Hi! We are just beginning our build in Anchorage, which has been a dream for a long time. I am from Alaska, but my husband is from Atlanta, Georgia. While living in Atlanta, we saved and planned to build here. We moved back about 3 years ago and have been gearing up for this build ever since.

So, we are building because it is part of my Alaskan dream of having our own house here on some acreage, partly because I LOVED my house in Atlanta (so much more charming the houses here) and lastly, we want a house that is sun-filled and fits our family well.

It is so expensive to build here, but it is also expensive to buy here and quite frankly, nothing available suits us. It is mostly builder stock and lacks that architectural integrity that has been discussed so much on this forum or it is someone else's dream that I would want to remodel.

More than that, I hate that most houses here were built without any consideration to the sun. It seems crazy to me, especially, all the new homes with garages on the South side. I am seriously motivated by my need for sunshine in my house!

I can relate to all your concerns and my list of gains would be very similar. We have been working with our architect to design a house that takes advantage of our southern exposure and will fit our family of five well. My husband works from home, we homeschool our 3 kids, and have out of town guests. We are building a super-insulated house and will be about 3500 sf, plus a detached garage (tall enough to actually put my truck in), storage, and shop. All of which adds to the cost, but it will be exactly what we want.

Yes, your house does say something about you and in particular, raises people's interest in your finances. We have had quite a few brash comments and questions about our financial situation. We are generally quiet about our finances, so I just give as little information as possible. As far as selling later, you may or may not lose some money, but there is value in having the house you want now.

Your husband will have to be on board. It will take up a lot of your time and energy. While my husband does not always have strong feelings about all the details, he is always willing to help make important decisions. I usually do all the research, present options and he helps decide. I love the process more than he does, but he is just as excited about living in our new home as I am.

Good luck making your decision!
-Kjerstin

We decided to build because we couldn't find the kind of home we were looking for in the area where we want to live. We wanted 4 bedrooms and some acreage, and the handful of homes we found that had both of those things within our price range were typically homes built by empty nesters, and so the layout wasn't right for a family.

A difference for us is that we should do okay when we sell-- our nearest comps are higher end homes (we won't have a lot of high end finishes initially, but we'll have the square footage and the land, and we can upgrade later).

We still sometimes wonder if we shouldn't have bought an existing foreclosure home, but none of them were good fits, and they were all damaged. I didn't want to buy a can of worms.

I'm wondering if building would be more practical for you if you were able to reduce the scale of your project somewhat? If you posted your floor plan here, you are sure to get lots of feedback.

Thanks for your feedback - love it!

We are in Soldotna, a town of about 4000 south of Anchorage, for those of you familiar with the state.

I've thought about reducing our sketched up plans for our possible new home. Here's the thing - our current house is really pretty good, and in order to improve on that, I made a list of all the rooms/features I would want convenient on the main floor. The smallest I could make this and still be happy with the outcome was about 1800 square feet. Then, being an economics major, I can't help myself from maximizing my bang for my buck by adding a full basement and second story (though I might scale back the second floor if it would significantly reduce the cost, but still keep the classic colonial look I love.)

Right now I only have some self-drawn sketches of the floor plan. I have spoken with a local home designer (no architects here). I feel I should decide if I am going to build before hiring him. Though - how will I know how much the house will truly cost to build and if I want to go ahead with it until I have a design and start getting bids? Is this a common catch -22?

We're downsizing and want/need a 4 car garage and also want one level ranch. Impossible to find.

Building is the only way to get what we want. Everything we look at doesn't get us what we need.

We know we want to build because we have already redone a home and don't want to do it again, especially when what we will end up with is not exactly what we want. Plus my husband is super particular and doesn't want to deal with someone else's incompetence again. He also knows that he is super handy and can do a lot of things on his own, which helps with saving money.

