Embark on a journey through the daunting yet thrilling world of real estate with us as we dissect the pivotal decisions of building versus buying a home. You're about to unlock the mysteries of site selection, design desires, and budgeting blues. We'll navigate the emotional currents and practical rapids that come with creating a place that's not just a house, but a reflection of your soul. If you've ever found yourself torn between the allure of a custom kitchen with glass cabinet doors and the convenience of a move-in ready abode, this is the episode that will bring clarity to your dreams and strategies to your plans.
As we unwrap the layers of decision-making, you'll discover how to make a house a home that resonates with your lifestyle. From the intimacy of a primary bedroom on the main level to the grandeur of a screened-in porch, we delve into the elements that transform living spaces into lifelong treasures. We'll also tackle the ever-shifting sands of the real estate market, providing you with the wisdom to forge ahead despite fluctuating interest rates. Every anecdote shared, every caller's insight, and every personal preference discussed illuminates the path to finding your perfect living space.
Concluding our candid conversation, we guide you through the comprehensive adventure of building your own sanctuary. Learn how to select the perfect lot, incorporate unique architectural details, and understand the components of an exit strategy, even for your 'forever home'. With our building calculator resource in hand, we equip you to make informed decisions whether you're considering a custom-built tiny home or contemplating the charm of tract homes. This episode isn't just about laying bricks and mortar; it's about laying the foundations for your future memories. Join us as we help you craft a space that truly embodies the essence of your aspirations and needs, while keeping a savvy eye on resale values and the practicalities of home construction.
Embark on a journey through the daunting yet thrilling world of real estate with us as we dissect the pivotal decisions of building versus buying a home. You're about to unlock the mysteries of site selection, design desires, and budgeting blues. We'll navigate the emotional currents and practical rapids that come with creating a place that's not just a house, but a reflection of your soul. If you've ever found yourself torn between the allure of a custom kitchen with glass cabinet doors and the convenience of a move-in ready abode, this is the episode that will bring clarity to your dreams and strategies to your plans.
As we unwrap the layers of decision-making, you'll discover how to make a house a home that resonates with your lifestyle. From the intimacy of a primary bedroom on the main level to the grandeur of a screened-in porch, we delve into the elements that transform living spaces into lifelong treasures. We'll also tackle the ever-shifting sands of the real estate market, providing you with the wisdom to forge ahead despite fluctuating interest rates. Every anecdote shared, every caller's insight, and every personal preference discussed illuminates the path to finding your perfect living space.
Concluding our candid conversation, we guide you through the comprehensive adventure of building your own sanctuary. Learn how to select the perfect lot, incorporate unique architectural details, and understand the components of an exit strategy, even for your 'forever home'. With our building calculator resource in hand, we equip you to make informed decisions whether you're considering a custom-built tiny home or contemplating the charm of tract homes. This episode isn't just about laying bricks and mortar; it's about laying the foundations for your future memories. Join us as we help you craft a space that truly embodies the essence of your aspirations and needs, while keeping a savvy eye on resale values and the practicalities of home construction.
This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with your host, rowena Patton, a show that focuses on the real estate market in terms you can easily understand. Call Rowena now. The number is 240 9962 or 1-800-570-9962. Now here's the English girl in the mountains, the agent that I would trust, rowena Patton.
Speaker 2:Wow, thank you for that, glenn, I say that every week.
Speaker 2:Well, you know that's nice Way to be introduced. Today, we are talking about building versus buying. Looking at land, what are we talking about? We're talking about the location, and this really runs for anywhere in the country. I know you're listening around the country. What weight does the location carry? That's what we'll cover first.
Speaker 2:And what kind of charm? So? Do you want energy efficient? Does historic charm mean a lot to you? What does that look like?
Speaker 2:How important is the budget? How important do you think a budget might be? Randy? Very, yeah, I mean very.
Speaker 2:Budget is important for everybody, and the thing that concerns me about people buying bare land that I see and we help people buy bare land, we sell a lot of bare land is that often people who are most vulnerable to budget are buying land and they come in from elsewhere, or they're here and they're buying a piece of land because they think that land's going away. This is fallacy, that lands going away. There's so much land for sale, guys, and what that means is somebody comes in and buys an acre or two for $30,000, say, or $60,000 or $100,000, doesn't matter or they're sold into one of these big developments. Gosh, back in the day we used to have helicopters and all kinds of problems Parties going on to sell the lots off. I was actually involved in one where we put $5,000 down in a parking lot and that was me putting the $5,000 down. I wasn't one of the.
Speaker 2:Anyway, that development since then has gone best twice and it's a fantastic development. Wow, there's a lot of lots for sale in there and it's 300 lots overall, something like that, almost 300 lots overall. There are so many of those developments around and just think carefully about buying that land. We can always find your land. I'm going to go into the budgets. I would love any builders we've got listing today. I would love you to call in, because the figures I've got work on $200 a square foot and we all know it's going to be very hard to build a home at that.
Speaker 3:Yeah Gosh, I built a home in the mid-80s. The figure that I think was tossed around then was $75 a foot.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, oh my gosh, but that's like the interest rate.
Speaker 3:Exactly 14% was it that you had? That was in 1980.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh Amazing. So what we're going to look at is I've got a whole list for you and you can always reach out to me 8283334483. We've got people standing by 247. Just reach out and say you want the list of all the budget figures. I'm going to redo them so they're not based on 200 a square foot or you can just double it, basically because you're going to be at 300 or 400 any of the luxury builders, it may be more than that and we're also taking the land into account. So I'm going to show you how to look at your entire budget. Here's the thing I really don't want you to buy a piece of land and think, oh, we're going to build on it at some time in the future and not think about what your budget might be. It doesn't matter if it's in 20 years time when you retire, or 10 years time when you retire. What's your vision? If you don't know what you're aimed at, how are you going to get there?
Speaker 3:Exactly A rudderless ship.
