on the property had to be cut as they were diseased with Dutch Elm disease. We were out all last weekend burning brushpiles too, with a slight scare from some cut phragmite that ignited rather quickly. Amazing how much bigger it looks after all of the debris has been cleaned up. Looks like i'll have a good supply of bonfire wood for a summer or two as well.

Builder was out at the property today to stake where the home will go. Front facade will be approx. 137ft from the road, which is nice because we're not too close to the road that we would have to worry about noise and dust but also not too far back on what's already been cleared, leaving us a generous backyard - at which somepoint i'll place a storage shed or small polebarn, along with ample room for a deck/patio and a fire pit

The county sanitarian should be out next week to perform the perk test. Builder doesn't anticipate any issues with the land perking but says you never know... guess we shall see.

In terms of the home itself my wife and I have been picking out decor from swatch samples provided by the builder. We have most items nailed down, but the carpet from the factory is butt ugly. Builder recommend that they could give us a credit for the carpet to purchase the type we want at a local big box (ie: lowes, home depot) and install it for the same cost. He said that almost all carpet is supplied by one of two mills in the entire US, so whether you buy it at lowes or at a customer installer you are getting the same exact quality carpet.

I asked about a rough timeline and Builder said if they can break ground by mid-September and have foundation ready for a mid-October home delivery then we should be able to move in before the first of the year so long as we don't get any prolonged periods of inclement weather. But as long as the home is placed, roof installed, and exterior finished then the subcontractors can move pretty quickly to wrap up the interior. Most of the major items will already come installed from the factory anyway - electrical, cabinetry, light fixtures, plumbing, etc.

Anyway, i'm really crossing my fingers that we can be in much sooner than Jan 1st, 2016. From all accounts it sounds like it should happen a lot quicker, but I suppose it never hurts to expect a worst-case scenario.

That's it for now. I'll report back when I know more~


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## JPK

d_rek; Man,you are moving right along,and have all your ducks in a row. As you mentioned, I hope the weather holds out. You will be moved in before you know it. Keep at it,Good luck. Now get back to work !!!


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## d_rek

Still in a holding pattern with the bank. Loan is in underwriting so we're just waiting on a closing date... 

They (kind of) messed up the appraisal and based it on an earlier building estimate. I say kind of because they performed the appraisal appropriately but the estimate they based it off of did not reflect costs for well, septic, and driveway because they were unknown at the time. So they had to 'retroactively review' the appraisal with finalized cost for those items. The good news is that the previous appraisal was higher than the cost to build, and *should* come in at or higher than our cost to build so that our budget shouldn't be affected. Bad news is we are losing some ground to the appraisal review process. 

Also kind of tricky getting a homeowners quote that includes a build policy for new construction... insurance agencies want you to have an address (which we do not) to generate a quote. You can't get an address from the township we're building in until a building permit has been issued. We don't want to have the builder apply for the permit until we know we are closing on the loan. But bank wants a quote that includes a 'build policy' (coverage for building materials and equipment) for underwriting. And we can't close until we have an accurate insurance quote. And around we go... But we did find a local agent who was easy to work with with a competitive rate. 

Anyway that's pretty much it. I was hoping to have broke ground already but i guess that's just how these things go. Still optimistic for the most part but it is annoying that the bank seems to be dragging their feet. 

Otherwise the property is pretty clear. Just burning brushpiles and whatnot cleaning up the big messes we made logging and cutting brush. I did cut out a spot for my pop-up blind at the back of the property underneat a huge overgrown autumn olive bush. The bush really should be cut down but it will make for great cover for the pop-up blind. The plan is to be able to take my 4yr old daughter hunting for her first time this year. Having a popup for us to be comfortable in and hopefully see some deer up close I know would just tickle her pink. 

That's if for now... i'll update when I have more!


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## d_rek

So i've got a spot of bad news...

The appraisal that the bank provided came in 'light' ... as in $15k light. 

This means that the the appraiser for LMCU has valued our new construction at $15,000 less than it will cost us to build. Now here's where it gets fun. 

This is not an apples to apples cost comparison. If anything it is more like apples to ... well, pears or peaches. Yeah they're fruits, but that's about all you can say about them. And the cost to build is simply the cost to build. Multiple builders/contractors have confirmed the prices as competitive, so it's not as if I could catch a break there.

Anyway, it leaves us with a $15k cash shortfall that we would have to make up at closing. We have several options, none of them particularly comforting. 

1) Pay $400 for a second appraisal from the same lender. Although this lender has strongly suggested that a second appraisal will not yield a considerably amount of value to bridge the cash gap for the shortfall. 

2) Slash construction costs... But Catch 22. Slashing certain costs could negatively affect the appraisal value (although how it would is beyond me). But the idea would be to chop upgrades/amenities from the construction to bridge the shortfall gap. Not desirable as we are very comfortable with our current building contract price and options. 

3) Halt mortgage process with this particular lender and try to find a new lender. However this comes with significant risk. First would be finding a new lender that provides similar terms. Then would be if their appraiser would come in better, below, or right at where the current appraisal is. Finally there's putting us another 30-45 days out from a closing date, which would put us in mid-november to break ground. Builder has mentioned that they have put in foundations as late as november but ground freeze in December poses a significant risk towards completed construction. 

4) There are other stop-gap solutions we could explore... ie: cash out most of our savings to bridge gap, open a credit line for the shortfall, etc. Not exactly the position we want to be in after a new construction, as there are many other costs we will have to account for post-construciton.

Regardless it's all very, very disappointing. I'm pretty bummed out and about the give the lender my .02 cents and will try not to lose my cool. Uhg. Totally disgusted right now.


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## goodworkstractors

I'm currently waiting on my appraisal. I kind of always thought it was a rubber stamp with appraisal equaling purchase price. Sucks to hear that, but hope you figure out your best path forward.