You have to ask yourself what is more important to you and your family - is it living where you are and everything is status quo, buying something else and having to do it over (again) to possibly fit what you want, or just biting the bullet (knowing the risks involved) and getting exactly what you want? No one can be guaranteed they will recoup the monies spent. No one. The one thing you can control is whether you are committed enough to put yourself (and family) through building.
You will ALWAYS have someone question your finances but in the end you have to recognize that it is a little bit of jealousy coming through and need to take it as a compliment versus criticism. Who wouldn't be jealous of another person building their dream?! And if you have the money and are not getting yourself in debt what is wrong with building your dream home, regardless of what the townies think.

I would consider meeting with the home designer. Most offer an initial free consultation and s/he should be able to give you a ball park of what your dream home will cost. Even if you spend $5000 and don't end up building at least you found out and could make an informed decision versus never really knowing. (I know $5000 is a lot of money but in the grand scheme of things, and for peace of mind, it is a relatively small cost that could either lead to your dream home or the prevention of a large mistake).

Don't let me or someone else talk you in or out of it. It is a decision only you and your family can make. Best of luck!

Well, I was always drawing floorplans (silly ones with slides that went from the kid's bedrooms into pools) but ever since I could remember I have wanted to build.

When I met my DH when I was 16, he shared that dream too. By 18 we had the next 10 years planned and we just kept putting one foot in front of the other to prepare to do it. And so here we are!

We invested about 5K to figure out if we could afford to build our house. The bids came in too high so we switched some stuff up and came in 8K over budget, which was fine with me.

My husband is the epitome of picky and there was no house on the planet that would be perfect for him. That is the reason he wanted to build. I wanted to build because I want to experience it and to pay a house off so we can retire.

I understand your concerns about losing money, because that was one of our big ones. We have parceled off a 10 acre lot in the middle of a 600 acre farm that has been in my family for 150 years. So, resale is not an option for us, ever. That said, we are hoping to live in this house for the next 40-50 years, and are hoping it will be a wonderful place to raise our family and a place that our children will want to come back to and someday inherit. There is a lot of value in that. I guess you have to decide whether living your dream is worth giving up some cash.

Also, on getting estimates -- we found that builders were able to give us rough estimates based on a floor plan that we drew up ourselves. When the estimates came in too high, we picked the builder we liked best and have been working with him to redesign and get costs down. I'm not sure if it works like that everywhere, but if you are lucky and can find a patient/cooperative builder, you can take that approach.

Good luck with your decision!

You could meet with the home designer and get his take on your ideas and some round numbers for building. I would also recommend talking to 2 or 3 custom home builders, either suggested by the designer or friends. I found in Anchorage, that the quality custom builders who will build from your plan, on your land, exactly how you want, were hard to find. Local architects keep them busy enough that they don't advertise, have websites, etc. You can discuss your ideas/plans with builders and they can then give you a $/square foot figure. Although we had heard an average $/sf number before meeting with folks, we didn't realize that it meant every square foot of a build, not just living spaces, but garage, storage, shop, etc. So, you should ask them to clarify and realize that it can only go up from that number. The builder can also tell you about how long it will take to build. Maybe knowing more info on time and money will help you and your husband decide.

We decided to build because we live in rural NW Oklahoma. New homes in our area are mostly custom built for owners. Homes in our price range were either way too small or the right square footage but would pretty much have to be completely gutted and remodeled. We have been DIY remodeling our current home for the last 11 years and are tired of living in the mess!

DH was very nervous about building (he's very conservative with money) but we waited until we had quite a sizeable amount saved up.

We have had to compromise on some things of course but are getting pretty much what we what and the house is built to suit how we live.

Good luck on your decision!

Good question.

I've always wanted to build a house that is designed just for me. What I want isn't cookie cutter: specifically, I want high-end and large functional areas (pantry, laundry room, etc.) that'll make the house comfortable to live in . . . but NOT the overblown proportions that tend to accompany them. Some of the very specific things we want: an open shower in the master bath, but not a jetted tub. Laundry near the master bedroom. A small but highly efficient kitchen, and a giant pantry. A large covered porch in the back, a large outdoor grilling and eating, and small pool. No vaulted ceilings. A modest master bedroom, a moderate great room with brick-to-the-ceiling fireplace, and a small office. windows on two sides of every room. An upstairs that would be well-suited for one or our adult children/grandchildren or a paid caregiver in our elderly years. See how these things just don't tend to group together?

