1. We have a tiny, sloping front yard. I have to mow up and down a hill. We have to park our cars up-hill or down-hill. There is no room for guests to park without blocking access to our mailbox or a neighbor’s drive way.

2. No air flow. There are not enough windows on every side of the house on both floors to open the windows and air out the house.

3. There is not enough room between houses. We are way too close to our neighbors.

4. We live in Texas and only have one A/C unit for upstairs and downstairs. Our home warranty company do not cover the zone control mechanisms for this set up.

Something caught many of our neighbors but not us. We bought a new house in a new neighborhood, and we escrow. The property tax for the first year or so is based on the value of the property without the house. Our mortgage payment increased by a few hundred dollars about 1.5 years after purchase. This caused the selling of boats, motorcycles and a couple foreclosures on our street. My wife and I expected it, so we made the expected payment that first 1.5 years and really knocked a lot off our principle.

Remember that building a home is something that can make or break a relationship. Make sure you and your wife are on the same page, and remember your marriage is way more important than a house. I probably don’t have to tell you that, but maybe someone else will read and benefit.

Congratulations! And Best of luck!

First, be prepared to visit the construction site at least several times per week, if not every day. You want to make sure the correct materials are being put into the house and that it’s being done correctly.

For example, my parents visited their site and saw that the house was being staked in reverse. The house was to have the garage on the right side, but instead, it was going on the left! Also, the wrong type of trim was delivered and it looked terrible. If they weren’t there at the time, it would be much harder to change.

Second, since you’re calling this a ’starter’ house, be sure that you don’t make too many unique customizations. A few are ok, but since it sounds like you’d want to sell the house soon enough, you want to make sure it’s sellable.

Any reason why you’re wanting to build rather than buy an existing house? I’d love to read more about your thought process.

ABOUT MORTGAGE TIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME HOME BUYER….

I’ve been in the mortgage business and worked in a number of business models (the corp model (your big banks), joint ventures, and now the independent model). Finding the right lender can be difficult, but finding the right loan consulant/loan officer is even more difficult.

Find a lender and/or loan officer with similar values as yourself and you won’t go wrong. If you’re like me, then you can probably tell rather quickly who is in it for the right reasons.

If you’re looking for the best rate…business model is very important. If you choose a large bank, you’d think they’d have better rates (the walmart concept), but this doesn’t translate to mortgage banking. You’ll usually get a better rate from a smaller lender. They don’t have as much revenue built into the loans because they’re typically not quite as heavy with their staff and expenses. I used to work in this model, and there is a lot of management involved in each department to make a loan work and it’s very costly….and quite frankly considerably less efficient…go figure.

As for the smaller guys, they typically rely on building a business based on loyalty within the customer base. This can usually yield better accessibility and customer service…very key in a new home purchase. As long as the lender that you’re using does a considerable about of loans per month, they won’t have to jack up the pricing on your loan in order to survive. A lot of loan officers/lenders/brokers (whatever you want to call them) that work independently only do one, two, or three loans a month, so they have to make their household function on this business….this will sometimes offset the savings that you’d otherwise get with these guys.

Find a lender that will be transperent and let you see their rate sheets. Agree to allow them to make a certain amount on the loan (1 point = 1 percent of the loan is fair for the amount of work they do).

Find a lender that will educate you on the process. You don’t have to lock your rate if you think rates will go down in the near future. Learn about the industry so that you can be part of the process. I do a daily rate lock advisory with industry news each day that helps clients determine when to lock…you can use my website for this information http://www.themortgageplanners.com/DailyRateLockAdvisory

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here for now…feel free to visit my website or contact me anytime for more information. I’d be happy to help you make sure you get the best loan for you…even if it’s with another lender. I’ll tell you what questions to ask.

http://www.themortgageplanners.com
Joshua Campbell

I totally agree with you. Sure, I’m throwing my money away by renting. But first, I’m not tied down, I won’t have to replace my roof or furnace next month, and I live maintenance free plus other perks. Have you ever had to clean your own pool? Because I sure haven’t. Yes, I pay a premium to not have to mow the grass or fix the toilet, but its really the way I’d prefer to live.

I am married, and my wife is fine with renting, especially since we live in a nice apartment in a nice complex that actually takes care of things. I’d venture to say the first reason we would have to buy is actually children, not a spouse. Of course, there are plenty of children that live near us. We don’t plan on having kids anyway though.

All that said, I do plan to buy sometime. I’d like to borrow as little as possible, if anything to do so. Maybe closer to retirement age, and I’ll have the time to take care of all that homeowners stuff.

1) Buy less house than you can afford
2) Never close broke

One more very valuable recommendation from my many years in the mortgage business. Since you’re having a house built, if there are any significant defects in the house, or it isn’t to your specifications, DO NOT CLOSE!

Conduct the walk through inspection with a critical eye, and cancel the closing if the work isn’t to your liking. That act on your part will light a fire under the builder.

Never rely on a builders promise that he’ll resolve deficiencies after the closing. If he didn’t make it right before closing what motivation will he have to do so after, when he’s already collected the proceeds??? The track record on this isn’t good.

The best leverage you have exists prior to closing, after that your only option for remedy against a non-compliant builder will be through the courts.

Otherwise, congratulations to you and your wife!