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## Yarcraft

A lot of people been having similar issues. With housing market improving, the price per square ft should go up and this should getting loans for building. If you are building in an area that houses are selling significantly less than 100 sq ft, you are going to have problems with appraisal for construction loan.


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## Luv2hunteup

Sorry to hear about your home construction delays.

Your lender has a good idea on values so they are probably correct in saying a second appraisal will bring you a significant increase. Look for other ways to raise funds of by cutting costs.


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## d_rek

cscott711 said:


> I'm currently waiting on my appraisal. I kind of always thought it was a rubber stamp with appraisal equaling purchase price. Sucks to hear that, but hope you figure out your best path forward.


Pre 2008 that definitely used to be the case. Banks are much more leery of borrowing these days. 


-Sent from d_mobile


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## d_rek

Yarcraft said:


> A lot of people been having similar issues. With housing market improving, the price per square ft should go up and this should getting loans for building. If you are building in an area that houses are selling significantly less than 100 sq ft, you are going to have problems with appraisal for construction loan.


Yes it is actually very difficult to find meaningful comps in our area because there just isn't as much inventory around here so the appraiser actually had to widen the geographic reach for the appraisal to get meaningful comps. But between the last real estate agent I have worked with and also the builder I am working with now I have heard the same thing that sometimes the appraisal comes in high sometimes it comes in right at contract price and more often than not these days it is coming in low.


-Sent from d_mobile


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## d_rek

Luv2hunteup said:


> Sorry to hear about your home construction delays.
> 
> Your lender has a good idea on values so they are probably correct in saying a second appraisal will bring you a significant increase. Look for other ways to raise funds of by cutting costs.


It's a bit of a Catch-22 because we can't cut many things from the cost of the construction because it would negatively affect our appraisal. And I don't necessarily agree that the bank knows the value of what they are borrowing for. They are simply a receptacle for whatever the appraiser tells them The appraised value is.

Regardless I met with the builder yesterday to brainstorm on where we could cut costs. He suggested maybe getting the appraiser a call because we were looking over the appraisal and noticed some significant discrepancies in regards to the accuracy of the The HVAC and all their energy efficient upgrades. So we called the appraiser who perform the appraisal and told him what the discrepancies were and they told us that absolutely those items would affect the value of the appraisal and we will probably get at least $10,000 more value in the appraisal. The appraiser's recommendation was to get a complete second appraisal done because she knew that she had more comps to pull from since she completed the appraisal back in August. She also felt strongly that knowing the line items for the construction also have a large impact on the appraisal value and should help us shorten the gap for the current cash shortfall we have. It was an encouraging conversation with the appraiser. We'll see what the bank says on Monday. But at this point I plan on ordering a second appraisal to see if we can't get the value to come in and at the contract price to build


-Sent from d_mobile


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## d_rek

Preparing foundation for footings. 

In other news... got a headscratching bill from DTE for a months worth of service ($100) before I even had my temp. service tapped and available. They magically metered me for all of April despite a meter not being available until May 3rd. A quick call to their billing department cleared up the bill and reset the balance to $0, but I was then charged a $6.22 "re-billing" fee... seriously?


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## multibeard

One Q.

Are they doing a second pour over the stone so you have a floor in the crawl space? It makes for a lot of dry storage plus a lot easier getting around to do additional wiring and plumbing.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> One Q.
> 
> Are they doing a second pour over the stone so you have a floor in the crawl space? It makes for a lot of dry storage plus a lot easier getting around to do additional wiring and plumbing.


We are getting a full unfinished basement - not a crawl. Yes they will be pouring over the stone. Yes there will be lots of 'dry storage' =) 

They still have to install the sump basins (i'm getting two put in), drain tile, etc.


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## multibeard

Thanks This old mind was just wondering. We never pored that way with any of our modulars with a crawl or full basement. All one pour.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> Thanks This old mind was just wondering. We never pored that way with any of our modulars with a crawl or full basement. All one pour.


This shows pretty well how our foundation will be installed. Footings get poured first, but i'm not sure if they pour walls / slab on the same day or not.


----------



## d_rek

Footings poured.


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## 2508speed

d_rek said:


> We are getting a full unfinished basement - not a crawl. Yes they will be pouring over the stone. Yes there will be lots of 'dry storage' =)
> 
> They still have to install the sump basins (i'm getting two put in), drain tile, etc.


You should get a sewage pump and crock put in the basement for a stool and shower. Also a Bilco or some other kind of outside entry to the basement comes in handy.


----------



## d_rek

We talked about this. Not sure I will plumb it for a third bath. Can always do a lift station if I decide to. No exterior entry to basement but will have two egress Windows so I can add a 4th bedroom down there.


-Sent from d_mobile


----------



## 2508speed

d_rek said:


> We talked about this. Not sure I will plumb it for a third bath. Can always do a lift station if I decide to. No exterior entry to basement but will have two egress Windows so I can add a 4th bedroom down there.
> 
> 
> -Sent from d_mobile


That's what I did with the 4th bedroom in the basement. Nice to have a bathroom and shower down there. Guests have no problem with their own room and bathroom.


----------



## d_rek

2508speed said:


> That's what I did with the 4th bedroom in the basement. Nice to have a bathroom and shower down there. Guests have no problem with their own room and bathroom.


The basement is going to be unfinished initially. Probably on the 5 year plan to finish it - I want a small metal outbuilding first for yard equipment / toys. 

But i didn't want the layout of the basement to be constrained by plumbing when I goto finish it. We are already going to have two full baths upstairs so I will probably only add a half bath when I do get around to finishing it. 