Speaker 2:Right, we can build you a GPS to get there, basically, but at the very least, without any of that complexity, you know in your mind what kind of dream house that you're thinking about. What does that look like? How big is it? See, it's so interesting over the years. Builders, please put a primary bedroom on the main level. It's so hard here and in areas where it's mountainous, because if you're building a home, you can make a lot more money by going up than going out. It's less expensive to go up than go out, but most people want single level.
Speaker 3:Even young people. Yeah, yeah I totally understand. And young people's all comparative right.
Speaker 2:Right. Yes, young people used to mean 18 to me. Now, young people means 30s. Yeah, young people used to be. Yeah, young ends you.
Speaker 3:Me Used to be me Young ends you.
Speaker 2:Right, well, I'm still a young person.
Speaker 3:Yes, you are.
Speaker 2:Don't you talk about my friend like that young man I love that phrase I like young man Pardon. Oh, I thought you said you liked young man, oh, no, no, no, no Wow. Okay, then that's a whole other show.
Speaker 3:Randy, push the beat button here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's taking me off if I'm not careful. So we're going to talk about that whole budget because I want you to come up with your dream home or the minimum of what you'd be happy with. In other words, is it two bedroom, one bath, is it three bedrooms, two baths? And all of you people that are oh my gosh, you guys who are in a five bedroom home, and it's just you or just you as a couple and you've been holding onto it for 20 years Call in, let us know 828-240-9962. If you're calling in from Mars 800-570-9962. I want to know how long you've kept hold of your home and when you wish you'd let it go, because I know I talk to you every day. You're like yeah, you know, we want that single level. She's got arthritis in her knees and she can't get downstairs. I mean, all these are real stories, guys. I hear it every single day. You can't be bothered to move, or my interest rates too good, or whatever it is.
Speaker 3:Interest rates go up and go down, you know you oh yeah, yeah and hey, we went through a period where that stuff wasn't normal. You know, 1%, 2%, that's not going to last. You knew that 7% is actually normal, actually normal.
Speaker 2:And it's the average over the last 30 years. So 7% is normal. So we're at normal guys. It might go down a little bit. We'll probably never get to the twos and threes. I hope we do, but you know, chances are we won't. Yeah, exactly, Just get on with your lives already. But the most important thing is envision, and we're going to that's going to be one of the topics we talk about today. Your dream home, you know, for example, mine would be. Mine's, like a I think it's a 60s home or 70s home, I'm not sure when this came in, but it's called a split bedroom plan. Yeah, so you have.
Speaker 3:That's the house.
Speaker 2:I built in the mid-80s split bedroom so you have a master suite. Oh, we're not allowed to call it that anymore. You have a owner suite, which is oh yeah, you can't say you can't say master suite?
Speaker 2:Oops, I just said it, you better beat me out. So you know the, the beautiful bedroom with the tray ceiling or coffered ceiling or whatever it is that you love, and those, those details all cost money, right? So here's mine, I'll share mine and I'd love to hear yours. 828-240-9962. Mine is that lovely bedroom, and if you've got one of these for sale, I'm looking, so for me. So call in to tell me about your home. You're about selling that owner suite with a good bathroom, and what that means these days is a walk-in shower with no half curb. If there's any builders listing, I'm going to be shot. What are that things that curb?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's exactly what it is. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you just want to walk in and nice, glass, frameless, of course. Walk in and you know some charm in the house. I like beams and white and vaulted ceilings. I guess I'm a girl from the 70s. I grew up in the 70s.
Speaker 3:Well, that frame construction, beam beam construction is so attractive. I love it yeah.
Speaker 2:And I love, I love the paint I use in any of the houses I do is showing Williams pure white, it's, it's just beautiful. It's a beautiful white and against natural word, oh my gosh, it's so gorgeous. And then you've got it's. It's like an art museum. You've got a backdrop where you can put color, you can put your beautiful paintings, you can. You can go to TJ Maxx ladies, oh, I'm having sex this now. Oh, good Lord, all you men out there that like to decorate too. You can go to TJ Maxx in the spring and buy your bright green pillows, throw them on your couch and then, when it gets to summer, make it all tropical. But you've got that white backdrop, you know, and your neutral sofas and your neutral furniture, woods really coming back in a big way, as well as in the kitchens.
Speaker 2:So back to my dream. You sort of see what my dream home is. So the bedroom, that size side, and then a big open living space, a kitchen with no walls between the kitchen and the living space, like it's so obvious to me. I can see this with a big bar, and the bar does not have a 10 inch overhang, it has at least a 12 inch. That's important to me and it doesn't have those big struts underneath that you bang your knees on. Oh yes, so many bruises on my. I guess I'm a practical girl or something.
Speaker 3:I guess you said it a lot of bars. I didn't say that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you just said that. Oh my gosh. So anyway, you threw me off a little bit there. I do not say that a lot of bars is not true, a few, but anyway. So a nice bar in the kitchen. There's counter height, none of these, you know. Oh, I've got to clean up my mess in the kitchen. Throw it all in the sink, guys. Yes.
Speaker 3:That way to the sink and the sink's in the bar. The sink's in the bar, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Sorry, in my vision it's just there and I expect everybody just to see this vision. So thank you, Randy. Yeah, the sink's in the bar. And dish drawers. If you don't know what a dish drawer is, go look at it. You've got to have a dish drawer. So dish drawers contain as much as a regular dishwasher and they're a little bit more expensive. They're outrageously expensive. They're 12 to 1400 bucks. You can even pay more than that for it. But I'm telling you that top drawer it's deeper than the bottom drawer and most of the time it's all you use, even with a family, Because it's a drawer.
Speaker 2:It's not like that big door that you pull down and then you pull the nasty wreck out. The drawer works as the rack, basically I gotcha. So you pull the drawer out, you put your coffee cup in on a normal, normal, traditional dishwasher and it splashes all over the darn place and the dog's licking the door. And it's a drawer, so nothing splashes anywhere. You throw it all in, you push it shut. You cannot hear this thing. I'm on my sixth one in different houses. I mean they're amazing.
