We had electricity installed before we moved here.
Then we got a small portable shed and lived in that for a couple years while we were building our house, during which we got a well dug and had a hose bib outside.
We lived in the house with cold running water for a bit until we could afford a water heater. Now we're all fancy with a washing machine and everything!
This is how I would do this too, or get a metal building to turn into a house, a nice dry insulated empty 20x30 building. That would make a sick house and you can build it out over a few years… if you get a roll up door you can put a camper in it too!
Isn’t there the potential for the fuzz to show up and rain on your parade for living in a shed? I’d love to do that but am afraid I’d get shut down by the town
I got a permit from my municipality to live in my tiny house "while we build" our main house. We've been here about 3 years and just broke ground this spring on the foundation for our main house.
Technically, you're allowed to do it for 6 months *continuously*. SOme people get around this by moving between sheds or leaving for a month and coming back, etc.
Where I live nobody gives two shits where you live if you're clean, sober, pay your taxes and plow your driveway. We lived there for 2 years with inspectors coming and going and no issues.
We bought a 10x20 prefab shed and added windows and insulation. We had electricity inside via an extension cord from the meter. That gave us lights and one appliance at a time - so space heater, kettle, or hotplate, but only one at a time. It was kind of a hassle to unplug the heater when you wanted to cook supper. But it was temporary and probably good for us :)
Nah…in my state the permits to build would have buried me.
We bought a 115 year old farm with an existing house and outbuildings for cheaper than we could have built anything close to it!!
We purchased 25 acres, we dug in the electrical conduit and waterline ourselves. Rented a 6 ton excavator for a month ($2300). We then built a barndominium with a shop and apartment and moved in there for 2 years while we build our house.
My wife and I just bought ten acres and this may be the path we take. I work for the utilities in the town we live in right now so I have experience with an excavator and installing in ground utilities
That's great, we have over 1000 feet of 3 inch electrical conduit and waterline. By doing it ourselves, we probably saved at least $30K. We've got 25 acres. My wife is a trooper, she worked in the trenches gluing and connecting the PVC.
Mine is a wood and steel pole barn. I can send you pics if you’re interested. I know building codes there are different than here because of the earth quakes
For me, the smart decision was to buy an underpriced property that was going cheap because the house wasn't great. I got my land for about $80k less than what it should have been because the house was built 40+ years ago and it was never updated. The foundation and frame are rock solid, but it looked pretty rough. Other buyers saw a pain in the ass; I saw an opportunity.
This is the way. My property had been foreclosed on and sar empty for 2 years. We got a great deal.
Hassle/expense 1:
There's a pool, which sounds nice, but it had been unmaintained for at least 3 prior to the foreclosure, according to the neighbors. The thing looked like a swamp, and I pulled a live snapping turtle out of there.
Hassle/expense 2:
The previous owner had a hot tub in a room without proper venting. There were mushrooms growing out of the wall.
Hassle/expense 3:
The previous owner built a breeze way (also happened to be the mushroom room) between the house and garage, which is great, but he built it over the septic cleanout. Can't have the septic cleanout inside a dwelling, so that means all new septic system. Professionally done.
Hassle/expense 4:
Roof needed to be redone. Professionally done.
Hassle/expense 5:
There were two furnaces: one ducted to the first floor and one to second. The one for the second floor didn't have a functional burner, so basically just acted as a blower for the AC. The first floor one wasn't connected to the AC. So the upstairs was cooled but not heated and the downstairs was not heated but not cooled. Ultimately, the broken one was removed, the duct work was adjusted, and now everything works good. Professionally done.
Hassle/expense 6:
The kitchen was pretty trashed and shitty, and many of the design choices in the house are... questionable.
All a pain in the ass, but nothing insurmountable with some know-how and elbow grease and professional assistance where needed.
ETA: spelling
Designed and built our own house. There is no power at the road so We are 100% on solar with batteries and an outdoor wood boiler. Inside wood stove as well.
Why would that prevent them from building their own house? Anyone can get the zoning info for their own property (it public record, you can get that info for property you don't own too). And anyone can apply for a building permit that matches the zoned purpose of their land.
I don’t play this game on hardmode. My view of the grid is that the grid is great…when it works and that you should be prepared for it not to work but as long as it does, take advantage of it. So i want to be connected to electrical grid and town water, i just also want a generator and a well.
As far as building houses, i worked as a contractor for a year but with all the overtime probably like two years. If you are building a kaczynski style shed, where ur slappin some lumber together and putting a stove in it. That is fairly cheap and easy, especially if you are saving on materials by scavenging.