-Sent from d_mobile


----------



## 2508speed

d_rek said:


> The basement is going to be unfinished initially. Probably on the 5 year plan to finish it - I want a small metal outbuilding first for yard equipment / toys.
> 
> But i didn't want the layout of the basement to be constrained by plumbing when I goto finish it. We are already going to have two full baths upstairs so I will probably only add a half bath when I do get around to finishing it.
> 
> 
> -Sent from d_mobile


I was on about a 5 year plan too. 20 years later my basement still is not finished.
I'd still rough plumb it now before the floor is poured. Only my opinion though.
When I built I tried to buy a modular unfinished from GHS Ibelieve they called themselves.
I was impressed with their factory and all the jigs they had to make everything square.

They wouldn't do it, said I would have tobuy the cheap trim and cabinets and tear it out.


----------



## d_rek

2508speed said:


> I was on about a 5 year plan too. 20 years later my basement still is not finished.
> I'd still rough plumb it now before the floor is poured. Only my opinion though.
> When I built I tried to buy a modular unfinished from GHS Ibelieve they called themselves.
> I was impressed with their factory and all the jigs they had to make everything square.
> 
> They wouldn't do it, said I would have tobuy the cheap trim and cabinets and tear it out.


I know one of the modular manufacturer we considered sold 'shell' homes which were basically exterior walls + roof and interior marriage walls but everything unfinished otherwise. It was either American Homes or General Housing.


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## multibeard

I do not remember General Housing selling a shell house. It has been a long time since I worked on them so that may have changed.

Looking at the poured footings it seems odd to me that there is not any rerod coming out of pour to tie the wall to the footings. I guess the grove in the footing is going to do that.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> Looking at the poured footings it seems odd to me that there is not any rerod coming out of pour to tie the wall to the footings. I guess the grove in the footing is going to do that.


I did ask my builder about this. He said it's not code and the keyway prevents any lateral movement. The slab is also poured after the walls go up, so it effectively locks the walls from moving inward. The walls are a continuous pour, so there is no chance one part or another moving anyway. 

Here are some pictures of the walls going up:

Wall framing








Walls poured, anchor ties for straps set. You can also see the dual pits for the sumps (specifically requested a 2nd one for the basement).


















Foundation tarred, 2" rigid insulating foam affixed to foundation. The high winds came and took the bottom portion of that corner piece off. Also started to block out footings for the garage and porch. 









Hasn't been anyone over there with the high winds and rain since last week. We also lost power down the road for 32hrs. The cord you see in the above picture is connected to a pump (I had temp electric service installed on site a few months back) so that the crews can work without running gennys. 

Otherwise still on track for end of month delivery of the home. Things coming along!


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## d_rek

Basement floor has been poured! It was about 8hrs cured at time I took pictures:
























I also scored a free beater craftsman lawn tractor from my BIL. It needs a good tuneup and possibly a carb rebuild but for free i'll take it!


----------



## multibeard

Seeing there are no openings in the top of the basement for beams to roll the house onto the basement, are they crane setting it?

The setting crew from General Housing rolled them on using beams. I think that we only had two that were set with a crane due to not having the room to pull the modules along side the basement/crawl space. 3 to 4 hours and the modules were on the foundation, roofs raised and the building made weather tight. They moved the modules on the beams by simply pushing on them.


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## d_rek

I've seen two go up now being set by cranes. I've never seen them rolled on. I was told from the get go they would be setting it with crane. If there is advantage to one method over the other in not aware of it, maybe except saving in the cost of crane rental. 


-Sent from d_mobile


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## JPK

d_rek; Good to see you posting. I was wondering how things were coming along. Weather has certainly not been a problem. Looking good. Keep at it. And keep posting the progress. As always,good luck.


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## multibeard

The way the Lorenz brothers set the houses was a piece of cake. There are pockets left out of the basement/crawl space to accommodate the beams. They set two beams across the basement/crawl space. The first unit is pulled along side and jacked off of the trailer, trailer pulled out from under the unit and another section of beam connected to each of the original beams. The unit was set down on rollers and pushed into position, jacked up to remove the rollers and set down in place. This was repeated with the other unit. The crew never needed to discuss what to do next as it was just natural for them to do what needed to be done next.

On one project we thought that we were gong to have it set with a crane as we could not get the units in the correct position because of the existing garage being in the way a little bit. It was no problem for them as the rollers allowed them to move the units length wise into position.

His method is real simple and saves the cost of a crane.


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## d_rek

Just informed the house will be coming off the line a little later than expected. We were originally targeting the week of the 4th for delivery but now it will be between the 15th and 20th. 

Unfortunately things are sort of tied up until the house comes. Builder said we've done about all we can until the house arrives. 

In terms of timing that puts us a few weeks further into the year for a move in date. Obviously not ideal but you sort of just roll with the punches on these things (really what else can you do?). What that means is move in will be beginning to middle of October. Again not the end of the world but now that the end is in sigh my wife and I are getting anxious to get out of her parents house 


-Sent from d_mobile


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## FREEPOP

Be prepared for more delay's and don't get focused on a date. Plumbers, electricians, finishers, inspectors and final approvals it seems endless and will drive you mad. IMO, it's better to focus on the task at hand and not the move in date.


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## MossyHorns

d_rek said:


> Just informed the house will be coming off the line a little later than expected. We were originally targeting the week of the 4th for delivery but now it will be between the 15th and 20th.
> 
> Unfortunately things are sort of tied up until the house comes. Builder said we've done about all we can until the house arrives.
> 
> In terms of timing that puts us a few weeks further into the year for a move in date. Obviously not ideal but you sort of just roll with the punches on these things (really what else can you do?). What that means is move in will be beginning to middle of October. Again not the end of the world but now that the end is in sigh my wife and I are getting anxious to get out of her parents house
> 
> 
> -Sent from d_mobile


Our All American home arrived right on schedule when we had it built 15 years ago, but the house sat on the foundation for just over 2 months before I could get the electric company to trench my line and hook it up. It was very frustrating to have to wait on one thing before I could move in.