Speaker 3:And now, as we speak, my dishwasher is running. I run it every Saturday morning while I'm here with you to hear, to not hear that noise.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when, if you're in a house and you want to upgrade, there's nothing more special than the dish drawers, I'll tell you they came from New Zealand originally and they were white labeled by a number of people. But, just like top loaders, took a long time to take off in the States. Front loaders excuse me. The washing machines, yeah, so in Europe and the rest of the world there's no such thing as a top loader.
Speaker 3:Really yeah, there's been front loaders first, Always has been front loader, huh.
Speaker 2:Oh no, not always. But you know, we moved to that new technology in probably the 60s or 70s. Oh, it didn't come here till early Because people were scared of it. Oh, they're leek, and you know, I'm not really sure. But anyway, all I'm telling you is, once you go dish drawer, you never go back. So, and the dish drawer also. You know, people are worried about that mess. That's why they build these higher bars instead of the countertop bars. Well, now you don't have any mess because you throw it in the. It's so easy to throw it in the dish drawer. You know many marriages break up because of the dishwasher. I'm not even joking.
Speaker 3:Who, who, well, who? Who has the map for where things go? And she does. She will rearrange everything you put in there.
Speaker 2:Oh no, there's so many men who are engine it. This is exactly the argument. So I used to teach this thing called the disk. At many different companies, dic, the D is the dominant driver, the I is the oh my gosh, I just met you at a party and your hair looks fantastic. How's your grandma? The S is the carer, nurturer, teacher, nurse and the C is the is the numbers person that the C is not even at the party because they're at home doing the taxes and nothing wrong with any of those things, right, and you're usually two of the pillars. Sales people are usually DIs or IDs, so what you have is a lot of men. Rearrange how she puts it in. Really, it works both ways, does it really? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I was. I didn't know that. Oh yeah, I thought it was a one-sided situation.
Speaker 2:I actually lived with somebody for a long time who will remain nameless. Yes, because it'll be very obvious. We don't want to do that. I used to say I stacked the dishwasher in the wrong way. Well, guess what happens when somebody tells you that, long enough, now you're getting marriage guidance.
Speaker 2:You thought we were talking about building homes today, but this is an important one, guys, because it really I've looked into it seriously one of the reasons that people get divorced, and it's all those little things, of course, that nip away at your self-confidence, whether you're a woman or a man. This isn't I'm not, you know, railing for women here at all. But when you're told often enough that you don't stack the dishwasher the right way, guess what happens. You start doing it Exactly right? Yeah, yeah, I guess what happens when you're the only one that stacks the dishwasher and nobody, because people just dump it in the sink instead. And listen, when you've got a dish drawer, there is nothing hard about putting it in the dishwasher. It's as easy as the sink, except you just got to open it and drop it in because it's higher, right?
Speaker 2:So if you're, older or you've got kids, it really doesn't matter. These things are genius. There's no reason to not, you know. Take it out of the sink and put it in, and then you're the one doing it male, female, kid, whatever and then nobody takes it out.
Speaker 3:That's another thing. Who empties the dang thing Exactly, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh well, I didn't know it was clean. And the worst thing is when they stack dirty dishes. Oh, in with the, you know. And then you got to run it all over again. I do, I live alone.
Speaker 3:I do that myself sometimes. Whoa, wait a minute, I put a dirty spoon in that.
Speaker 2:Do you know how to track that one? Just those pods, or it doesn't matter if you've got powder or pods. Those pods are darn expensive. Put a pod in when it's dirty, yeah. Well, obviously, when you've run it, the pod or the power is gone away, yeah.
Speaker 3:So you know it's clean. Where does that plastic on those pods go? It dissolves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or if you're really weird, you eat it.
Speaker 3:No, you're exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot of kids doing that which is well I'm sure they're onto something new now, but whatever, that's all other things.
Speaker 2:So the rest of the dream we could do this is really funny. We could do a whole show on Rose Dreamhouse. But the other thing I know from you know I'm at 35, 3600 transactions in this area and I've bought and sold without being a realtor. That sounds illegal, but it wasn't in San Diego, in Washington DC, in Miami Beach, probably somewhere else I'm not thinking of, and it's all the same. People want a spit. It just happens to be my dream home too, but a split bedroom plan with a big open living space. You've got an. A vaulted ceiling is great. You've got a nice big fireplace on one wall. You've got quartz these days instead of granite. I mean you can get beautiful granite but quartz has come so far and it's antibacterial and you don't have as many seams and therefore it's less cleaning and all that stuff that everybody argues about oh my gosh, and a maid already.
Speaker 2:Or a oh gosh, that was sexist. What are menmaids? I got it.
Speaker 3:Cleaner, get a cleaner. Cleaner, yeah, Cleaner yeah.
Speaker 2:Anyway, we have way too much fun with this. Randy, Do you remember the Christmas with Baby it's Cold outside when that was banned? Oh yeah, we played it Do you remember? How many times we played it.
Speaker 3:A bunch, a bunch. We're bad. This is.
Speaker 2:Randy, my producer. He's been my producer for so many years. We've been doing this show for 12 years. We're bad, Randy, I know, but people like us. Exactly, we're bad, but people like us. So the kitchen. Let's talk about the kitchen for a minute. You probably want the glass at the top if you can afford it in the dream house that you're visualizing, because that is going to set your budget for your house.
Speaker 3:You're talking about cabinet doors glass?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yeah, because no one can reach those little cubbies. It's stupid, right? So either don't put them there, which is fine too, and put some nice modern crown around the top, or put the glass ones at the top and light them Thereby. All that crap you got from your great grandmother that you're like it's kind of cool, but I'll never use it or dare to use it, you know, and it might be that stuff that you feel obliged to keep, or you might love it, but you don't ever want to use it because it's so pretty. Now, quite honestly, I don't believe in that, but that's a whole other story. You can put those pretty things up there in nice clear glass and it's lit.
