When you bought your home...

[nuisance26]

~These posts have helped me so much. Thanks everyone!
And yes, Darlene, we are still looking at the property I mentioned in another post. DH and I are touring two plots tomorrow and our realtor is getting the papers together for our inspection. The seller(bank)is dragging their feet. But I guess that gives us plenty of time to think it through.
Deer, I'd rather do without than have wire shelves to replace with wood later. That goes for almost every area in the house. I'd rather live with plywood sub-flooring than put in cheap carpeting to replace later. I'd rather use my particle board pantry cabinets in the kitchen instead of installing cheapo cabinets I didn't even like. I'd rather have a blank canvas for my art than to work around someone else's notions, KWIM?
The 800 square foot rancher we're living in is the nicest place I've ever lived in. I spent most of my growing up years in a drafty barn of a 'house'. It was actually a couple of houses stacked and slapped together. My dad was constantly trying to hold the place together. To give you an idea as to its condition, my parents bought it for $7000. You could roll a ball from one side of the house to the other. The floors felt like a trampoline. The drafts were unreal. It was completely infested with bugs and rodents. The basement was always flooded. Before that I live in two tiny old trailers that my dad arranged side by side with a hole he cut to walk through to each side. The water would come though the walkway when it rained.
I'm not complaining, or being a martyr, just saying that I am in no way a princess. I truly truly truly want and am accustomed to simplicity. I have plain tastes and simple needs and wants.
If we can build a home with good bones, it will be like fancy camping for a few years until we get the finishing done. And I love camping. ~

[monkeywrangler71]

The only problem with an unfinished house is with the financing. If you are getting a construction mortgage they may not let you have your final draw if there is no flooring, cupboards, etc. If you need to finance the new house you may not find a bank that will let you just build the bones and add the rest later. I don't know how much equity you have to put towards it, if you can do it without a mortgage then you can take as long as you like.

In answer to your original question.
In my first house, I did absolutely nothing in the first few years. I was there eight years and eventually painted, replaced the flooring in the bedrooms, and I think I might have reshingled the roof. The paint and flooring probably would have been done after eight years regardless of whether it was new or old. Otherwise nothing broke the whole time I was there, and I made no other improvements.

The second house we had to replace the furnace, but knew that going in. That was required by the insurance company, it probably worked fine. The fridge didn't work and had to be replaced. We replaced the flooring in the livingroom, the carpet was disgusting and the hardwood under it was ruined. The entire place was painted. Eventually I replaced the back sliding door, it had been installed wrong and rotted underneath; replaced all the windows, basically on a whim, the old ones were fine; redid the floor in the kitchen; and replaced some of the cabinets. That house was well built but really ugly, most of it didn't 'have' to be done. We probably spent $20000 or more over 5 years in renos, which still made it cheaper than a newer home. But I think we got a great deal on that place, no one else could see past the flowered wallpaper and piles of knick knacks.

This house, we have practically gutted. So far nothing terribly costly, but a few thousand in paint and flooring and a list of to-dos as long as my arm. We bought this one for it's location and a good solid structure, but I have probably about $100k worth of stuff I eventually want to do. Its hard to say if this would have been cheaper to build since the real value is in the location.

[Spirit Deer]

Our house was a double-wide trailer and had to be built to HUD codes. That meant we had to take the carpet, we had to take the cabinets even the ones we ripped out the day the house showed up, we had to accept a lot of things we'd have rather gotten in an unfinished state so we could do as we wanted. Like the wire shelving in the pantry and in every closet. And it was better than nothing, till we got around to making the changes.

I totally agree about the financing, as I stated on your other thread. If you're building it all on a cash basis, then you may or may not be able to do as you please, depending on what it is and what your building codes require of you.

Be sure you study up on building codes before starting something. Some places don't have much for codes, like here. Some are very strict about just about everything. If you don't build something to code, they can make you rip it out and redo it. So it's helpful if you know things like how high your porch rails have to be and little details like that.