----------



## d_rek

I'm with you guys. Really we need to have our Certificate of Occupancy before Nov. 8th as that is that's the current date through which our construction loan is financed without incurring penalties. I forget exactly what happens but we'll be charged a chunk of change if we don't finish the construction before then.


----------



## multibeard

Mossy

Why wasn't the electrical scheduled long before your house arrived? We were on REA , Oceana Electric, most of the time (now Great lakes Energy) and we never had any big delays on getting power.

One of the modulars that was put in down the road from us was delayed because they had no natural gas to heat the house that was set in Dec. Screw up because the builder did not have it piped to the house as soon as the crawl space was in and back filled. The meter did not have to be set but at least they could have set it right after the house was in place, instead of having to wait to until break up in the spring.


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## d_rek

I was told to call DTE a week before the home arrives to schedule permanent electric service installation. DTE has been really good (so far) about getting over and doing the work in a relatively short amount of time (10-14 business days).


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## FREEPOP

Friend of mine had to pay the penalties because of the screw ups of the contractor and occupancy was delayed. Imo it should fall back on the contractor as he's the one that's supposed to be coordinating things.


----------



## MossyHorns

multibeard said:


> Mossy
> 
> Why wasn't the electrical scheduled long before your house arrived? We were on REA , Oceana Electric, most of the time (now Great lakes Energy) and we never had any big delays on getting power.
> 
> One of the modulars that was put in down the road from us was delayed because they had no natural gas to heat the house that was set in Dec. Screw up because the builder did not have it piped to the house as soon as the crawl space was in and back filled. The meter did not have to be set but at least they could have set it right after the house was in place, instead of having to wait to until break up in the spring.


The electric company was notified in advance of the house being set. They came out and gave me a price for buying the wire and hooking it up. I was calling them every week for a 2 months and they kept giving me the runaround.


----------



## snortwheeze

JPK said:


> Sounds great. Looks to me that you have done a lot of homework and are on top of things. Good for you.
> Remember the 5 - " P " rule.
> proper
> planning
> prevents
> poor
> performance
> 
> Keep us updated. And post some pics when the time comes.
> Again, Congrats !!





d_rek said:


> Or the six p's. Prior planning prevents piss poor production
> China township in St. Clair County. Near St. Clair / Marine City.
> 
> Still looking at modular as it's the only thing that makes sense financially. We're not poor but we're not wealthy enough to do a completely custom site built home. Cost per square foot for modular vs custom: $120-140 vs $300-400 just FYI
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Right in my back yard. I hunt on Remer Rd. Looks like you found the perfect location, wish I could do something like this!


----------



## multibeard

MossyHorns said:


> The electric company was notified in advance of the house being set. They came out and gave me a price for buying the wire and hooking it up. I was calling them every week for a 2 months and they kept giving me the runaround.


What power company?

If I had been getting that kind of run around I think I would have been taking a trip to Lansing to the Public Service Commission and filing a complaint.

We went to a seminar in Lansing one time and found out that the local building inspector was violating our civil rights. I called Licensing and Regulations the next week and found out that he was. The gal wanted to know if I wanted to file a complaint right then and their. I told her no and that I would handle it with the inspector as I still had to work in that county.


----------



## d_rek

Big day is tomorrow! House will be arriving mid-afternoon. Not much else to report. Here's a few pictures of my new toy (stihl FS90 w/ handlebars - god I love this thing) and a bunch of fill dirt and sand around the foundation:

















Will post pictures after the house arrives tomorrow. !!


----------



## d_rek

House is being delivered right now!


----------



## FREEPOP




----------



## d_rek

-Sent from d_mobile


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## FREEPOP

After they set the house, check to see if there are notches for the straps/cables and seal those things up with Great Stuff or anything. We moved in this house and I discovered mine had never been sealed. A darn good heat loss, on cold windy nights.

One of the first projects I would look at doing would be sealing the rim joist.


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## d_rek

House being set on the foundation


----------



## d_rek




----------



## FREEPOP




----------



## JPK

d-rek you have to be really pumped up now. Good for you. I know it's been long anticipated. What is the door on the left hand side for ? Now get busy ,and get to work!!! Best of luck to you. And congrats .


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## Waif

Too, be sure the joint where the two halves arejoined are tight and sealed.
The mice like my gap.
Two spots in addition to the joint ,and mid gable each side on one end allow light into attic.
Being a prefab,while much of the plumbing ,ducts and power are on one side and convienent ,the breakerpanel labels are not accurate.
I like the structure......the set up/installation by a company before I aquired it ( and a company now gone) was /would be unacceptable were I involved though.

Keep at it ,that sigh of relief is coming soon.


----------



## multibeard

I wondered why no siding on that part of the front of the front modual. Duh old man. That is where the garage is going.

Waif this is a modular building. A prefab comes with the walls in pieces and it has to be assembled from the floor on up. It depends on who built the modular how well the breaker panel is labeled. Now a double wide trailer that dealers like to call modular is whole different story. They do not even have a clue that light switches go next to the doors not in the middle of a wall 3 feet from the door.


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## bowjack

Looking good! Alot like my daughter's first house when it was delivered. To save her some money I took a week off work to build the garage, front porch and fill in the siding on the gable ends.


----------



## Waif

multibeard said:


> I wondered why no siding on that part of the front of the front modual. Duh old man. That is where the garage is going.
> 
> Waif this is a modular building. A prefab comes with the walls in pieces and it has to be assembled from the floor on up. It depends on who built the modular how well the breaker panel is labeled. Now a double wide trailer that dealers like to call modular is whole different story. They do not even have a clue that light switches go next to the doors not in the middle of a wall 3 feet from the door.