Speaker 3:Plate racks yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, not plate racks, because you can't reach those. I'm talking about a nice piece of pottery. Oh, okay. See, I'm so glad you asked those questions because apparently I'm a little obtuse and other people who are listening might know, might wonder what on earth I'm talking about?
Speaker 3:I'm just a man who lives alone, doesn't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:Well, it might be a nice teapot I don't have any of this stuff because I learned to let it go but a nice teapot or a nice piece of pottery or a nice piece of glass or a nice piece of whatever, you never have to dust it again, it's up there. It's up there and it's lit. And now you've got something pretty in your kitchen. So make it some kind of feature, is my point. And then your normal cupboards, as it were, obviously soft clothes hinges. If you're remodeling your home, by the way, you can do that for about 50 bucks. I just did it in the kitchen so you could.
Speaker 2:If you've got European hinges, those are the ones that slot in the little holes on the backs of the doors. You know, when you close the door and it goes slam, you can put. You can just replace one of those hinges on each door. Little tip there, screw them out. There's a little number on them. That number's very important. How do I know this? I bought the wrong ones, Wrong number, yeah, and doesn't fit. There's a half inch and it's all about the overlay, but the number is on the thing. It's very easy once you screw it out. But if you don't know to look for the number. You just think, oh, European hinges are buying one Amazon, I got you, so buy the right ones. You can also put self and this is where you shut the door and it closes slowly and doesn't go clunk Right, I will do the same place. Sure nice, any luxury kitchen would have it right. It would be built like that from scratch.
Speaker 2:And the draw pools too. Full extension, gotta be a full extension, unless you've got a very tight budget, of course, and there's other ways to do it. But a full extension doesn't cost that much and you can switch them out on your drawers. And, of course, you want soft closing drawers, because same thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like those. Yeah, your kids.
Speaker 2:Don't shut the drawers, and they're half all your spouse doesn't. That's another thing to get mad about.
Speaker 3:It really is.
Speaker 2:They're not emptying the dishwasher, not filling the dishwasher.
Speaker 3:Leaving the drawers a half way.
Speaker 2:Leaving the drawers halfway up and throwing the forks in the wrong, the wrong area. Right, we're trained All of this house. But also it just makes your life more peaceful when the doors aren't slamming. You know, sort of like organization at the best your cupboards are organized and your doors aren't slamming. It just makes you feel better, I agree. And so that's all open, and it's open to the great room, which might be a smallish great room but with a vaulted ceiling it makes it feel much bigger.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then a beautiful fireplace, and here's the thing about the fireplace, apparently.
Speaker 1:I'm a little picky.
Speaker 2:I'm realizing. Build a hearth that you can sit on. All it takes is to move the firebox up. Yeah, I agree with that too. Build it on the floor. Why would you do that? There's nothing better than having and make the hearth go out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I did in this house I built. It was like you know.
Speaker 2:I love it. Two or three feet, yeah, yeah, yeah, and then you can put pillows on.
Speaker 3:Absolutely the tools for the fire you know all of that.
Speaker 2:yeah, even though it's probably gas, but who cares you?
Speaker 3:want your tools there.
Speaker 2:I like the pillows so you can sit there on a nice hearth, because otherwise it's chilly, yeah. So here's another little tip get your pillows first, because they're not. You can't just go into Pier 1 and get your pillows anymore. Get your pillows, research your pillows and then build your hearth to fit. That's cool.
Speaker 2:You don't have to build it in or anything you know, but you've got pillows you can throw in the washing machine or buy new ones where it will actually fit, because, yes, I learned that from experience too. It just hang over a little bit and it looks tacky. You know, gosh, I really am picky. I'm just realizing Screened in porch, let's talk about that, I'll love them. Screened in porch, big area that runs now from your owner's suite or as far as you can afford, and that costs money, you know, especially if it's covered. Yes, and again, it's all white inside and it's got planked and beamed ceiling.
Speaker 3:A lot of wood out there.
Speaker 2:On the cover? Yeah, because the wood against the white inside it's just beautiful. And of course you've got another fireplace out there just saying, oh yeah, outdoor fireplace, outdoor kitchen.
Speaker 2:Little outdoor kitchen because, they just look fancy and most of us don't use them. Call in if I'm wrong about that 828-240-90-69-62. And then on the other side we're gonna have actually this is another expense but between the main living area which it comprises the great room and the open kitchen, have a little hallway or something between the main area and the owner's suite. That hallway you can put floor length mirrors in, you can put beautiful artwork, but it gives that separation and sound and makes it feel much more private.
Speaker 3:In this house that I built was it was across the foyer. There was a foyer. Yes, there you go, On the other side of the foyer.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, you could use it, because obviously people really aren't coming in now in front of your bedroom by the time you're sleeping. So, yeah, there's all kinds of other uses for it as well, and it doesn't take up that much space, so not that much more expense. So now we travel from the owner's suite through to the great room that's all open to the kitchen, and then you've got two more bedrooms on the other side, exactly and a bath between them.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and you've maybe got a loft bedroom. If it can be en suite, it's even better. Honestly, where they've got their own private bathroom, nothing wrong with Jack and Jill. But if you've got younger kids, it's nice for them to have their own bathroom so they're not all squabbling with each other and learning to take care of their own space. But again, that's an extra expense. You're right if you're doing it on a budget. Nothing wrong with the Jack and Jill bathroom. Many of us grew up with one of those, or many of us grew up with one bathroom sharing it with four of the kids, right, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and all arguing about yeah, I need to go out. I'm not gonna be able to get ready on time, so nothing wrong with that. Now, there's ways to build on those basics, obviously, but that's it for me, especially the covered porch. I could live on the covered porch many times, Ah, so nice so nice.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so, and we'll look at the costs of that and what it means. In fact, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna scoot right down to those costs because I think this is the most important part of today To really look at this, because so many of you buy bear land.