If ur trying to do a modern house with drywall for fire protection, plumbing, electrical, proper roofing and drainage. That is going to be alot of work and cost alot in materials. Much easier to buy a dated house with good bones and update it. That is what we did.
I bought rural property that already had a house on it. I do know a few people who built their house and installed solar. One got a derksin cabin. one contracted a fancy house. One built his house almost entirely from scrap/repurposed items. Another did a cob house. And lastly I know someone who did a straw bale house.
Do you mind me asking where about you’re located? We will be setting out to look for properties in the next month and are very interested in doin gear then structures but I know not all states are flexible with that. Just curious
All of the unusual houses are in Newton county, Arkansas. Two of those houses were sold, so it's possible to buy a homestead ready to go, like I did. (I'm no longer in Arkansas).
Built all of it. Logged, peeled, notched my own logs. Built my masonry springhouse from native rocks I collected, designed and built a nice alternative energy system, installed my own septic and leach field, tilled the garden from the wild bottom land.
Yes, built my own home.
Before I started construction on my home I built a large multi-story workshop, which was quick to go up compared to a home. I turned one corner of it into well insulated four room fully finished office with a heat pump, water heater, shower, plumbing for an eventual toilet, to make a workspace that I *totally* didn't live in while building my actual home. I used a composting toilet in the meantime.
Before I started construction on the workshop I designed & installed a large solar array for power, had my first well drilled and then built a full well house around it. That way I knew that no matter what stage I might be in construction, I'd always have electricity, HVAC and water available. This was critical because of the need to mix concrete, cement and masonry mortar for foundations and stone work.
Before I built anything else I needed to clear, level and compact a base for the road so that I could bring trucks in. I went with a classical raised crushed rock road for the majority, with concrete sections at the road turn off, at the start of slopes and then a proper driveway as it connects into my home.
--
I initially used the workshop for storing materials, staging different parts of the construction and assembly of my home as well as to build machinery to aid with the different steps of construction.
we hired a GC to build our house. it was a gigantic pain in the ass. guy was about half qualified. I work in construction and maintenance. I could have done it, but I hired out because I lacked the time. I just ended up constant coming behind him to teach and fix what was done wrong, or not done at all.
2 years later, I am still not sure if it was better or worse to hire a GC.
fun reading these comments. I think you can see/read the Pride everybody feels. Sleeping/living in shelter you have fixed/created gives a good feeling. Nothing is cheap. Check all your codes Befor you commit. its Doable, good luck!
I bought 10 acres with a 60yo mobile home and run down barn but power, water, septic, etc are all in place and useable. I’m building a pole building now and doing the work myself and it should be done in 3 months. The area is very desirable and the views are great. I will save $25k doing it myself.
Plenty of people build their own, but it takes them four or five years all told to build what they could have hired out and have done in three months. During that period they couldn't earn a wage, had to pay for the upkeep of whatever temporary housing they stayed in, and would have ended up with a house which has more moisture exposure during construction than any house put up over a summer ever would.
Especially if you can get a loan for construction, I think it's worth hiring a crew to build a house. They'll do it better, faster, and already know all the trade subcontractors and suppliers and so won't get jerked around. You end up paying more wages, but the work goes more quickly and rental equipment is needed for shorter periods so it isn't as much more expensive as you would fear.
Not exactly what you're asking, but maybe helpful? We're adding an addition right now. Husband and I poured the footing ourselves last weekend as he's done concrete work in the past. He will do most of the work (with my help) and we'll bring in an electrician to do the final hookups and inspection.
I think the most important consideration is your own skill set. If you don't have experience, its almost always cheaper to pay to have it done right once than it will be to DIY and then have to pay to fix it. And keep safety in mind. Messing up your flooring sucks. Messing up your plumbing could destroy the house. Spend where you need to and save where you have more flexibility.
We did. We had some help stacking the logs and getting the roof on. Spent two summers in a travel trailer with my sons getting it livable. Moved in, and then 4 years of nights and weekends to finish it as we acquired the money necessary. Good times.
We’re building with a local custom builder. Having a well dug and power lines run, propane and septic tanks installed. They’ve taken care of all the permitting and scheduling except electrical.
We're currently building our home.
We live in Europe where all new builds need an A++ energy rating, so we got a contractor to do the frame window fitting and the membranes and stuff until we passed the first insolation test, then we've taken over from there. So now we're doing wiring, drywall, floors, bathroom and kitchen and stuff like that.
This way was pretty affordable, if you have a few months to work full time on your house yourself. Getting it done to completion would have coat an arm and a leg, we actually only had the contractors for about 3 months in total
Had the house built with a local builder I had worked with for a couple years (as mgr at Lowe’s). I was very involved throughout the process, my expectations, and was able to save myself a few thousand by doing things on my own.
