Finally bought a house!!!

[Dean C.]

So as a millennial, buying a house has been somewhat of a challenge to say the least. Married late 2019 , laid off in March 2020 due to COVID and then the bubble burst in July of 2020 and prices and rates skyrocketed.

I literally had to get a significant promotion at work to comfortably afford the mortgage and whatnot. But after spending the last three years saving and planning we are finally doing it.

Having it built by Arbor in Westfield, I love the location. Hoping to refinance and drop PMI when rates eventually drop. It's a 4 bed , 2 bath ranch.

I don't have any experience in this realm and would appreciate some help as to what to look out for during the build process. We just did the mortgage paperwork, doing final house choices tommorow and design on Wednesday and they start building with an completion date of December.

If I provided too much information please let me know to delete, like I said I trust most on INGO and would just really appreciate some thoughts / advice.

 

[COOPADUP]

Congratulations neighbor!
I’m just making my last payment next month. It’s a long term journey.

 

[Dean C.]

Congratulations neighbor!
I’m just making my last payment next month. It’s a long term journey.

Lucky!! And congratulations!!! Honestly one of the things I like about building it I won't ever have to see a low sale price from 2018 on Zillow for my house. That would honestly make my very mad every time I thought about it.

But for people who bought here "early" it's been a fantastic investment overall IMHO. It's only going to get bigger and better from here, even Sheridan is getting expensive!!!

 

[COOPADUP]

Lucky!! And congratulations!!! Honestly one of the things I like about building it I won't ever have to see a low sale price from 2018 on Zillow for my house. That would honestly make my very mad every time I thought about it.

But for people who bought here "early" it's been a fantastic investment overall IMHO. It's only going to get bigger and better from here, even Sheridan is getting expensive!!!

You are correct there. The downside with appreciation is the greedy county taxes.

 

[Dean C.]

You are correct there. The downside with appreciation is the greedy county taxes.

Correct, and every year despite Westfield having some of the best and most well funded public schools they still want more referendums. I think something like $345 a month is for escrow for property tax

 

[Ingomike]

Get a multi phase home inspection. One at foundation stage, pre-drywall phase, and final before closing.

 

[OneBadV8]

Stop by the job site as often as you can and make sure it’s going to plan. You don’t spend that much on something and not have it like you want it.

It’s not uncommon for things to get framed in wrong or slightly different locations.

Also, get to know the subcontractors working on your house. If you ever want upgrades or changes later it’ll be cheaper to reach out directly instead of through your builder.

 

[Ingomike]

Also, get to know the subcontractors working on your house. If you ever want upgrades or changes later it’ll be cheaper to reach out directly instead of through your builder.

This is a relic of the past today. sadly he would be lucky to find a person at the site that speaks English.

 

[Born2vette]

Get a multi phase home inspection. One at foundation stage, pre-drywall phase, and final before closing.

This! ^^^

May seem like an expensive waste and the builders will tell you there is no need but can save you $$$$ down the road.

 

[Dean C.]

Stop by the job site as often as you can and make sure it’s going to plan. You don’t spend that much on something and not have it like you want it.

It’s not uncommon for things to get framed in wrong or slightly different locations.

Also, get to know the subcontractors working on your house. If you ever want upgrades or changes later it’ll be cheaper to reach out directly instead of through your builder.

This is a relic of the past today. sadly he would be lucky to find a person at the site that speaks English.

It's in my way home from work, I will be stopping by almost every day. The foreman is American the rest seem to be Hispanic, that being said I manage a union environment and know how far a case of doughnuts will get you with most laborers.

When insulation is added we actually are planning on it hoping to go in after then and add more before it's drywalled in.

 

[Dean C.]

This! ^^^

May seem like an expensive waste and the builders will tell you there is no need but can save you $$$$ down the road.

100% already have an inspector set up in addition to the municipal or whatever standards. Built to BAGI standards

 

[Ingomike]

When insulation is added we actually are planning on it hoping to go in after then and add more before it's drywalled in.

Check your contact, most now prohibit that explicitly not that the doughnuts might not smooth it over at the site, but the foremen are generally by the book because their job is at stake…

 

[Dechrissen]

Congrats. Wife and I also bought a house recently, moving in next month. It's in Clinton. It was a long and stressful process, and I'm also a millennial; I had no idea what I was doing when I started the process.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Definitely do the inspections if you don't have construction experience. Also ask if you can tour houses they have built before and look for issues. I know around here some of the more popular builders are not the best, but they are cheaper and can get you house built sooner. Just remember there is quick, cheap, or good quality, You can only choose two of them.