Speaker 2:All you're thinking about building and you're going out to the builders, which is fantastic. But I want you to build the land into the budget, because many of you go for a land with amazing views and you're spending $100,000, and I can tell you right now this is at which is quite frankly ridiculous right now, $200 a square foot. So, quite frankly, we can double the price 300, is probably a minimum and we can go up to 400 a square foot and we're gonna get all this built out for you. I'm basing this on 200, which is about the least you can build for in the country. So let's look at it that way. So think about your total budget. What does that mean? How much have you got to spend on the house?
Speaker 2:When you buy a house, usually when it's built already, you're buying the house and the land. So when you build a land and a house, you're not just looking at the dollar per square foot of the house, you're looking at the, because you're not comparing like with like. When you buy a house that's already built, the price per square foot that's quoted is taking the value of the land into that when you're looking at a. Oh well, it only costs 300 or 400 a square foot to build a house. You gotta buy the land as well, so it's gonna be more per square foot than that.
Speaker 2:And then it depends do you want your square footage to go out or go up? Because all down, for that matter, and the mountains is often down, because we're on a slope and therefore you can build a basement and usually that costs you less. The main living area, however, it has less daylight and less people want that. So I mean, a lot of people want it, but less people would buy a house with that. It's lower down the priorities is my point. That's why the basement level square foot is lower than the main level square foot. That's why the upstairs square foot is a bit less than the main level, because main level is most valuable.
Speaker 3:Gotcha, I didn't realize that yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So basement's usually about half. I mean I'm throwing a figure out oh yeah, yeah. So, yes, it may cost you less, but always go in with your exit plan. Most of us don't do that.
Speaker 2:We're going, we're building our dream home. We're never gonna leave it. I can tell you. I just helped somebody build a house their dream home with a business about eight years ago, and now they're selling it and moving to 100 acres in a different state. So just remember that dream house that you thought you were building. I just remodeled my dream house four years ago and said it was not my dream house, but my forever house. Like, I'm done with this, I'm done with stairs, and then I moved. Happens to the best of us. Okay. So if your budget, for example, is a million dollars, let's start at the top end. That might be $2 million or $3 million, but let's say it's a million dollars. You don't want your land definitely to be more than 20% of that, but most likely 15% of that 150 to 200,000.
Speaker 2:Exactly Right. And yet I cannot tell you how many people get wooed by $100,000 lot and like we're gonna build in it, you know. Oh, it's gonna be so much more in five to 10 years. Well, all I can tell you is this last cycle that has not happened. Has some land gone up? The houses go up way more than the land they're sitting on. The land goes up because it's in a development or it's on some acreage with beautiful views and it doesn't have things that people don't want next door. You'll know what I mean by that. It's what you don't want next door. Right, might be a house, you might want privacy, but let's talk about neighborhoods for a minute.
Speaker 2:If you're in a neighborhood that is only partially built out there's lots of them that are only 15% built out then there's lots of land left. That land sits there. People had all these dreams. It was sold to them with helicopters and wonderful things in the development in the first place, and people are back. Remember many people here and around the country. I train agents all around the country. We have the CASH GPO program that people are part of and run with us all around the country and I hear this all the time People that are coming in right to the area. Wherever your area is this is almost every area 60 to 80% of them are coming in from elsewhere. So the helicopters come out for the development, the champagne, the shrimp, you know all that stuff. The clubhouse has been built so you can get these wonderful views. There's all these wonderful drawings and plans built and you buy that $100,000 a lot but nobody says when you build and it's gonna be a lot more I need to tell you do you have a million dollars to spend?
Speaker 2:Because to make it part of that, full yeah, you're gonna have to spend that, or to make it of value, because when you go to sell the house, if you're spending $100,000 and you think you're putting a $300,000, here's my point you think you're putting a $300,000 house on there.
Speaker 3:No, no, it ain't gonna happen. Probably restrictions in the subdivision, exactly To mandate that yeah.
Speaker 2:That will mandate it. The fact that you're gonna be spending 300 to 400 a square foot is gonna mandate it, and you want to be able to sell it, whereby that $100,000, okay. So you put a lot of people go oh, it's only gonna cost me. You know, they look online, they see these builder plans and they're like, oh, how many cost me $250 or $300? Or I'm gonna put a modular home on there. Good luck with that. Even the beautiful modular homes that you see, I've had them quoted out $450,000. Right, so you don't want to be putting a $500,000 house on a $100,000 lot because that isn't the 10 to 20% of the value. Right, it's like living, and there's nothing wrong with this. It's like living in a shed and parking a Lamborghini outside.
Speaker 2:Very good description it doesn't make any sense, especially when you go to sell it and you may want to at some time. And here's the problem with those developments where lots of people were sold and they bought those $100,000 lots and nobody was honest and said what's your budget? Start with the end in mind. What's your budget? If your budget is $300,000, for example, then you've got $10,000 for your lot. Here's why I want you to build in $40,000 for improvements Now in a development. It's not going to be as much. If you are building outside of a development, maybe you need a perk test, maybe you need a septic system. Why?
Speaker 2:Maybe you need water, sewer, exactly Driveway. You've got to take trees down, even if spending $2,000 a piece to take a big tree down, right, so you could be $10,000 in. We don't know how far down we're going to be drilling for the well. So I want you to build in $40,000, and that's across the board. If you're outside a development, now, even if you're inside a development, especially on bigger lots, you're going to want landscaping, of course. I just moved out of a development where a couple that moved from Florida spent $150,000 on an acre lot landscaping it, I'm not surprised yeah it's shocking.