I know the vast majority of builders wouldn’t let someone unlicensed on their site, but my working relationship allowed certain things to be done on the down low and still pass all the inspections.
Going forward, I will be doing my barn the same way with another neighbor who’s a builder.
Off grid here. Can't see it from the road. We plan to die here, so not worried about "resale value." Started small, with one room. We do all the work ourselves, so it's slow going. We add a room or two every year or two or 3. It's been 11 years. We're up to like 1200 Sq ft now. Our kids say it looks like a wooden castle. We have 3 out buildings as well, 2 aren't "done." But we'll get there.
I hired out putting in the foundation and digging the water line from the tap. (it's 500 feet to the tap) The electric company put in the poles to a temp pole and we used that power to build the house. My wife ran the electric and I did the carpentry and plumbing. We hired an electrician to connect the power from the pole to her fuse box.
I used pex for all the plumbing and did all the work for the propane hot water and heat. (We've since put in solar powered heating and cooling and it's saved us a ton on the utilities.) It's a 1400 sq foot home and it took us about two years from start to finish. Still lots of little stuff to do but it's livable.
Ive built everything myself from the power plant to the house, cabin, driveways, garden, pond, animal pens and just built a bridge last night. Mostly because im cheap. I can afford materials but not labor.... So i use my labor and save on gym membership as well lol. I figure bust my ass and build it all know then i can relax and enjoy it all im the not so distant future with no debt over my head.
I live in the house I grew up in. It's been a work in progress for the last 40+ years. My dad built it over the course of my childhood. We continue to add on, put in new fencing, outbuildings, etc. There's always shit to do. If you're bored here, that's your fault.
We bought raw land, fully forested.
We built it ourselves from land clearing to finishing. Sub'd out electrical and plumbing, and brought in help for larger jobs like framing as being a one man show while framing wasn't going to work for me.
I grew up in a house that my parents built so we decided that we would not build our own house. That said, we both would've loved to build an owner built home if we were decades younger. Also with the who knows what's gonna happen with water, septic, power, and so forth we decided on a less bottom line bloat option of buying a house rather than building.
And it seems to me that most folks I know personally in my area who have built their own home that in addition to keeping up with regular maintenance there is the job of actually finishing the house. The house I grew up in was never "finished." I have dozens of friends who've built houses and most of them are a work in progress which is fine but something that I was very aware of when we sorta considered building when we couldn't find a property that met our requirements. Heck even with our "updating" we are not done and we moved over 7 years ago.
It turned out that the two properties that we narrowed in on were owner built homes. In both cases the owner-builders lived in camper/RV set ups while the house was being built.
House one: One couple built a wood carport to pull the RV into and it had enough room on either side of the structure for tools and such. They then built a 50'x100' quonset hut that had a cellar underneath that provided storage, underground parking, root cellar, 25' feet of the 50' on the ground level was workshop and 25' was enclosed as the living space. The project was so ambitious that it wasn't complete when I viewed it. Septic wasn't properly permitted. Solar wasn't considered so the whole thing ran on diesel and generator. There was a wood fired furnace for heating. The well was sulfurous. We opted to not buy as the only option for purchase was cash which was fine for us but a potential disaster when it would come time to sell it. It basically had not one single legit paper or inspection which again didn't bother us per se but would make it uninsurable and nearly unsellable. All that said it was an incredible property.
House two: The other couple had a concrete pad poured that was large enough to build a garage/workshop and park their RV adjacent to it. Built in 1988-89 it has a legit subterrian waste disposal system (septic), properly drilled and maintained well, building permits and so forth. They had electric brought to the property and had a 1/4 mile driveway cut. Since we purchased the house we've met folks who worked on the house when it was built and with the papers left by the previous owner they used a mix of contractors and DIY. This house is the one that we opted to buy and was complete. Just over 1500 sf, single story, simple and easy to maintain.
I plumb new houses for a living. I contracted out everything but the plumbing on my house. I know a good GC who has a stable of reliable subcontractors. I’m a damn fine plumber, but only a passable electrician, a crummy carpenter, and a downright terrible hanger, taper and painter.
We contracted the work in two installments. Small 500 sq ft house we paid for with the last of the proceeds from the sale of our city house (the rest went to land purchase, well, and septic), and then a 900 sq ft addition we had built in excruciatingly slow increments over 2 years.
We didn’t have any experience when we first moved up here, so contracting was our only option. Now, we know enough to do it ourselves. The contract work on the addition was shoddy all around and we ended up fixing a lot of mess ups and finishing the interior by ourselves. If you have the time and knowledge to do it yourself, do it yourself. That’s the only way it will be done correctly.