Slightly off topic, but make a note to yourself to have extra outlets and circuits built in throughout the entire house. It's relatively cheap and easy to do before the walls are all closed up. If you think about the explosion of electronics in the past twenty years and the demand for more and more places to plug things in as technology has advanced, then project a few decades into the future, you can see it makes sense to overbuild your electrical system now, for the future. Be sure your breaker box has some extra room left over, too, because you never know when you'll need to add a circuit or six. Also have receptacles spaced closer together than code specifies. We've added three or four new circuits to our electrical system already in this house, and will be adding a dedicated circuit this summer sometime, because we're sick of years of not being able to run the toaster oven and microwave at the same time, so the micro is getting its own circuit.

When we remodeled our kitchen last winter, I put three receptacles in the kitchen island alone, for a total of six plug-ins. The old one had one receptacle which seems like plenty for running a hand mixer or whatever, but it got aggravating when I needed to have the Aerogarden, Crock-Pot, two or three small electronic items charging, AND the hand mixer. Adding the two extra receptacles has made a huge difference and was one of the best changes I made. Small things like that are easy to overlook when you're doing a huge project, and if you need to make those kinds of changes later, it's helpful to have room in the breaker box to do it, because otherwise you may be living with frustration for decades.
How's that for dragging a thread off topic?

[OOwl]

Housing prices are CHEAP in Texas compared to what I see on programs like "House Hunters." We just paid $63/sq ft for a newly constructed, custom-built, all-stone home in an area I love. I KNOW we couldn't of gone out and had a house of this quality built for this price. We just lucked into it. It was ALMOST perfect for US but not for everyone that looked at it (obviously, since it sat on the market for almsot a year). It wasn't exactly what we needed but we are having it customized to our own unique needs. Extra wood fencing is $3,000, covered back porch with ceiling fan and handrail (for handicapped family member is $5,500, workshop with AC and electrical $8,500, and custom, heavy-guage chainlink kennel run for dogs $5,600. We're not moved in yet because all the renovations are still in progress, but I'm hoping it will be easier to be out of the workers' way so they can get it done quicker. Good luck on your new home choice.

[nuisance26]

~A fully prepared breaker is a great idea, thanks Deer! Throughout our current house(which I'm pretty sure is code standard)we only use half the ports. I think the amount of outlets in the plan will be enough for us. Especially since we want to live less plugged-in anyway.
Although a kitchen island should definitely have lots of outlets since it's a work center. Was there an island in there before with no outlets?
I know codes are different in trailers though from watching my dad tweak things in his to be more like house codes.
I found a copy of residential codes for NJ online and am reading the applicable portions today. My plan is more than compliant so far.~

[Judi Dial]

Nothing we couldn't avoid! Six weeks after we closed on this place, DH lost his job. He was out of work for six months, then got a job in the midwest. . .

What we couldn't avoid: a propane jet on the furnace. The idiots who had this place before us apparently always heated with wood, I have no gripe with that, but they bought a natural gas furnace and never changed the jet. We nearly had a fire (in a log house ) the first time we used the furnace!

Judi

[Spirit Deer]

Having extra outlets isn't just about being able to plug lots of things in. It's about having an outlet where you really need one, and it's hard to predict exactly where that will be. It's not good to have to run extension cords all over because the outlets are too far apart.

I know HUD codes are different than local building codes. They're more of a minimum standard.

Our old kitchen island had one outlet where two items could be plugged in. It was a pain because I always have an Aerogarden on the island with herbs in it, and if it's unplugged, it messes up the light timer which is on a 24-hour cycle. Now six items can be plugged in, and it's a small island. I also put in one outlet that has two rotating sockets in it. That helps a lot because we tend to charge our small electronics there and being able to rotate the sockets makes it easier to plug in two wall warts at the same time.

[mndtrp]

This was my first house, and I didn't have much knowledge in home repairs and whatnot. Therefore, I bought a house that didn't need anything done when I moved in. I know that I paid extra for that, but there has been enough stuff I've had to do in the meantime, that I'm glad I did it this way.