Speaker 2:Now, they did put a small pool in, just sort of odd, because the neighborhood has a pool, but whatever, especially here, because how many days do you get in the pool? Just saying, oh, it's me being all judgy, isn't it? Well, but it's important to remember. You don't think they always say, when you have a house quoted out, add 20% because it's going to cost more, because you get all excited about building your house. You've been drilling about this for 10 years and, like me, I then say to the builder that space that is between the owner suite and the great room can we put a hallway in there? And I wanted a little mini coffered ceiling that runs down the stretch of it and a wall of mirror maybe. Oh, that's gruesome, that's really 70s, but I'm picturing it now. It's all white and it's got big, deep, high baseboards and it's like my art museum and it's got colorful pictures, oil prints all the way along.
Speaker 3:How cool would that be to get up to? That's very cool, but that's a change on the building plans.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And it goes, add up.
Speaker 2:So if that's four feet wide by 20 feet long, say that's 80 square feet yeah. It was 80 square feet Times 200, 300.
Speaker 2:300 probably. That's a lot. It's $25,000 all there about Just to add my little hallway and how many more of those little things add up, of course, and I'm not putting you off building at all. So if you have the money to do it, just look at your budget and hone in on your beautiful built home and choose the things you really want Like. For me it would be a covered porch. That's above everything.
Speaker 3:I agree with you wholehearted.
Speaker 2:Now I'm not saying I'll live in a shed with a covered porch. However, I would take off all of the other wonderful things. You've got to put your priorities first, right? That's why you start with the end in mind. And what do all those things cost? So if your budget say it's about $500,000, then you've got $40,000 for your lot.
Speaker 2:I'll share all the calculators with you based on this. Just look me up on. You can find me all over the place Rowena Patten, all-star powerhouse, R-O-W-E-N-A-P-A-T-T-O-N. If you haven't been listening for the last 12 years, I'm not getting on yet or, In fact, you can go to realestatenewsradiocom. Realestatenewsradiocom. All the contact buttons, the phone numbers, everything are on there, Realestatenewsradiocom. I will send you this list and the calculator. Start with the end in mind. I've built lots of houses. I've remodeled even more. I've done 42, 43 at this point Doesn't mean to say I'm the expert on it by any means, but I will have lots of ideas for you. And that's the problem. When you start thinking about your dream home, your friends go. Did you think about this? Ooh, that's a cool idea. Did you think about the toilet that washes you with warm water?
Speaker 3:Ooh, that's a good idea Triangular-shaped windows that go up in the eaves of the yeah oh, like the A-frame piece that has the windows in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so have you thought about, ooh, look at the picture of the one I built 10 years ago. Ooh, I hadn't thought about that. How about real stone instead of manufactured stone? That's a thing of mine, not the manufactured stone, the other one. So you know, you don't know what you're going to be thinking of. So start with the end in mind and then really do your research first. So here's the thing Lots of these people who have a budget of $400,000 or $500,000, are spending $70,000 to $150,000 on the lot.
Speaker 2:It doesn't make sense. No, it doesn't, unless you just don't care and you don't care about an exit plan, and that's how a lot of people feel. You know, oh, it doesn't matter, because this is going to be my forever home. I can tell you I'm selling lots of your lots, you know, and they sit there and then somebody else buys them with a dream. Some of you have had them for 20 years. Some of you have had them in the family for a long time.
Speaker 2:You know, maybe your parents passed and you kept the land, or here it's big farmland that was broken up between the siblings and you've all kept it, and for many of you that's been an amazing thing, except the siblings all then fight about the land. You know, just make sure when you buy that land, you've got the end in mind. I mean, what's your dream home that you're going to put on the land? Or maybe you're farming the land that's fine too. What is it you're going to be doing with it? What's the highest and best use of that land? And you know what's the calculator to go through that, and I can help you with that. If you're just buying a lot for now nothing wrong with that and you want to hold it because you're like, oh, the land's going away First of all it isn't. I'm going to find you plenty of land, trust me, and lots of people who are reselling the land because if it's in an HOA, they get fed up of the HOA fees.
Speaker 2:They get fed up of the taxes and I have lots in development. I used to represent half a dozen actually a dozen different developments around the mountains and my background is marketing. So they wanted all the marketing experience in there and I sold a lot of land and now I'm reselling it, sometimes twice.
Speaker 3:And it's just sat there for 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm very open and honest and have blog posts out there showing you how to build all this pricing. But I will sit down with you, with your builder, and we can go through the kind of land you want. It just makes more sense to do it that way Because your total budget gives you the price of the lot that you're going to buy. Now can you spend 10 or 20 grand more? Absolutely, can you spend 100 grand more. Have at it, but know what you're getting yourself into. Go in eyes wide open, because if you buy that lot at $100,000, unless you're building a million dollar house or $750 house and up then it's going to be a hard resale because a very small percentage, very fortunate percentage, of the population can afford to buy that lot next time and build their big, beautiful home. It's really that simple. Most people can spend up to $400 on a home. That's 80% of people have not hired than that. That's it. Let's say I'm not talking about building a home. I'm talking about a home that's already there these days. That's going to give you a home. If you build one, that is maybe, if you're lucky, 11, 1200 square feet and the price of your lot is $20,000. People are always outraged by that, but go in with eyes wide open. You've got $40,000 for improvements. Maybe we can cut down on that if it's in a development, but most of the lots of that price if you're building in a development, and much higher, especially if you want the view lots. Most people come here for the views, so I really want you to think about that.
Speaker 2:Let's look at some other considerations. I went right to the end with the calculator. If you'd like that calculator and you're thinking about building a land, here's our next book. I think then it's really important to look at it in that way and what the considerations are. We've got all kinds of checklists and questions and things to go through that might give you ideas.