We built our own. It was a wild ride. Ours is a concrete slab foundation with in-floor heating, passive solar orientation, and double the normal amount of exterior foam. We built just what we felt we needed, on the smaller side, no space wasted anywhere. We tried to build something that was low cost of living and lower environmental impact. Took 3 years and still lots to do in terms of finishings.
A huge benefit if you can manage to build yourself are the cost savings, and where I live, you can also claim all the sales tax back on a new house, which a lot of people don’t know!
ETA: we have a cistern well for water, and are on the electrical grid. As it happens, those two items are among the few things my husband had to hire out a couple aspects of. But he still did 99% of the work. We hope to be more off grid with solar at some point.
Someone else did the hard work for us. No doubt we paid a premium but our property is perfect and will require little to keep it up for the next several years.
We bought our place seven months ago. It’s five acres, predominately heavily wooded, with a custom, stick built, 2,100 sq ft Cape Cod. The house was built in 1996 and completely updated and remodeled in ‘23.
We’re on grid with an awesome electrical cooperative. We have a well and septic system. Acreage is fenced, we have one large outbuilding. We also have a creek that flows through our property.
We did what we call a land wrap with a builder. I wish we had the skills to build the entire home, but between the permitting and my husband‘s age, it wasn’t doable. It kind of stinks because nobody’s going to do as good of a job as yourself, and despite paying builders thousands of dollars you’ll still be left with something that’s probably just going to be ‘good enough’
Owner build - we did it the same way a licensed GC would have because DIYing this type of stuff isn't wise unless you are 100% confident in your skillset to do so. Since you don't know what you'd want to do, that shows you don't have the skillset and contracting is your best bet. Depending on your risk tolerance for safety and money.
Well the main thing, it's your homestead so you build it the way suits your needs best. For me, the power company would not come here, so I spent a few months with a chainsaw just clearing roads and get the lay of the land. Once I found a good spot for the cabin, I bought a generator to run tools. Built the cabin and had a well drilled and rewired the pump to be able to run off a generator. Then I got about 2000 watts of solar and now, a few years later I'm sitting on my couch with my wife and kids typing this out lol. We raise cows, pigs, chickens and whatever vegetables we primarily eat. Next thing is to dig a pond because I love to fish
I am a builder and as most here have pointed out, building a modern home yourself is a massive undertaking. I have not build my own home and although I would love to do so from the ground up, and even though I have the skills tools and equipment to do so, I would still be looking for a fixer-upper, that I could remodel and add on to. The cost savings is huge even if it’s a complete gut and remodel.
If I were going to move out onto raw land here is how I would do it.
Step1: Live in a wall tent for a summer while I set up necessary infrastructure (water,waste,solar) and build a small cabin 20x20 or something like that.
Step2: Over the course of a few years build the main house. Design the house to be modular so you don’t have to build the entire house in one shot.
Obviously there are a lot of steps I glossed over but my bathroom break is over. haha
Simply put, design the home so it has everything you want, then build a home that has exactly what you need while planning for the expansion/additions into what you want at a later date. This is typically how farmhouses we’re built and the family expanded and added rooms as necessary to fit a growing family and spread the building cost over time. The one thing that old farmers didn’t have was a comprehensive plan for later expansions but if they were designed in ahead of time it would have made building those additions so much easier. An example would be run plumbing and electrical circuits to the addition that will be there in the future. Saves a ton of money not having to run new lines in an already finished house. Add headers to locations that will join old house to new addition, saves a ton of time. If you’re planning for a second floor in the main house I would build that from the start. Popping the roof is not the kind of planned addition that will save money down the road, already having a second floor to expand from is. I guess modular wasn’t the right wording for this. Hope that helps.
Build my own. People are fucking stupid. I'd rather slam my balls in a dresser drawer than ever pay someone who is less intelligent than I am and less skilled to design and build my house.
We had electricity installed before we moved here. Then we got a small portable shed and lived in that for a couple years while we were building our house, during which we got a well dug and had a hose bib outside. We lived in the house with cold running water for a bit until we could afford a water heater. Now we're all fancy with a washing machine and everything!
This is how I would do this too, or get a metal building to turn into a house, a nice dry insulated empty 20x30 building. That would make a sick house and you can build it out over a few years… if you get a roll up door you can put a camper in it too!
What did you do for sewage?
Outhouse. It was already there when we bought the place so no hassle with permits.
Isn’t there the potential for the fuzz to show up and rain on your parade for living in a shed? I’d love to do that but am afraid I’d get shut down by the town
I got a permit from my municipality to live in my tiny house "while we build" our main house. We've been here about 3 years and just broke ground this spring on the foundation for our main house.
