What to do? Build here or elsewhere?

18 years ago

DH and I just don't know what to do. We have beautiful 5 acres that DH has put a lot of work in, all along doing it for the equity. We have a 1997 Fuqua MFH double wide, 3bedrooms (and 4 kids we are busting out of the seams!) on our 5 acres and a mortgage roughly 140,000. So onto our delemma, land prices where we live are OUTRAGIOUS! So our 5 acres are looking more appealing. So we would like to stay here, but would love to build a home, a bigger home. But how do we go about doing this. With mfh here already, can we get another loan to build with, can we build somewhere else on property and still live in mfh and then remove it, do we have to remove mfh first to build here? We don't know where to begin. We could pay for another 100,000 (+/- 50,000) loan, but can we build a basic 2 story 5 bdrm home with that(doing a lot of work ourselves). 4 bdrms and bathroom upstairs, everything else down. Are we being unrealstic with that budget? (If it makes a difference we live in Washington State.) If someone could give us some advice on how to go about going bigger! Thanks for your time. Heidi

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

luckymom23
18 years ago
Hi Heidi,
You need to check your zoning. It might be on your property tax statement, or you can call your county assessor and find out. We are in Oregon and you can build a 'replacement dwelling' while living in a MH. But then you must move the MH off the property within a certain period of time, I think 60 days. If it is possible to divide your property into two lots or it is zoned for less than 5 acres per residence then you may be able to build another home on a portion of the property and then rent out the MH, giving you some income or sell off the portion with the MH.
I hate to put a damper on your plans but... I think it would be tough to build a home for $100k with 5 bedrooms. You are probably looking at a home with at least 2000sf. Even if the shape of the house is simple and you go basic with your finishes and do some work yourselves you are probably looking at $90 per square foot. If you use a builder it would be more. The place to start would be a lender to find out how much you would qualify for on a construction loan, they can also give you a rough idea of what construction costs in your area are running. I would also suggest talking to a realtor about the value of your property vs what you could buy if you sold it. Good luck with your plans.
iluvmy4kids
Original Author
18 years ago
Luckymom23, Thanks so much for responding, you gave me a great place to start. Looks like we should think more about our budget, lol. Thanks again. Heidi
Related Professionals
Daytona Beach Architects & Building Designers · Hilton Head Island Architects & Building Designers · Pittsburgh Architects & Building Designers · Montrose Architects & Building Designers · Minot Architects & Building Designers · Dothan Design-Build Firms · Oneonta Design-Build Firms · Chula Vista Design-Build Firms · Williston Design-Build Firms · Edmonton Design-Build Firms · Austin Home Builders · Worcester Home Builders · Lima Home Builders · Clovis Home Builders · Leamington Home Builders
mjob1999
18 years ago
Where are you located? This has a big time influence on prices.
mjob1999
18 years ago
Oops. I saw your location after I posted. I hate that there is not a delete button!

I am not familiar with pricing in the PNW, but here in NC, we are building our home, with a pretty high finish level (granite counterops, Hickory floors or tile floors, custom cabinets etc) for $96 square foot. We are owner builders, but all that we are doing ourselves is some of the more basic things like waterproofing, the easy site work, and we get free wiring, thanks to family. A good way to tell is call a local real estate appraiser and find out what price per square foot they are using for replacement cost approach on appraisals. You can also call some local builders or real estate agents and figure out the price per square foot. You can take about 20% off of that price if you just sub everything yourself. (This is not for the impatient!) Then you can take more off if you do some of the work. Keep you finishes more basic or nice, but not extravagent, and you might can make it happen. The one piece of advice I think all owner/builders would give you is this: Do not build with a budget of say 125k, and a cost estimate of say 120k. You will not make it. (the figures are hypothetical) Allow up to 20% for cost overruns. You will be surprised at some of the simple things that you will just forget about when working up your estimate. (like sales tax, a very common mistake)