Mine is a B.O.C.A. or whatever it's called modular.
Where the two halves are butted,it looks good from the basement.
Not so good under the siding one one end.


----------



## d_rek

JPK said:


> d-rek you have to be really pumped up now. Good for you. I know it's been long anticipated. What is the door on the left hand side for ? Now get busy ,and get to work!!! Best of luck to you. And congrats .


It's entry door from garage into utility room. And THANKS! 

Seems like we're so close yet so far...


----------



## d_rek

bowjack said:


> Looking good! Alot like my daughter's first house when it was delivered. To save her some money I took a week off work to build the garage, front porch and fill in the siding on the gable ends.


I'm handy... but not that handy 

Besides we want it built sooner rather than later lol


----------



## d_rek

Waif said:


> Mine is a B.O.C.A. or whatever it's called modular.
> Where the two halves are butted,it looks good from the basement.
> Not so good under the siding one one end.


Finally had a chance to really walk around it and put a critical eye on everything. Exterior looks very tight - no gaps that I can discern between the halves, no gaps at the peak of the gable. There was about 1/2" gap in the subfloor between the two halves on the interior. It's uniform so i'm assuming it's intentional? I'll have to ask GC about it.

Also had a couple of issues with the kitchen cabinets. The rail hardware on one of the island drawers is loose and was squawking. Pulled the drawer out and saw the rail kind of hanging there. And in one of the cabinets they installed the wrong drawers and hardware - they were supposed to be tongue-and-groove construction (paid for the upgrade) with soft-closing action. They were stapled and no soft-close. Will be letting the GC know about those ASAP. Hopefully those are easy fixes. Either way I paid for the upgrade so I expect it to be remedied.


----------



## bowjack

d_rek said:


> I'm handy... but not that handy
> 
> Besides we want it built sooner rather than later lol



At the time I was working 12 hours seven days a week and probably would have been further ahead money wise just to go to work at my regular job and paid the builder to do it. I had been in the building business for quite some time but had been out of it for about ten years. Still had my tools and the know how just not as fast as I once was. As it turned out I had to spend some evenings after work to finish the project up. 

She and her husband had a new 3500 sq. ft house built last year. I'm retired now so they asked me about doing it. I brush hogged their lot with my tractor and the builder took care of the rest.


----------



## d_rek

bowjack said:


> At the time I was working 12 hours seven days a week and probably would have been further ahead money wise just to go to work at my regular job and paid the builder to do it. I had been in the building business for quite some time but had been out of it for about ten years. Still had my tools and the know how just not as fast as I once was. As it turned out I had to spend some evenings after work to finish the project up.
> 
> She and her husband had a new 3500 sq. ft house built last year. I'm retired now so they asked me about doing it. I brush hogged their lot with my tractor and the builder took care of the rest.


That's a lotta house! I'd say you made the right choice only brush hogging the lot


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## bowjack

When my daughter was looking at buying her first house 12 years ago she had me looking at fifty year old houses that were in her price range. All I could see was work and money in them. We ran across a modular developement where she could get a brand new home for the same price. She lived there three years before she got married and because of the housing market has rented it out since. They are putting in on the market within the next month after her current renters move out. In the time that she has owned it I have put in a sump pump and replaced some roof cap shingles that blew off in a wind storm. That has been it. I'd say it was a good decision.


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## d_rek

That's the reason we built: Couldn't find anything in our price range that wouldn't require $30k in upgrades in the next 5 years. Didn't see the sense in buying a money pit when I could build one


----------



## FREEPOP

d_rek said:


> That's the reason we built: Couldn't find anything in our price range that wouldn't require $30k in upgrades in the next 5 years. Didn't see the sense in buying a money pit when I could build one


Why by someone else hell when you can build your own? 

BTW, when they backfill make sure you have an extra good grade away from the house as it settles a good bit over time. It will save you problems and/or work 10-20 later.


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## d_rek

Lots of updates...

Electrician installed panels and meter boxes for main and geo. Called DTE planner and will most likely have a pole installed and hang a new transformer on west side of property because existing pole and trans on east side of property are undersized. I was told by DTE they will do this at no cost to me upto 250ft from service...

Carpenter came in and blocked for the garage and front stoop. Trusses for garage were delivered. Garage should be up by the end of this week.... Installed our staircase down to basement too.

Excavator dozed for the septic field and hauled in many truckloads of septic sand. Tank and field should be going in this week. Had to remove a few trees on edge of field as excavator said they would most assuredly die.

Wife and I ordered hardwood for our flooring from lumber liquidators. Went with walnut hickory for color and variation (price was good too). I'll be putting that in starting around the end of the month. Picked up a new air compressor and finish nailer (porter cable) for the occasion. Will be borrowing the flooring nailer and I have the rest of the tools needed to put in the floors (i've done it before).

Chomping at the bit to order appliances and other stuff but really need to wait...

Otherwise things moving along nicely.


----------



## d_rek

So things moving along... 

Garage + front stoop is blocked up with slabs poured. Materials should be arriving to wrap those things up in the next week or two. 

Carpenter put up rest of the drywall in the home and hung remaining door jambs. Hardwood is coming on friday and i'll let it acclimate for a week or so before installing. 

Had a snafu with the septic send I guess. Health inspector would not approve because it was the wrong grade of sand. So now they need to haul out around 250 yards of the existing sand and bring in a coarser grade of sand. Talked to the GC about this and said the material yard loaded the wrong stuff. Asked if I was expected to pay for anyones mistake he said no - nothing will come out of my pocket or existing budget. Seems like a rather costly mistake if you ask me... 