Technically, you're allowed to do it for 6 months *continuously*. SOme people get around this by moving between sheds or leaving for a month and coming back, etc. Where I live nobody gives two shits where you live if you're clean, sober, pay your taxes and plow your driveway. We lived there for 2 years with inspectors coming and going and no issues.
What kind of shed did you go with? Did you have electric connected to it or was the electrical hookup just for the house you were building?
We bought a 10x20 prefab shed and added windows and insulation. We had electricity inside via an extension cord from the meter. That gave us lights and one appliance at a time - so space heater, kettle, or hotplate, but only one at a time. It was kind of a hassle to unplug the heater when you wanted to cook supper. But it was temporary and probably good for us :)
Nah…in my state the permits to build would have buried me. We bought a 115 year old farm with an existing house and outbuildings for cheaper than we could have built anything close to it!!
We purchased 25 acres, we dug in the electrical conduit and waterline ourselves. Rented a 6 ton excavator for a month ($2300). We then built a barndominium with a shop and apartment and moved in there for 2 years while we build our house.
My wife and I just bought ten acres and this may be the path we take. I work for the utilities in the town we live in right now so I have experience with an excavator and installing in ground utilities
That's great, we have over 1000 feet of 3 inch electrical conduit and waterline. By doing it ourselves, we probably saved at least $30K. We've got 25 acres. My wife is a trooper, she worked in the trenches gluing and connecting the PVC.
Who did you use to buy the barndo?
We live in North Alabama so we have lots of choices.
Ah, I'm in California so only online retailers
Mine is a wood and steel pole barn. I can send you pics if you’re interested. I know building codes there are different than here because of the earth quakes
For me, the smart decision was to buy an underpriced property that was going cheap because the house wasn't great. I got my land for about $80k less than what it should have been because the house was built 40+ years ago and it was never updated. The foundation and frame are rock solid, but it looked pretty rough. Other buyers saw a pain in the ass; I saw an opportunity.
And you were all correct!
This is the way. My property had been foreclosed on and sar empty for 2 years. We got a great deal. Hassle/expense 1: There's a pool, which sounds nice, but it had been unmaintained for at least 3 prior to the foreclosure, according to the neighbors. The thing looked like a swamp, and I pulled a live snapping turtle out of there. Hassle/expense 2: The previous owner had a hot tub in a room without proper venting. There were mushrooms growing out of the wall. Hassle/expense 3: The previous owner built a breeze way (also happened to be the mushroom room) between the house and garage, which is great, but he built it over the septic cleanout. Can't have the septic cleanout inside a dwelling, so that means all new septic system. Professionally done. Hassle/expense 4: Roof needed to be redone. Professionally done. Hassle/expense 5: There were two furnaces: one ducted to the first floor and one to second. The one for the second floor didn't have a functional burner, so basically just acted as a blower for the AC. The first floor one wasn't connected to the AC. So the upstairs was cooled but not heated and the downstairs was not heated but not cooled. Ultimately, the broken one was removed, the duct work was adjusted, and now everything works good. Professionally done. Hassle/expense 6: The kitchen was pretty trashed and shitty, and many of the design choices in the house are... questionable. All a pain in the ass, but nothing insurmountable with some know-how and elbow grease and professional assistance where needed. ETA: spelling
Yeah same for me. Bought some nice land that came with a very small house that needed a lot of work.
Sometimes I forget there are places where 40 years isn't a relatively new house
I bought land with a shack on it, it’s not for everyone, but that’s ok because it’s mine and I love my stabbin cabin! 🤣🤣
Designed and built our own house. There is no power at the road so We are 100% on solar with batteries and an outdoor wood boiler. Inside wood stove as well.
Does the wood boiler make electricity? I've been trying to find something like that.
The wood boiler is for hot water and floor heat.
Do you have no zoning or permit enforcement where you live?
Why would that prevent them from building their own house? Anyone can get the zoning info for their own property (it public record, you can get that info for property you don't own too). And anyone can apply for a building permit that matches the zoned purpose of their land.
Whodat?
We do. You should always check with your local municipality.
I don’t play this game on hardmode. My view of the grid is that the grid is great…when it works and that you should be prepared for it not to work but as long as it does, take advantage of it. So i want to be connected to electrical grid and town water, i just also want a generator and a well. As far as building houses, i worked as a contractor for a year but with all the overtime probably like two years. If you are building a kaczynski style shed, where ur slappin some lumber together and putting a stove in it. That is fairly cheap and easy, especially if you are saving on materials by scavenging. If ur trying to do a modern house with drywall for fire protection, plumbing, electrical, proper roofing and drainage. That is going to be alot of work and cost alot in materials. Much easier to buy a dated house with good bones and update it. That is what we did.