We aren't going to find this house on the market.
We want it pretty badly.
We can easily afford to build.
Those things made our decision easy.

Interesting to think about. My answer is similar to MrsPete's in that it's about customization. Well, that and we are building on a piece of land we've owned for 20 years and it is on an island that never has much for sale at any given time. What we want seems to be... not abnormal, but uncommon! Small footprint, but nice finishes. Lots of built-ins to make that small footprint work. A connected studio space instead of "making do" with an extra bedroom. Low-maintenance for our old age, but without the assumption that one of us will be in a wheelchair, because, really, if that's the case, we'll need to move back to civilization. So yeah, if we have to sell prematurely, we'll lose money because we are not doing giant bathrooms or kitchen. We are not putting the laundry near the bedrooms and we are not even (gasp) including a dedicated pantry or mudroom with cubbies. And there are no walk-in closets. Our house would not be an HGTV hit-- oh yeah, no granite countertops, either-- not sure what they'll be, but not that. So it is about finally being able to get what we want. We hope that selling it will be up to our heirs and they really can't complain since they didn't pay for it!

Yes, Lori, I agree that our reasons are very alike, though our details are nothing similar, we both want a combination of things that aren't weird . . . But also don't fit the typical spec house pattern. I suspect this is the most common reason for building.

Yes, I think you are right. You get to a point where you realize you can adapt your life to fit your house or your house to fit your life. If the second option is even sort of financially feasible, you still have to decide if it is "worth it," whatever that means to you. I see my house as a place to live that supports my life, not as an "investment." But yeah, it does seem that a spec house generally has to fit a spec demographic and if that does not fit you...

I can relate to much of what you said. We bought a lot near a fishing pond (my husband loves loves loves to fish) because there weren't many lots around. Our house was fine, but the kitchen lacked windows (it was open to rooms with big windows) and I wanted more light. And my husband wanted to fish! We'd been in our house 5 years, it was paid off, and we could build a new one without a loan. I worried about the social implications of living in a big house. In fact, I thought our colonial with a finished basement was too big, and I yearned for a little cottage. Of course, a little cottage isn't very practical when you have 4 kids (ages 6-15 then), but that's what we decided to build. A little 3-bedroom cottage with a 3-car garage and a walk-out basement with 2 more bedrooms and a rec room. It seems like I spent a year planning the house, a year building the house, and a year selling the old house. That's a long time, but we have a house we love that works for us. If we ever get old and the kids are gone, we can live entirely on the main floor and it won't feel too big (it's less than 2000 square feet). My husband uses one of the basement bedrooms for his office, and my teenaged son uses the other one. Our new house is energy-efficient with tall ceilings and so much light coming through the windows. It is completely me.

Because you don't want to spend as much and don't necessarily want a huge house, I would think about what you really need/want in a house. Teen-aged kids who are driving may soon be away at college. My brother-in-law with two kids married a woman with 3 kids and built a gigantic 6-bedroom house with a full finished basement. Ten years later it's just the two of them.

You should read Sarah Susanka's book, "The Not So Big House." I got it at the library a while back, and she has lots of spin-off books too. I had already designed my house when I read it, but it had a lot of good ideas about space utilization and what makes a house a home.

Oh, and we didn't finish all of our basement - just the parts with the big windows. The unfinished part is great for storage and we're thinking about putting a ping pong table in one area.

Good luck with whatever you do!

This post was edited by mpagmom on Sun, May 19, 13 at 22:38

We will build because we also have 7 kids from a senior in high school to 18 months old. We wanted 6 bedrooms and a big basement play area for our long winters. Also, we wanted big family room for lots of seating, office nearby and huge dining room. A big kitchen also. When we find a house that has what we want, it is way bigger than I need with spaces I don't want or all open or just way out of our budget. I will be able to build what I want much cheaper. I would prefer to find a great house and move right in, but our inventory is so low that's not likely.