But it is delaying us in other areas - notably the geothermal installation. They are waiting to put the ground loop in because where they want to put it is where all the truck and dozer traffic is currently. Not entirely sure how much of a delay this will result in but i'm thinking 1-2 weeks at least... 

Anyhoo...


----------



## snortwheeze

You're right in my neighborhood. I'll swing by and bring a few beers and shoot the **** if ya want. You were on my deer hunting team once and I'd like to check it out and always willing to meet new people. 
Good luck on shooting a deer off your own property, that'll icing on the cake!


----------



## d_rek

View attachment 224334
View attachment 224335
View attachment 224336
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View attachment 224338
Septic started to get sorted out today. They were supposed to haul out 250 yards of the existing sand and bring in the same amount of a coarser grade of sand. The excavator was there this evening trenching for the field, so i'm assuming it was remedied. Hopefully septicwill be wrapped up by the end of the week.

Brought in 1056 sq. ft. of hardwood yesterday in the piss-hot weather and set it in the back bedroom to acclimate. That'll be a fun job when I get started on it... should eat up the last half of September. But IMO hardwood floors are totally worth it.

Supposed to be getting in the rest of the material for the garage and starting on the structure this week too.

And, as a bonus, while hanging a hunting stand over the weekend I noticed a tree loaded with giant green globes... upon further inspection it turned out to be a 2nd nice mature pear tree! I cut a small path to it this evening and cut away all the brush from the drip line. There was a heavily worn deer trail along with many piles of scat adjacent to it. It's still heavily brushed in around the tree, but hopefully wont spook the deer too much.

Anyway, overdue for some pictures:


----------



## d_rek

View attachment 224343
View attachment 224344
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View attachment 224347


----------



## d_rek

View attachment 224348
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View attachment 224351
View attachment 224352


----------



## Gamekeeper

Ask them to SikaFlex your sawcuts. You won't regret it.


----------



## d_rek

Some critters on the property over the summer. Most recent is from the evening of the 5th a 4pt forkhorn feeding at the 2nd pear tree I discovered:
View attachment 224960
View attachment 224961
View attachment 224962
View attachment 224963


----------



## bowjack

Things are taking shape and you don't have far to go to hunt! My daughter just listed her house that is similar in style to the one you are building. Still looking pretty good after 12 years and ten of those years being rented.

http://idx.johnwentworthgroup.com/idx/details/listing/b037/5030059631/6030-Creekside-Dr


----------



## Luv2hunteup

What is your projected move in date?


----------



## d_rek

Luv2hunteup said:


> What is your projected move in date?


October-ish... Hoping 1st or 2nd week. We'll see how quickly everything comes together over the next few weeks. Still a few things that need to be done: septic is being wrapped up today or tomorrow, geothermal and furnace need to be installed, well needs to be hooked up, and permanent electric service needs to be installed but they won't put that in until we are at final grade. 


-Sent from d_mobile


----------



## multibeard

d_rec

I did not think to tell you to have them pour a 1 1/2 inch lip out side of the garage service door opening so that the threshold of the door had some thing to sit on. Since all doors have a low threshold for accessibility there is no strength to them. Make sure the builder screws a piece of treated under the threshold to support it before he sets the door so it can be siliconed in. We always just blocked the form board out an inch and a half to get the lip.


----------



## d_rek

multibeard said:


> d_rec
> 
> I did not think to tell you to have them pour a 1 1/2 inch lip out side of the garage service door opening so that the threshold of the door had some thing to sit on. Since all doors have a low threshold for accessibility there is no strength to them. Make sure the builder screws a piece of treated under the threshold to support it before he sets the door so it can be siliconed in. We always just blocked the form board out an inch and a half to get the lip.


I actually looked for this today and noticed the carpenter fastened a 2x6 to the concrete outside of that door. I assume it's the 'lip' you're referring to. Should be good to go!


----------



## d_rek

Lots of updates...

Septic is FINALLY finished! Tank and drain field are installed and I worked with the excavator to haul in about 90 yards of really nice topsoil from my uncles farm, where it was previously being used to grow a fantastic crop of weeds, to put on top of the drain field. Big thanks to both the excavator and my Uncle though. 

Garage doors should be going up this weekend - both the large car door and service entry, so I should be able to move loose material from the inside of the house (siding, etc.) to the garage so I can finally get to work on the floors.

HVAC guys were at the house today doing there thing - tying in ductwork, installed the furnace, thermostat, etc. Still waiting on the ground loop to go in - but that should be done over the weekend. 

The plumber will be visiting and the well, along with my pressure tank, should get hooked up next week as well. I'll be putting in a whole house filter, salt softener system (if needed - i'm just assuming my water is garbage and i'll need it), and a RO system under the kitchen sink so we have potable drinking water. 

Carpenter was at the house putting a 3rd coat of mud on the drywall he had to patch and finish. Looking pretty good! 

The factory was also supposed to be out today (or tomorrow) to fix my cabinets and bring in the remaining window blinds that didn't get shipped with the house. There were a couple different vehicles there today so i'm not sure if they were there or not. I didn't get a chance to stop in. 

My GC was also kind enough to reach out to the county drain commission as we've been having issues getting rid of water at the front of the property. Because of the grade near the house, and the natural lay of the land, water has been pooling (and staying) on the SE corner of my lot. It's not a threat to the house per se, but it does make for an unmanageable yard. The county drain commission is going to issue us a landscaping permit to put in a permanent ditch paralell to the road along the property, circumventing the traditional ditch permit process that only occurs once a year in the spring. This is actually a really good thing, and i'm pretty excited to have a proper ditch to collect run off and rain water. We did discuss the situation with the neighbor who owns the vacant parcel immediately to the west, but they didn't want to spend any money on property they had no intention of developing - which is understandable. But he said If I wanted to foot the cost to put a drain on his property he would let me do it. So if the cost is marginal (only a few more hours worth of operator time) then I might just spring for it so that I guarantee I wont be having issues with water on the property. Otherwise I'll probably be OK with just a ditch on mine. In either scenario it's much better to have the ditch than not. 