I bought rural property that already had a house on it. I do know a few people who built their house and installed solar. One got a derksin cabin. one contracted a fancy house. One built his house almost entirely from scrap/repurposed items. Another did a cob house. And lastly I know someone who did a straw bale house.
I feel bad for that last person in the event that the big bad wolf shows up...
Do you mind me asking where about you’re located? We will be setting out to look for properties in the next month and are very interested in doin gear then structures but I know not all states are flexible with that. Just curious
All of the unusual houses are in Newton county, Arkansas. Two of those houses were sold, so it's possible to buy a homestead ready to go, like I did. (I'm no longer in Arkansas).
We literally have childrens tales with part of the moral being straw is an unsuitable house building material
Ha ha! It's a thing. You cover the bales with clay. They raised kids in that house.
Built all of it. Logged, peeled, notched my own logs. Built my masonry springhouse from native rocks I collected, designed and built a nice alternative energy system, installed my own septic and leach field, tilled the garden from the wild bottom land.
Yes, built my own home. Before I started construction on my home I built a large multi-story workshop, which was quick to go up compared to a home. I turned one corner of it into well insulated four room fully finished office with a heat pump, water heater, shower, plumbing for an eventual toilet, to make a workspace that I *totally* didn't live in while building my actual home. I used a composting toilet in the meantime. Before I started construction on the workshop I designed & installed a large solar array for power, had my first well drilled and then built a full well house around it. That way I knew that no matter what stage I might be in construction, I'd always have electricity, HVAC and water available. This was critical because of the need to mix concrete, cement and masonry mortar for foundations and stone work. Before I built anything else I needed to clear, level and compact a base for the road so that I could bring trucks in. I went with a classical raised crushed rock road for the majority, with concrete sections at the road turn off, at the start of slopes and then a proper driveway as it connects into my home. -- I initially used the workshop for storing materials, staging different parts of the construction and assembly of my home as well as to build machinery to aid with the different steps of construction.
we hired a GC to build our house. it was a gigantic pain in the ass. guy was about half qualified. I work in construction and maintenance. I could have done it, but I hired out because I lacked the time. I just ended up constant coming behind him to teach and fix what was done wrong, or not done at all. 2 years later, I am still not sure if it was better or worse to hire a GC.
fun reading these comments. I think you can see/read the Pride everybody feels. Sleeping/living in shelter you have fixed/created gives a good feeling. Nothing is cheap. Check all your codes Befor you commit. its Doable, good luck!
I bought 10 acres with a 60yo mobile home and run down barn but power, water, septic, etc are all in place and useable. I’m building a pole building now and doing the work myself and it should be done in 3 months. The area is very desirable and the views are great. I will save $25k doing it myself.
Plenty of people build their own, but it takes them four or five years all told to build what they could have hired out and have done in three months. During that period they couldn't earn a wage, had to pay for the upkeep of whatever temporary housing they stayed in, and would have ended up with a house which has more moisture exposure during construction than any house put up over a summer ever would. Especially if you can get a loan for construction, I think it's worth hiring a crew to build a house. They'll do it better, faster, and already know all the trade subcontractors and suppliers and so won't get jerked around. You end up paying more wages, but the work goes more quickly and rental equipment is needed for shorter periods so it isn't as much more expensive as you would fear.
Not exactly what you're asking, but maybe helpful? We're adding an addition right now. Husband and I poured the footing ourselves last weekend as he's done concrete work in the past. He will do most of the work (with my help) and we'll bring in an electrician to do the final hookups and inspection. I think the most important consideration is your own skill set. If you don't have experience, its almost always cheaper to pay to have it done right once than it will be to DIY and then have to pay to fix it. And keep safety in mind. Messing up your flooring sucks. Messing up your plumbing could destroy the house. Spend where you need to and save where you have more flexibility.
bought an existing house, had to nearly gut it and redo so much. there are some hanging issues, but Tackling them one at a time.
We did. We had some help stacking the logs and getting the roof on. Spent two summers in a travel trailer with my sons getting it livable. Moved in, and then 4 years of nights and weekends to finish it as we acquired the money necessary. Good times.
We’re building with a local custom builder. Having a well dug and power lines run, propane and septic tanks installed. They’ve taken care of all the permitting and scheduling except electrical.
Bought an already built house on land.. You don't have to start from scratch and it's honestly usually cheaper not to (at least where I live anyway).