[Lora88]

I have lived in a few homes new construction older victorian townhouse communtiy well you get the idea I see you live in NJ as I do building your own house can be very tricky here as code enforcement is very strict and do not forget to include the costs of the permits and if you fail an inspection it can put you back weeks . My husband is a contractor and our current home is literally my dream house we live on 3 acres in Millstone twp the house was a foreclosure and pretty much a complete gut It was really worth the effort and the cost but just keep in mind that everything takes longer and costs more than you think it will . Instead of building have you considered foreclosures the market is flooded right now if this home had been a regular sale I could never have afforded it Millstone is a very high dollar area . And to answer the orginal question we had to have the underground oil tank removed right way an converted to gas heat Thank God my husband could do the conversion we had the tank removed by a liscensed company We were supposed to get a rebate from the state of NJ however all funds are gone as the state is broke Good luck

[happymomof4]

I live in south eastern PA. Understand what $150,000 gets you now a days. Can't even touch a condo in our area for that.

~True and I've done that. I know what $150K will buy in my area and I know the problems you get with a $150K house in my area. I looked at one a couple of months ago with great interest. It unfortunately needed an investment of 20% of the purchase price to fix water damage.
Real estate is high here. In fact, the house we want to build where we want to build it would probably sell for $50-75K more than it will cost us to build it.
I remember the 100's of houses we looked at 10 years ago before we bought this one. I was completely in love with a Cape Cod on an acre of land surrounded by farms. It needed a lot of finishing work (the walls were fuschia!the kitchen was a shambles)but I loved the layout and location. They were asking $70K and it needed about $50K of work. Someone snatched it up right after we viewed it.
And Imagine, because we're on the poorer side of the spectrum when buying a home we have to buy low(to qualify for loan requirements)and then cash flow any improvements. If our income was higher, or we had more savings, we could look in a price bracket of homes that didn't need so much work.~

[Judi Dial]

I forgot something...a TP holder! The very first house we bought (this is our 3rd) didn't have one. I swore I'd never buy another house without one...but we did...this one.

Judi

[ladykemma2]

my home costs on average 250 a month to maintain well. i keep good records and that is the past ten year average.

the water heater went first. the cheap builders roof was next, and the year i got a divorce all the appliances died at once.

[MyMelody]

December will make 4 years we've been in this house (1956 4 br 2 ba, 2600 sq ft, 2 car carport), and in that time, we repaired the ac unit (several hundred $$ - have blocked that from my memory); bought a new refrigerator, dishwasher, and double ovens (all SS); paid to have carpet removed in the back of the house and laminate and tile installed (laminate $1300, tile $120 [wooo!!! best deal ever!!], supplies $800, labor $3200); painted all rooms but one and installed 8 new light fixtures (I'd average about $100 each - still more to go); had outside railings repaired and painted, exterior doors painted, gutters cleaned, and downspouts replaced ($515); and small updates in the master bath (vanity, painted cabinet, replaced knobs, mirror, etc - about $300).

Still to go? Entire house needs to be rewired (original wiring from 1956, not enough outlets, lights flicker ...) and this will be $15-20k; likely $1200 remaining in interior and exterior light fixtures; $5-6k if we spring to have carpet removed and original hardwood floors underneath refinished; $5k for kitchen updates; another $5k to refinish hall bathtub and convert to shower-bath, tile, etc; who knows HOW much to redo master bath; etc etc. Not including landscaping, privacy fencing, etc. With exception of the rewire, these are vanity issues that are placed on the back burner.

The important thing if you buy a fixer is buying one in livable condition so that you can pay cash as you go for repairs and not be in any hurry due to dire circumstances to have to make them. If you or your DH is handy, your costs will be less -- neither of us is. And in my area, we've been quoted $100/sq ft as "typical" new house construction price.

[heartofmine]

We bought our house 21 years ago. It was pretty much move in ready. First thing we did was paint walls. The first thing to go was the water heater. It was less than 2 years.

We had a lot of septic problems after a few years and ended up having to do a lot of work on them. We replaced all the field line and recently added another 100 feet. Also replaced on the lines running from the house to the septic.

We have also in the last 21 years replaced all the windows. Put on a new metal roof. Replaced all the faucets. Added a bathroom and a bedroom and walkin closet in the basement. Tore down the small porch deck on the back and put one across the length of the house. Added an out building with a shed. Replaced the front door. Replaced all of the light fixtures. Took down popcorn ceiling and added crown molding. New flooring all the rooms. Completely redid all the kitchen from floor to ceiling. Put in central heat and air.