Also ordered all of my kitchen appliances as Lowes had a good Labor Day sale on appliances. I also found a 10% coupon code on ebay for a few bucks which ended up saving me almost $350 on the entire order. I was highly skeptical of the coupon code but after I entered it and got the discount I'm a believer! 

Lastly just waiting for the building materials to get out of the house and the humidity to clear up before I start working on the hardwood flooring. The basement currently has an open window frame with no window so the humidity has just been pouring in through the basement. I'll either have to wait until that window is in or run a dehumidifier non-stop for a few days before I can start laying flooring, as i'm positive i'll need both the subfloor and the flooring to drop a few points of moisture.


----------



## multibeard

d_rek said:


> I actually looked for this today and noticed the carpenter fastened a 2x6 to the concrete outside of that door. I assume it's the 'lip' you're referring to. Should be good to go!


That is what I was talking about. You might want to tell him what I said as it would make for a solid lip that will not deteriorate over time by simply blocking out the form with a 2x4. I had a H of a time with a concrete guy one time when he refused to do it. I kicked his form out twice before he realized I ment business.

There are also different ways to pour across garage door openings so that water does not get into the garage under the doors by having a small lip. At least your garage floor is not a ground level like so many. There was one built here at the lake that is actually below grade. Plus the siding is right at grade and will be below grade after a few years. The inspector passed it!!!


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## d_rek

Couple of updates:

All the major living areas have been painted w/ 2 coats - Master bed, kitchen, dining, living room, and 2nd and 3rd beds. My buddy got me a contractor discount at Sherwin Williams. Went with CHB flat white for cielings and Promar 200 for the walls. Very pleased with both the price and quality of this paint. Highly recommend VS much pricier stuff from big box stores. 

All the siding has been put up on the house now - just need the gutters and downspouts installed. 

Still waiting on permanent electric service from DTE. They were supposed to have it in before the 30th of September, but I couldn't get a hold of my service planner and when I finally did a few days away from the end of the month she said my service had been rescheduled for on or before Oct. 18th. Kind of a bummer because we can't test HVAC, well, or plumbing until we have the permanent service. Is what it is I guess. 

I haven't started flooring yet - that's a project for this weekend. I have about 950 sq. ft. of 3/4" solid hardwood flooring to install throughout the main floor. It's going in all 3 bedrooms + closets, dining room, living room, and main hallway. Hoping to bang it out 3-4 days and will be taking a long weekend to get a good bead on it. 

Otherwise we're getting real close - probably weeks away - to final inspections and whatnot. Crossing my fingers we can start moving in by the end of the month.


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## Gamekeeper

Get your hardwood in the house and stacked as soon as you can.
Get the heat up, and let it acclimatize for as long as you can. The floor will fit together much better if you do.


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## d_rek

Gamekeeper said:


> Get your hardwood in the house and stacked as soon as you can.
> Get the heat up, and let it acclimatize for as long as you can. The floor will fit together much better if you do.


It's already been in there for a month. I've been running a humidifier on high for 3+ weeks now. Moisture content is under 12% for subfloor and hardwood. The RH of the house has been 60 to 65% with the humidifier running nonstop but that's probably the best it's going to get without the HVAC up and running. All I need to do is belt sand the seam where they joined the two halves of the house in the one room otherwise floor is the flattest I've ever seen! 


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## Gamekeeper

It's more about getting all the pieces of wood (and subfloor) in the house to expand and contract together.
You'd be well served (now that it's 45 degrees outside) to run some temp heat until your permanent system is installed. Less drywall cracking, trim gaps, nail pops, etc

Electric heat is dry, so, as temp increases, relative humidity decreases.


Adhesives hold better, paint dries better, all that building stuff.

We forget that the solvent in latex paint is water. So, if we paint 20 gals, minus the solids, it's probably 15 gallons of water spilled in the house per se'. Added humidity, when we want less.


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## d_rek

Started putting hardwood down. Rented a flooring edger had to knock a few pesky high spots down on subfloor but nothing crazy. Even though just a small amount down my initial impression is "stunning". Can't wait to see all the rooms laid out. 











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## d_rek

Bunch of turkey pecking around the weed patch behind the house!











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## d_rek

Updates...

I have a single small-ish bedrom room to finish with hardwood, then just a few transition strips and i'm done! I'll have installed just under 1000 sq.ft. of solid prefinished hardwood all by myself. Pretty proud of how it has come out, but will be very happy when it's done. Absolutely 'floored' with how good it looks (the wife is too)!

Plumbers were finally out to hook up all the plumbing today. Tested it indoors. Hot cycle it was very clear but on cold it was cloudy as can be. I'm going to run it from the outdoor spigot, or possibly at the well head, for a while tomorrow to see if I can't get it to clear up, but if it doesn't clear up over a few days will probably need to call the well guy up to take a look at it. As far as the taste it is definitely well water but nowhere near as bad as this area is known for: No saltiness, minerally but not undrinkable. Still will probably spring for the RO system beneath the sink so we have really good drinking water. 

Had a snafu with some of the exterior carpentry - one of the subcontractors didn't properly install or serve-in or do something with the drip-edge and soffit, and ended up throwing a bunch of caulk on a good portion of where it should be folded underneath the shingles? Didn't entirely understand the GC and all that is foreign to me. But he wasn't happy with it so I'm not either, and he was having the guy who put up my garage come out to fix it though he's been tied up with another job, but should be here this week.

Another guy should be out to do my gutters and downspouts too. 