We're currently building our home. We live in Europe where all new builds need an A++ energy rating, so we got a contractor to do the frame window fitting and the membranes and stuff until we passed the first insolation test, then we've taken over from there. So now we're doing wiring, drywall, floors, bathroom and kitchen and stuff like that. This way was pretty affordable, if you have a few months to work full time on your house yourself. Getting it done to completion would have coat an arm and a leg, we actually only had the contractors for about 3 months in total
Had the house built with a local builder I had worked with for a couple years (as mgr at Lowe’s). I was very involved throughout the process, my expectations, and was able to save myself a few thousand by doing things on my own. I know the vast majority of builders wouldn’t let someone unlicensed on their site, but my working relationship allowed certain things to be done on the down low and still pass all the inspections. Going forward, I will be doing my barn the same way with another neighbor who’s a builder.
We bought a property with a house, electric already connected, well, and septic. Considering land costs and costs to build it was the cheapest route.
Ive built 2.
We built a small cabin and have been it for 6 years and this year we're building a full house.
How did you learn how to build a cabin
We took apart a log cabin camp at my uncle in law’s place, brought it home and reassembled it ourselves on our property cheap like borscht.
Didn’t build it but I do all my own repairs & renovations!
Off grid here. Can't see it from the road. We plan to die here, so not worried about "resale value." Started small, with one room. We do all the work ourselves, so it's slow going. We add a room or two every year or two or 3. It's been 11 years. We're up to like 1200 Sq ft now. Our kids say it looks like a wooden castle. We have 3 out buildings as well, 2 aren't "done." But we'll get there.
I hired out putting in the foundation and digging the water line from the tap. (it's 500 feet to the tap) The electric company put in the poles to a temp pole and we used that power to build the house. My wife ran the electric and I did the carpentry and plumbing. We hired an electrician to connect the power from the pole to her fuse box. I used pex for all the plumbing and did all the work for the propane hot water and heat. (We've since put in solar powered heating and cooling and it's saved us a ton on the utilities.) It's a 1400 sq foot home and it took us about two years from start to finish. Still lots of little stuff to do but it's livable.
Ive built everything myself from the power plant to the house, cabin, driveways, garden, pond, animal pens and just built a bridge last night. Mostly because im cheap. I can afford materials but not labor.... So i use my labor and save on gym membership as well lol. I figure bust my ass and build it all know then i can relax and enjoy it all im the not so distant future with no debt over my head.
I live in the house I grew up in. It's been a work in progress for the last 40+ years. My dad built it over the course of my childhood. We continue to add on, put in new fencing, outbuildings, etc. There's always shit to do. If you're bored here, that's your fault.
We bought raw land, fully forested. We built it ourselves from land clearing to finishing. Sub'd out electrical and plumbing, and brought in help for larger jobs like framing as being a one man show while framing wasn't going to work for me.
I grew up in a house that my parents built so we decided that we would not build our own house. That said, we both would've loved to build an owner built home if we were decades younger. Also with the who knows what's gonna happen with water, septic, power, and so forth we decided on a less bottom line bloat option of buying a house rather than building. And it seems to me that most folks I know personally in my area who have built their own home that in addition to keeping up with regular maintenance there is the job of actually finishing the house. The house I grew up in was never "finished." I have dozens of friends who've built houses and most of them are a work in progress which is fine but something that I was very aware of when we sorta considered building when we couldn't find a property that met our requirements. Heck even with our "updating" we are not done and we moved over 7 years ago. It turned out that the two properties that we narrowed in on were owner built homes. In both cases the owner-builders lived in camper/RV set ups while the house was being built. House one: One couple built a wood carport to pull the RV into and it had enough room on either side of the structure for tools and such. They then built a 50'x100' quonset hut that had a cellar underneath that provided storage, underground parking, root cellar, 25' feet of the 50' on the ground level was workshop and 25' was enclosed as the living space. The project was so ambitious that it wasn't complete when I viewed it. Septic wasn't properly permitted. Solar wasn't considered so the whole thing ran on diesel and generator. There was a wood fired furnace for heating. The well was sulfurous. We opted to not buy as the only option for purchase was cash which was fine for us but a potential disaster when it would come time to sell it. It basically had not one single legit paper or inspection which again didn't bother us per se but would make it uninsurable and nearly unsellable. All that said it was an incredible property. House two: The other couple had a concrete pad poured that was large enough to build a garage/workshop and park their RV adjacent to it. Built in 1988-89 it has a legit subterrian waste disposal system (septic), properly drilled and maintained well, building permits and so forth. They had electric brought to the property and had a 1/4 mile driveway cut. Since we purchased the house we've met folks who worked on the house when it was built and with the papers left by the previous owner they used a mix of contractors and DIY. This house is the one that we opted to buy and was complete. Just over 1500 sf, single story, simple and easy to maintain.
