Thanks for putting together such an informative book. Well done!
My wife and I will be looking to build our home this year. We live in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC.
In any event, I picked up a ready to build lot with all of the utilities on site from a national builder last year. This was the last lot and the development was completed 5 years ago and I got the lot at a good price from the builder.
My question is regarding the trend on costs for building raw materials. How are things coming along and looking based on what you are seeing out there?
I ask because once our plans are finished, I will be costing them out from various General Contractors.
I thought it would a good idea to get some feedback on building cost trends.
You would think that it would be cheaper to build now more than ever because of the current state of the economy.
Instead, I think it is getting to the point where it is cheaper to pick up a resale than to build.
Your thoughts and feedback is greatly appreciated!
Regards,
A.D.
Hi A.D.
Thank you for the compliment.
It is cheaper now to buy a used home rather than build a new home AND now is very close to, if not there already, the optimum time to build a new home.
This has always been a bit of a conundrum, since the beginning of modern housing.
All things equal (location, location, location) buying a used home is always cheaper than building a new one. If used homes weren’t cheaper, who would buy one?
Remember, in real estate it is always about location (location, location, location).
New home values depend on used home values, and used home values depend on prior sales in the neighbor hood…again, location, location, location.
Best of luck,
Carl