Also had my appliances delivered. All GE (freestanding range, dishwasher, bottom freezer french door refridge, over-the-range microwave) appliances in Slate finish. Made a mistake and didn't order a 'counter-depth' refrigerator so that one is going back and the new one should come in a few weeks. About $800 difference for a 'counter-depth' one vs a regular one... oh well. 

I was told by the GC that he was hoping to have final inspections done this week. Not holding my breath, but we'll see what happens.


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## d_rek

Well the end has finally arrived: we can officially move in to our new home! 

Final inspection was done last week and we have our Cert. of Occupancy. We moved about 95% of our stuff over to the house yesterday. We probably wont be living there until this weekend though. 

Need to visit USPS and submit for mail delivery. 

Construction loan is in the process of being rolled into a 30yr fixed. Will get the 1.5% deposit I put down back after that happens. 

Still a few odds and ends for me to button up: 1 bedroom to paint, couple of walls that were patched in a few of the other rooms, need to install all of my transitions for the flooring, have to find some living room furniture too... 

But for now pretty excited to start unpacking and getting settled in this weekend. 

Sorry i've been lame on the pictures. I'll try to snap some when the house isn't a total mess. 

Thanks for sharing this journey with me everyone. Hope you've found it helpful!


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## d_rek




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## multibeard

Glad to finally hear that move in time has finally come. I just looked back and it is 20 months to the DAY since you started this thread. Congratulations

This will be a monumental THANKSGIVING DAY!


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## 2508speed

d_rek said:


> View attachment 234598





d_rek said:


> View attachment 234598


How helpful were all the suggestions you got on MS?


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## d_rek

2508speed said:


> How helpful were all the suggestions you got on MS?


Oh, well... some helpful some not so much lol... 

A lot of the comments from members were genuinely helpful, and either gave me food for thought or caused me to research those topics more in-depth. I'd say anyone reading through the entire thread can surmise exactly what entails building a (modular) home on rural property, warts and all. 

Anyway, headed over to paint the last bedroom. Want to get that knocked out before we start living there.


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## d_rek

multibeard said:


> Glad to finally hear that move in time has finally come. I just looked back and it is 20 months to the DAY since you started this thread. Congratulations
> 
> This will be a monumental THANKSGIVING DAY!


That's really something... good catch! 


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## d_rek

Happy New Year from the New House!!

Well we have survived the move and have been living at the house since thanksgiving weekend. Our move felt far from smooth. Actually it was quite chaotic for the first couple of weeks! And just as we started to get settled in Christmas and Toypocalypse hit. Oh well at least the kiddies have tons of new crap to keep them entertained. 

Still waiting on a few luxuries to make the house feel really 'home-y', in particular our living room furniture. We ordered it from Art Van about 3 weeks ago but because did custom fabrics and enhanced cushions that put is 3-5 weeks out from delivery. Typically i'd stay away from Art Van because I think most of their stuff is trash, but my BIL is a manager there now. Can't get any real discounts but at least don't have to pay commission to any sales guys and he can get us any kind of financing we want. 

And as soon as the living room furninture arrives i'm heading out to buy a new TV as well - the 32", 9 year old flatscreen just isn't cutting it! Hoping to see some doorbuster sales on a 4K HDR tv for new years... 

We also had Culligan hook up our water softener and RO. They were cheaper than rainsoft, and the closest kinetico guy was 1hr away. The culligan rep actually services several houses down the road already and we received a glowing review from the neighbor about him, so it made the choice easier. But DANG is it nice to have soft water again! And the RO is fantastic - better than city tap! Money well spent. 

Otherwise just trying to knock out small projects here and there. Finally got all of the hardwood flooring transitions down so that cleaned up the floors nicely. I have been going through with putty and filling in nail holes as well. The kids like to help out with that. 

We are also replacing our neo-angle shower door kit in our master bath as it leaks pretty bad even after re-caulking the living s*** out of it. GC said that was unusual and hasn't had anyone complain about them before so he credited us the cost and is going to help install the new one. 

Lastly, did have an issue with our geo system right after we started staying here. Apparently one of our circulation pumps failed. I was nervous we would be without heat but the HVAC guy bypassed the one pump until a replacement came in. But i'll be honest - i was not really impressed with this HVAC guy. He's a nice guy and is practically my neighbor, but wasn't returning calls and just didn't seem to be on top of things. Also came to find out that the pumps he installed are oversized and that i probably don't need two of them anyway. They are most assuredly going to use more juice than a single, right-sized pump and also have the potential to reduce life of the heat pump exchanger coils because they pump a higher GPM than the system recommends, though I couldn't seem to confirm this with anyone. So I discussed with the installer if my electric bills are obscene i'll be giving him a call to replace the pump station. He was amicable to that. 

But I did get my first months electric and they clocked in at $230. Seemed kind of high, but then again I am a 100% electric household. BUT... we did have some serious cold for the month of december. And my geo system HAS been performing well... so i'm not sure i have much wiggle room to complain. I just want to make sure I am not paying more in electric than it would have cost me for propane. That was the whole goal of going with geo. 


Anyway... fun times adulting with a new house. Happy new year everyone!! 


PS If you're a geo installer or have had experience with geothermal HVAC shoot me a PM i have some questions for oyu.


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## Gamekeeper

Don't look at the dollars, look at the Kilowatt hrs consumed. Then compare those per degree day to other properties. You'll probably find your dryer and hotwater tank are killing your bill, not the heat pump.

You could leave the parallel pump as a backup in case of a pump failure, and only run one at a time. Heat exchangers have optimum flow rates. Get the flow right.
I always get a kick out of the installers that know more than the engineer who's livelihood depends on being right. 

Glad your new home is meeting your expectations.
Happy New Year!


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