OMG I am so glad to see this thread! My hubby and I are trying to buy multi-family to convert into a single residence. It is over 2200 sq.ft. it has 4 bds, 2 1/2 baths, 2fireplaces,lvng rm, dng rm, kitchen, 2 car garage, lots of backyard rm (important if you live in the Midwest),etc. We are hoping to close in 2 weeks. Wish us luck! :)

Soror, thanks for your feedback.
Do you know if your co-worker is particularly adept at construction issues? Do you know if your co-worker have some sort of expertise, read a book, etc. that prepared him/her for this endeavor?

How exciting S&B! Good luck!
SC

BFulton,
Do you know of any websites for purchasing a lot and choosing an independent builder to build a home?
Thanks,
SC

Congrats to you! That sounds a lot like the one we found. A good thing about these is that they often appraise for more than you will actually buy them for. Because of the lower purchase price, you may be able to go to court to get the taxes lowered to fit the purchase price, even though the appraisal is for more. Some of our neighbors redid their homes and did the exact same thing. They are saving a lot of money on taxes because of it.

I work as a Loan Specialist
 

Sorors,
SummerChild gave some great information. I do loans part-time so if you have any questions let me know. Also as a holder of a contractors license, I do know if you want to buy a lot you will need to either find one or get a realtor to help, check the classifieds under real estate also for "lots for sale".

If you are buying in a subdivision the lot is already purchased. Contractors can be found by checking in the phone book and looking in your states.gov licensed contractors site. Thats the easy part finding one, the hard part is making sure they are on their game and that they don't do shoty work. :)

This time of the market is good. There are a lot of Interest Only loans and 100% financing schemes and there are good loan officers / lbankers out there. Usually banks dont offer the best rates because they only deal in A-B credit I work with A-D credit. This means I have a lot more underwriters to submit to and pick from who compete for the loan basically. Just makek sure you know your credit score.....EVERYTHING depends on that as far as interest you pay, downpayment if any at all and which lenders your banker or loan agent can shop your loan to. Hope this helped little. :D

Re: I work as a Loan Specialist
 

Thanks Soror. What is a contractor's license? Is there any benefit to purchasing a lot, which is already purchased, in a subdivision as opposed to purchasing a lot that is not already purchased in a subdivision (or is that possible)?
In your experience, have you found purchasing a lot and having a personal contractor do the work to have significant financial benefits over purchasing a complete package from a builder in a subdivision?

we just bought a home in april and i guess my advice would be:

1. know what you can spend. enough said.

2. know your agent!!!! when looking at several houses our agent actually talked us out of a more expensive home because of the shotty construction (that neither my husband or i noticed and probably wouldmn't have until it was too late) even though it would have made her a more lucrative payday. if your agent isn't willing to point out the negatives of the house in addition to the positive, that's not really good. and if your agent isn't pulling their weight, drop em, they don't get paid til you get a house anyways.

3. know the house you're buying. we looked at a PILE of houses and liked a few that ended up having problems. one house in particular was BRAND NEW and already had a cracked foundation, split trim outside, snagged wood flooring indoors, and the pipes were COMPLETELY buried under the foundation (which is a problem if one of them breaks - ie digging up the entire basement flooring for a single pipe)

4. other than that, have fun with it, house hunting is fun!

- marissa

Answers for SummerChild
 

Soror SummerChild,

Yes you can buy a lot that is already purchased in a subdivision. That is usually done anyway especially in high end subdivisions ($190,000 $600,000) If you do not have to buy the lot separate builders add it in the cost of the house anyway, you just never know the difference, thats in the lower ($70,000 to $180,000). Some body has to pay for the lot either the homebuyer or the subdivison builder. Now, a contractor license, gives you teh license to build houses. You do have to take a state exam like a realtor or doctor or barber etc....

Getting a builder to save on cost....yes actually you can save significantly....this is also depending on the type of house, area, lot cost, aminities in the house etc. example on a $130,000 hous you see in a subdivision, a builder may be able to build it for $100,000. See it is all in in the builders sub contractors bids...meaning the roofers, framers, electricians, plumbers he or she chooses to bid on that part of building the house. Then they mark up the profit on the house after figuring the specs on the house. So if you had a builder/contrator you hired and gave him the house plans, you can hire your own subs to bid on the work and take the price tha that suits your budget (saving on cost) and you pick your own flooring etc. this way you tell the contractor yoru budget accordingly tothe type of house.

So yes you can save a lot of $$$$ just keep in mind the area of the lot, sub-contractors to do the work and not to mention YOU are over the project and can hire and fire a contractor that is not up to par likel, cutting conrners etc. Every penny counts. Now also keep in mind some people don't want the headache, so they just finda subdivision that is bulding and pick a lot and pick certain houses in the assortment "they" have picked out you can pick from versus you pick your own house from house plans from a architect or blue print wholesaler.

Both are possible, question is do you feel like it will be a headache? Hope I helped. If you need futher answers just let me know. :D

Re: Answers for SummerChild
 

Soror, thanks for breaking this down to me! In Cali housing is so expensive. This approach may help somewhat. I don't mind doing the work. I will contact you when I have further questions.

We help each other ...there is no other
 

No problem soror.

Re: We help each other ...there is no other
 

Yes, soror. Yes we do! :)
SC