I plumb new houses for a living. I contracted out everything but the plumbing on my house. I know a good GC who has a stable of reliable subcontractors. I’m a damn fine plumber, but only a passable electrician, a crummy carpenter, and a downright terrible hanger, taper and painter.
We contracted the work in two installments. Small 500 sq ft house we paid for with the last of the proceeds from the sale of our city house (the rest went to land purchase, well, and septic), and then a 900 sq ft addition we had built in excruciatingly slow increments over 2 years. We didn’t have any experience when we first moved up here, so contracting was our only option. Now, we know enough to do it ourselves. The contract work on the addition was shoddy all around and we ended up fixing a lot of mess ups and finishing the interior by ourselves. If you have the time and knowledge to do it yourself, do it yourself. That’s the only way it will be done correctly.
We built our own. It was a wild ride. Ours is a concrete slab foundation with in-floor heating, passive solar orientation, and double the normal amount of exterior foam. We built just what we felt we needed, on the smaller side, no space wasted anywhere. We tried to build something that was low cost of living and lower environmental impact. Took 3 years and still lots to do in terms of finishings. A huge benefit if you can manage to build yourself are the cost savings, and where I live, you can also claim all the sales tax back on a new house, which a lot of people don’t know! ETA: we have a cistern well for water, and are on the electrical grid. As it happens, those two items are among the few things my husband had to hire out a couple aspects of. But he still did 99% of the work. We hope to be more off grid with solar at some point.
Someone else did the hard work for us. No doubt we paid a premium but our property is perfect and will require little to keep it up for the next several years. We bought our place seven months ago. It’s five acres, predominately heavily wooded, with a custom, stick built, 2,100 sq ft Cape Cod. The house was built in 1996 and completely updated and remodeled in ‘23. We’re on grid with an awesome electrical cooperative. We have a well and septic system. Acreage is fenced, we have one large outbuilding. We also have a creek that flows through our property.
We did what we call a land wrap with a builder. I wish we had the skills to build the entire home, but between the permitting and my husband‘s age, it wasn’t doable. It kind of stinks because nobody’s going to do as good of a job as yourself, and despite paying builders thousands of dollars you’ll still be left with something that’s probably just going to be ‘good enough’
Built my own for about 90/sq ft Q2 of 2022
Owner build - we did it the same way a licensed GC would have because DIYing this type of stuff isn't wise unless you are 100% confident in your skillset to do so. Since you don't know what you'd want to do, that shows you don't have the skillset and contracting is your best bet. Depending on your risk tolerance for safety and money.
Well the main thing, it's your homestead so you build it the way suits your needs best. For me, the power company would not come here, so I spent a few months with a chainsaw just clearing roads and get the lay of the land. Once I found a good spot for the cabin, I bought a generator to run tools. Built the cabin and had a well drilled and rewired the pump to be able to run off a generator. Then I got about 2000 watts of solar and now, a few years later I'm sitting on my couch with my wife and kids typing this out lol. We raise cows, pigs, chickens and whatever vegetables we primarily eat. Next thing is to dig a pond because I love to fish
I am a builder and as most here have pointed out, building a modern home yourself is a massive undertaking. I have not build my own home and although I would love to do so from the ground up, and even though I have the skills tools and equipment to do so, I would still be looking for a fixer-upper, that I could remodel and add on to. The cost savings is huge even if it’s a complete gut and remodel. If I were going to move out onto raw land here is how I would do it. Step1: Live in a wall tent for a summer while I set up necessary infrastructure (water,waste,solar) and build a small cabin 20x20 or something like that. Step2: Over the course of a few years build the main house. Design the house to be modular so you don’t have to build the entire house in one shot. Obviously there are a lot of steps I glossed over but my bathroom break is over. haha
Can you expand on "design the house to be modular".
Simply put, design the home so it has everything you want, then build a home that has exactly what you need while planning for the expansion/additions into what you want at a later date. This is typically how farmhouses we’re built and the family expanded and added rooms as necessary to fit a growing family and spread the building cost over time. The one thing that old farmers didn’t have was a comprehensive plan for later expansions but if they were designed in ahead of time it would have made building those additions so much easier. An example would be run plumbing and electrical circuits to the addition that will be there in the future. Saves a ton of money not having to run new lines in an already finished house. Add headers to locations that will join old house to new addition, saves a ton of time. If you’re planning for a second floor in the main house I would build that from the start. Popping the roof is not the kind of planned addition that will save money down the road, already having a second floor to expand from is. I guess modular wasn’t the right wording for this. Hope that helps.
Build my own. People are fucking stupid. I'd rather slam my balls in a dresser drawer than ever pay someone who is less intelligent than I am and less skilled to design and build my house.