Speaker 2:It's not just as simple as buying the ideal home book, which we all look at. That too, I get it and all the home magazines. It's ideas for the start, with the layout, nothing else matters. What's the layout? What's the floor plan? All the fancy, lovely stuff. That's all the stuff that costs money and we can do the budget on that. But do you want a split bedroom plan, for example? A lot of people don't even think about that. Do you want to be next to your guests when they can stay with you? Do you want to be next to your kids if you still got kids at home, yeah or do you want your office right next to your bedroom or do you want to get away from it at the other end of the house? So if you've got a split bedroom plan and you're in the owner's suite, you're going across your living area into one of the offices, if you really even need one these days. I'd be sitting at the bar top annoying everybody.
Speaker 3:Out on that covered porch, Just out of yeah, when it's warm enough, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So you know, think about the floor plan and then we can fancy it up and put the money on it later. So people think I should talk better than that because I've got an English accent. But you know, anyway, my dad built his house, actually three times. Wow, he didn't know what he was doing, but he built the house.
Speaker 3:He learned every time yeah, he learned piece by piece.
Speaker 2:Maybe that's why I've done 43 remunals at this point, got it right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got. I don't have the book anymore. I never want to do it again and build in my next one, ok. So location, do you want to? And this is whether you're buying a house or building a house, it doesn't matter. I used to call it the martini test and people got upset, especially as they're changing the laws now. So let's call it the pint of milk test. When you drive up the mountain to your beautiful isolation, you know, in the country or isolated, you've got these beautiful views If you run out of milk, are you OK? So it's getting, you know it's winter time, so it's five o'clock, it's getting dark, are you OK? Driving back to the store? Think really hard and fast about that.
Speaker 3:Think really hard and fast about that.
Speaker 2:That's why a lot of people end up selling their homes with me. We should say we're tired of the drive.
Speaker 3:And they live there a year and they can't get pizza delivery or internet service Right thank you.
Speaker 2:So internet service is another one, although that's getting a lot easier these days. Yes, delivery is a big one. So is the funny thing? I don't do a whole lot of delivery and I like to know that it's there. What if you're sick, you know, or I don't know? Even selling your house, the ability to get delivery is going to up the value of your house, peer, at the end.
Speaker 3:I had COVID for three weeks and delivery from grocery stores and restaurants was life-saving. It really was.
Speaker 2:I'm staying in a friend's home right now and she loves to get delivery from fresh market and public. It is fantastic.
Speaker 3:Instacart. I love it.
Speaker 2:So it comes in this brown paper bag. It lands on your doorstep. It's fantastic.
Speaker 3:You've got the ring doorbell that tells you and you can see the guy sit the thing on the porch. You go get your food.
Speaker 2:And you know if you're busy and it costs very little and you've got to look at, I think it's like six bucks or 10 bucks on average. People are like, oh, I'm not paying that for someone to bring my groceries. How much do you think you spend in gas to get to the store?
Speaker 3:There are times when you need that and it's really so convenient, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's funny. I had a lunch conversation yesterday with an old friend and a young man that works for him who's 30 years old. He seemed really young, realizing 30 is really not that young. But I was talking to them about the value of time. There's nothing more valuable than time and for most people they start realizing that when they get older how valuable your time is.
Speaker 1:You can't get it back.
Speaker 2:There's no diamonds or beautiful houses or vacations or anything else that can replace your time. Amen, so you know, there's nothing more valuable than that. I understand it wisely. Yeah, and if you like grocery shopping, that's great.
Speaker 3:Go grocery shopping. I've got to go after this show.
Speaker 2:I guess you don't why you don't get delivery.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking about it. There you go. I really am.
Speaker 2:There you go. So location is really, really, really important. I was actually about to buy a house that I was remodeling the cost to it's. Basically, it may as well build a new one, unfortunately. So I pulled out of that one which is a rare thing for me, I like a challenge and I realized there was only one house next to it, and I'm used to being in a neighborhood. I don't want to be right on top of the house next door, but I realized that living on my own maybe I didn't want to and it wasn't very far out or anything but I realized do I really want that? You know, I hadn't even considered that before. So do you want people around? How close do you want them? You know, in a perfect world. Do you want to be in a historic area? You know? Do you want to be a new owner? Do you want a new home? Do you want to build a new home in a historic area and building historic features?
Speaker 3:There's a lot of things to think about in building a new home. There's no window dressings when you move into a new home. That's an expensive thing Blinds, curtains, draperies, rods, et cetera.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, window dressings are super out.
Speaker 3:A what?
Speaker 2:Window dressings. They've gone out of style and a lot of times you have the electric blinds now they come down.
Speaker 2:And you know, or most of the time in windows, you can't see in unless you put the light on. You know, yeah, obviously at night or something, and then streak in front of the neighbors. That's a whole other story. So if you like to streak in front of the neighbors, we can find the house for you Budget. Obviously we covered that one. Obviously, the budget is very, very important. That's where you start and you may say to me I don't know what my budget is going to be in 10 years time. But the truth is not going to be so different. It is now, for most people, more Well, it's going to be more, because we may have had a lot of inflation.
Speaker 2:I mean, look at what's happened in the last 10 years in terms of building costs. I didn't write this that long ago I wonder if it's got a date on it and I had it at 200. Because I was trying to go for the lowest possible, because I don't want people to say we can build it for 250 or 300 or whatever, which some builders can, which is amazing, and there are ways to do that, especially in different areas of the country. So I wanted to produce all of this calculator based on that. I am literally going to build a calculator because I'm techie like that that put where you can plug in the price per square foot that tells you what your land should be. It spits it out. That's a great idea. So if it spits it out at $40,000 for the land, it doesn't matter if you go a bit over or obviously a bit under, but look for those features that you want, because location, location, location.
Speaker 2:If you want views, there might only be one piece of land that comes up for that. If you want water, we've got to be careful with that one. There aren't going to be many that come up with that. So many people for $20,000 want long range views and I don't know, rushing Bold Creek and yeah, good luck. And then we think about the site prep. You could plug the site prep in Also, whether it has a septic, what you should consider for that. It's going to be $10,000, $15,000. And even upwards. If it doesn't perk, then you're out of like two right. That's why I advise many people to look for mobile homes that are manufactured, homes that are older, that have little value, because you've usually got a septic, you've usually got a well, all that infrastructure is in place. Go build your beautiful new home. A lot of areas of transition to much more expensive homes makes it a very easy way.
