Realistically, I probably won’t be building or ordering my first house online. However, I can definitely see building my own home as a second home purchase option; once I get the hang of buying a first home and home ownership, I’ll feel much more confident in building my own house the next time around. Building a home seems like a daunting task; there are often unexpected delays associated with the actual move-in day. But, the benefits run from getting exactly what you want in a house and floor plan, to having a brand-new house built just for you.
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”auto” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]If you’re interested in building your own tiny home, check out the Tiny House Plans book. It has some great building plans.[/dropshadowbox]
There are many choices out there to make building your own home a little easier, from pre-fab models to House in a Box. House in a box reminds me a little bit of the old-fashioned Sears mail order homes. Though it’s not the same concept (Sears shipped the pre-cut wood to the owner/builder with plans), it’s very similar.
House in a Box has many floor plans and models to choose from that are designed by three different architects. The SugarHouse architect plans offer a Quote Builder option that makes it easy to estimate how much a particular model will cost. Costs are based on the Southeastern United States, so prices must be adjusted for other areas. Using Quote Builder, you select every element of your house, from foundation to appliances. You can order just the shell of the house or customize every aspect down to the moulding, shutters, and appliances. The land, foundation, site prep, rough plumbing, electrical and labor aren’t included in the quote, but House in a Box can assist in recommending a builder. (Another reason building a home sounds a bit daunting – once you factor in all these additional costs, it doesn’t appear to save you any money – but you get exactly what you want.)
The benefit to House in a Box is it’s a modular system that’s flexible. I priced out a traditional Clifton Series home at a little over 1,300 square feet and with every option available, including shutters, moulding, appliances, heating and air, it came to $71,560. Not too bad. If I added in another $150,000 for land, prep, foundation, plumbing/electrical, and labor, it’s still more affordable than many homes in my area. Another option for building my own home.
Do you think you’d build your own home someday? Does this sound like a possibility?
Carnivals I’m in this week:
- One Smart Dollar
- Money, Life, and More
10 Comments
I would love to have a house built. I have some really good ideas and would love to have n architect designed home. My son has suggested using freight containers and I have seen a few done that way. It is probably particularly good in earthquake country. I would like it overlooking the Pacific ocean.
@Krantcents – There are some awesome container home designs out there. Overlooking the ocean would be great -if you can find affordable land. 😉
I love reading more about the old Sears houses. It’s always interesting to see if you can discover some actual houses that you can show were Sears kits. I suppose the same principle applies today.
@Money Beagle – The Sears Kit homes were big sellers back in the 20’s and 30’s. Too bad they discontinued that service. They made owning a home fairly affordable. But this House in a Box company is sort of a new version of that idea. I really like their calculator – it’s the best “build your own home” calculator I’ve seen so far.
We sort of had our house built. We chose a builder, chose a floor plan, picked our lot, and had hundreds of little customizing decisions to make since our builder allowed a lot of input and upgrades. House in a Box sounds like less work actually. 🙂
@Crystal – The online builder app is pretty easy to use. The only downside would be if a person wanted full customization and not just the choices they offer. You’d have to speak directly to a rep and get quotes for each upgrade. It’s pretty cool.
How cool is that idea! I really like it. We have been fortunate to live in several newly built homes and condos. It’s really fun picking out the specific finishes etc. For a small family, I think the idea of modular, pre fab homes is great!
@Barbara – I think it’s a great idea, too. The only downside is finding the land! 😉
We recently built our own home and are looking to build another one 5 years down the road. The thing we would look for is lower cost of land.
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