 

[vitamink]

I’ve had a few homes built in the last 10 years so I hopefully I can help.

Arbor homes is similar to MI homes or Pulte in that you chose from many floor plans/elevations then customize from there.

No matter what the home builder’s name is, the same people who build for MI will be building for you. You’ll have an Arbor representative that checks over the work of the subcontractors. Those subcontractors, when they frame your Arbor home, will leave the build site and go frame a Drees home or whatever. The chances that one person framing your home (or whatever) has never touched a power tool before today is high.

For my MI home, I showed up almost daily. Subcontractors would often try and cut corners hoping drywall would hide their mistakes. The amount of wood waste you’ll see will be astonishing. Instead of cutting an 8’ board to 7’ they’ll cut a 12’ board to 7’and throw 5’ away. Once I had a roof and walls, I would often find those who were building my house eating/sleeping/drinking at my house at night.

When it comes to picking out your stuff, you can easily turn a 300,000 house into a 600,000 house. Know what things are worth. They’ll likely offer granite or whatever, but what you’ll pay for granite is likely 2-3x what you’d pay if you got granite yourself afterwards and you won’t have the selection. If it makes sense price/effort wise, do it IE if it’s like $800 more for poplar trim VS that white pressed cardboard trim, then do it. Pulling the white stuff off, taking a day off of work, cuting/staining/sealing blah blah blah just be smart. You’ll be living there a long time, maybe forever. You’ll have all the time in the world to make it perfect.

These home builders will want to keep you happy, so they aren’t stuck with a house you backed out on that they’re trying to sell for a significantly discounted price. “Why buy this house when I can build my own exactly the way I want it in any of these 100 open lots?”

If something isn’t right…flip out. We had picked our lot out and were told 3 months later just before digging the basement that our house footprint wouldn’t fit in the lot (the assured us it would). So we flipped out. They gave us a better, larger, more expensive lot, for the same price and they threw in granite countertops (we were gonna do that ourselves afterwards because it’s way cheaper but free is free). My wife and I have the “good cop / bad cop” thing going. She was sweet to the builder and asked questions and took an interest in what his kids were up to while I sat to the side with a scowl on my face. Whenever anything went sideways I’d be like “give me our money back we’re done”.

Know that SOMETHING will be screwed up. You can’t have framing, plumbing, electrical, roofing, insulation, drywall, paint, concrete, tile, whatever going on done by someone who knows the job and like a bunch of new hires without SOME issue. Be vigilant, and if you don’t know anything about those things…bring someone who does. I had a roofing friend point out something with flashing or a soffit or some odd roof jargon…he said had they installed the shingles, I’d have a swimming pool In my living room. I got that fixed before there were more issues. Doing that before they move on to the next step will save them and you time.

 

[Twangbanger]

I've never built, but from talking to family members who did, they ended up with things on the house being unfinished, that they thought were part of the finished price of the house (finished downstairs / basement, etc.). If you've already signed the "wall of papers," it might be too late, but make sure you have a crystal clear vision of what it will look like when finished, and make sure that matches the contract. I get the sense they can nickel and dime you on those last little finishing details, like landscape plantings outside. Figure out what are the essentials you want finished, and which ones like landscape plantings you can easily do yourself and don't want to pay contractor rates for.

 

[KG1]

I've never built, but from talking to family members who did, they ended up with things on the house being unfinished, that they thought were part of the finished price of the house (finished downstairs / basement, etc.). If you've already signed the "wall of papers," it might be too late, but make sure you have a crystal clear vision of what it will look like when finished, and make sure that matches the contract. I get the sense they can nickel and dime you on those last little finishing details, like landscape plantings outside. Figure out what are the essentials you want finished, and which ones like landscape plantings you can easily do yourself and don't want to pay contractor rates for.

I've heard of doing this as well. Get it in writing what they will/will not do to avoid any dispute later.

 

[63PGP]

Document every wall in detail before drywall goes up. Use pictures and your own drawings. These things come in handy when planning changes down the road.

 

[actaeon277]

Congrats

 

[Frosty]

Make sure the people your contractor has doing the work are licensed (if required) my in laws thought they were saving money when the contractor that built their house offered to have the electrician do the plumbing work. Let me tell you in just one bathroom I found ten different things that should never have happened, and what was a $400,000 home value, imho, wasn’t worth anywhere close to that because of the shoddy work.

Look at the little details, because you or someone will notice them eventually and it will bug you. They work for you, make them do it right.