Speaker 2:The land has all been cleared. Sometimes they have incredible views. Smart, smart, yeah right, so wells, at $6,500, $10,000, $150 feet, but how many feet is it going to be?
Speaker 3:That's a crap shoot. Exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:And I've seen them as low as $3,000. Because you hit it right away, very unlikely, but you've got to build the well infrastructure in. That doesn't even buy the motor. What kind of motor.
Speaker 1:Do you want? Is it a?
Speaker 2:pump, and, yeah, is it solar powered? And yada, yada, yada. So $15,000, $20,000, $30,000 at least for the well, because it depends on how deep you've got to drill. So people go yeah, I want a $30,000 piece of land with no restrictions, and I'm going to put my mobile on, Because they find these mobile homes that are $85,000 for a single wide and they're thinking, oh, here are $100,000. No, you've got the site prep, you've got Done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. And of course, at the higher end, you've got to be really careful what's around you, because even though you think it's your forever home, it might not be and it will annoy you for the same reason that somebody else hasn't bought that for the last 10 years Pricing it. So we have a lot of wonderful builders here. What I love about builders here is that they tend to be custom builders. Now, does that make it a little more expensive? Sure, but we're talking about building your dream home, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and so out the window, exactly exactly we are going to get a builder on the show to go through with you. I mean discussions with him on that right now. And what are you laughing at, randy? Randy knows all my stories and I know all his stories and yeah. So we'll go over this in detail and what it means and we'll have a lively discussion on that.
Speaker 2:And also, what I'd love to talk to a builder about honestly is talking about what are the things where people make mistakes? Where do they see that there's been a lot of mistakes made when people maybe didn't see that in the first place, and when you've been building for a really long time, you know all of those things. And at the same time, you maybe don't Just like I don't, because in my mind I know, because I've been doing this so long, that people who want a house are asking for a two-car garage or three-car garage on the main, depending on budget. Obviously it's the basic budget. Two-car garage on the main, open living plan, split bedroom plan, three bedrooms, two baths it's that simple.
Speaker 3:That's what people ask for. That's the house I built in the mid-80s.
Speaker 2:I'm telling you about.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Number one is the owner suite on the main. That's the number one requirement. Whether they're buying a resale or building a home, Number one requirement, right.
Speaker 3:Master on the main.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. And if you want to see one of the companies, I'll give a shout out to BK Construction. They were voted the number one in Asheville. I believe they're featured on house. They've just got the best gallery. I've been stalking the gallery. It's amazing and they just have the best pictures in there. I've got to find my favorite one. I think it's the Brush Creek. So this is just go to BK Construction Company.
Speaker 2:Is it the Brush Creek? It's got this beautiful kitchen. Oh, now it's making me sign in. Go away. It's gorgeous. So the funny thing is it's all white. It's got the wood beams. I didn't even notice this before. It's got the cover porch with the paneled ceiling. It must have all put this in my brain or something. It's absolutely gorgeous. You have to go see this BK Construction. Click on Brush Creek. It's gorgeous. It looks like it's got natural wood floors. If you have lots of dogs or something or kids or I don't know a spouse that stomps around the house, then you might want to look at luxury vinyl plank for that. They have about 40 colors in that now and it looks like wood and it's indestructible by the good stuff. I'm gonna tell you all about that too. This house is gorgeous. It's got beautiful decks. Whomever the owners are are very lucky. Bk Construction. They're one of the great builders in town and maybe we can get them on to talk about home building.
Speaker 2:That'd be pretty cool, wouldn't it, yes it would, Because building a home is one of the most special things you can do in your life. You know me I want everybody to go in eyes wide open and know what the costs are gonna be Inside and out.
Speaker 2:Start with the end in mind and then we'll go all through what that means. So here's another question how soon do you want to move in? So, for example, horton builds homes that they've come in this market. They build homes You're looking in, for example, charlotte or Atlanta or any of the flatlands, anywhere in the country. The big home builders build on big tracks. They build, you know, there's 300 lots, 600 lots, and they build six different types of homes. They're usually vinyl and they offer you, you know. So you've got six different plans you can choose from, depending on your budget. Obviously, most of it is vinyl all the way around the back and then you can spend a bit more than you usually manufactured stone on the front to give it a bit of pizzazz. It's like our 70s neighborhoods, really, here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the Windsor company used to do that Same thing. They still do. Yeah, they still do.
Speaker 2:So there's, you know, there's home builders that have come into the market here. Where you can, you know, get a small, modest home at 500. That's a brand new home. Now, you're a very small lot, obviously, and you've got 808 fees. So it's just, you know where's your budget. What is it that you want to do? Would you rather so it? You know, if you take the price of that, you could probably have something bigger than a tiny home. Do you want to give up that space for the luxury of a custom built home?
Speaker 3:Good question.
Speaker 2:You know, I'd love to get any of the builders on to talk about that. You know what does it look like if we're not going for a tracked home, if we're going for our forever home. That's amazing what the big home builders that are coming in that are building these tracked homes. It's gonna hurt our prices because there's a lot of people in these 70s neighborhoods that you know are trying to sell the home for 500,000. And now you can buy the. Now do they have as much character? Yada, yada, yada. No, but you can buy a new home for 500,000. So you gotta be careful with that. I hope you enjoyed the show today. Guys. You'll have it podcast very soon at realestatenewsradiocom realestatenewsradiocom. Get hold of me on there. I'll send you the calculator on building. See you on the radio next week.
Speaker 1:This has been the Plain English Real Estate Show with Rowena Patton. Visit Rowena and post your questions at radioashvillecom or call her at 828-210-1648.