building a home

kuulani

New Member
my husband and i are reaching a point in our lives where we're ready to build our home. fortunately, we have the land. we just don't have the home :D

we want to design our own home, and we have an idea of what we want. what we don't know is how to accomplish this, who do we see to draw up our plans? what do we need to get a loan? etc. any suggestions?
 

paul_valaru

100% Pure Canadian Beef
kuulani said:
my husband and i are reaching a point in our lives where we're ready to build our home. fortunately, we have the land. we just don't have the home :D

we want to design our own home, and we have an idea of what we want. what we don't know is how to accomplish this, who do we see to draw up our plans? what do we need to get a loan? etc. any suggestions?


for the money, it's a mortgage, jsut like if you where buying a house, find a good architect for design, and a lawyer, to make sure there are no hidden fees (infrascruture costs)
 

HomeLAN

New Member
You're going to need, at a minumum:

- An architect
- A General Contractor (unless you want to be your own, and line up all the specific jobsmen).
- A financial institution to extend a construction loan, which then segues into a standard mortgage when the building is complete
- A lawyer - you might look up whoever closed your land purchase
- One hell of a lot of patience. I've seen couples go at each others' throats over this shit.
 

tonksy

New Member
YAY KU'U! i know this may be a stressful undertaking but i am so jealous...you will have a home that is completely yours (well...and the banks) but it will be of your own design...every little nuance will be an expression of your tastes....man i hate you :p
 

kuulani

New Member
thanks guys!! we're getting excited too. we were thinking about getting one of those standard house plans, but we figure since we have to shell out the $$ anyway, must as well be for what we want :D
 

Sharky

New Member
Build Your House - Katherine Salant

Some useful tips and a chitload of links for designing and building your house, covering every facet and phase of the project, including legalities and financing. You may have to interpret some of the information to apply it to living in Hawaii, but you are probably used to that. ;)

Good luck, and remember, PATIENCE! :cool:
 

HomeLAN

New Member
kuulani said:
thanks guys!! we're getting excited too. we were thinking about getting one of those standard house plans, but we figure since we have to shell out the $$ anyway, must as well be for what we want :D

Damn straight. If yer gonna do it, do it the way you want it.
 

Uki Chick

New Member
That is so cool! That's one of my dreams. Maybe one day it will come true. I'm so jealous. Good luck with it all!
 

Gato_Solo

Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Go to this site to get some rough ideas on how much space you want, and how much space you need. There is a difference. Once you have that planned out, you can move on to the architect phase. You can also try designing your own home through software first. Although I don't have any memorized, I'm fairly certain that there are 3 or more products out there that even work on a Mac. ;) Just be sure to research first. Know what you need, what you want, and how much you're willing to spend. You'd be surprised at how much that jaccuzi costs before the walls are finished and how much more it is after you want to 'retrofit'.
 

kuulani

New Member
what?!? you mean walls are more important than a jacuzzi? :alienhuh:

i'd be happy with a tub i can at least lie down comfortably in and soak for awhile *dreaming*

as i was browsing house plans yesterday, this one caught my eye :D
 

Gato_Solo

Out-freaking-standing OTC member
One more thing...a house is merely a shell. A home is what you place inside the shell... ;)
 

kuulani

New Member
Gato_Solo said:
One more thing...a house is merely a shell. A home is what you place inside the shell... ;)

a shell with a jacuzzi and pool would be nice :D
(then you can come over with your towel) :brow:
 

greenfreak

New Member
Whoa, that's pretty damn cool, building your own house! I like the first link a lot more than the second. The first one is more roomy, it looks more like a party house. I don't know about you but I always liked a lot of windows, and a big porch.

Rusty and I love Queen Anne Victorians. The very first page, I found this: QA Victorian

Now tell me, that circular room on the right with all the windows, is that NOT the perfect place for my forest of plants, or what?!
 

kuulani

New Member
ooh, you're right, i love that house with its circular room!!

... but as long as my house has a wraparound porch, or something as close to that as possible, i'll be happy :D
 
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