Self Builds - Property

[ChrisG]

Very nice Chris

Cheers Ross, it's going to be a long wait till it's built next year.

The market is red hot where we are in Stonehaven so it would have been good to get our house advertised now!

[DJ]

I built my own house about 4 years ago. I really enjoyed doing it and under the right circumstances would do it again, but the wife disagrees We bought a plot of land with all the services on the pavement. Timeline for us was:

Feb 09. Bought plot via a partial re mortgage of existing property. Put house up for sale.
April 09. Sold house
June 09. Sale proceeds received. Moved to rental property about 4 miles from plot.
Nov 09. Started build once all planning and warrant applications cleared and suppliers appointed.
Aug 10. Moved in.

So many little tips I picked up if was doing it again. Too many to list. Was an interesting time as the downturn in the property market had started which made it tough for self build mortgages (long story there) and now see how lucky we were to sell our own house so quickly and still at a good price. We also didn't have anyone going bust on us but came very close with the odd supplier, eg. Staircase supplier was delaying delivery for what seemed like no particular reason. Then went bust 2 weeks later after received. Similar with fireplace supplier.

All in I wouldn't say it is a great saving cash wise over buying BUT you get exactly what you want in terms of style, design, fit and finish. Even now there is virtually nothing I would change. I did the triple garage thing too.

I also kept a blog of my build with weekly progress which I occasionally look back on.

Do it! Happy to help or chat through with anyone seriously considering this.

[robin]

I loved Petrocelli - and Columbo (the later ones are a bit naff, but the early ones were great).

Sure you can get insurance, or actually maybe you have the funds for it to not matter, the main thing is that you consider the various risks and do what you can to mitigate where you exceed what you can afford to lose.

If you get any quotes for the insurance I would love to know the % of the sum insured they charge per year to insure. That number would be a good indicator of the number of failed self-build projects!

Good luck with your move/build whatever you end up doing - it's supposed to be the most stressful thing you ever do - though we've moved just twice - the first time was stressful, but only because Katie was ill - the second one was a doddle Now we've accumulated so much sh*t, the only way I'm moving out is in a coffin

Cheers,
Robin

[tut]

Good luck with your move/build whatever you end up doing - it's supposed to be the most stressful thing you ever do.

Cheers,
Robin

Thanks Robin, Verian is looking at putting the house on the market after the wedding.

tut

[j2 lot]

We got a plot that had changed hand many times as it was deemed too difficult to build on so it was cheap, actually with the right contractor to do the foundations it wasn't an issue. The plot belonged to a builder who already had plans in place so we agreed a price and he paid for the initial build & we kitted the house out so the mortgage funding wasn't a problem.
Predictably it ran over due to weather and we had to move into the in laws and put our furniture into storage at short notice.
We did fall out with the builder and consequently were left with snagging outstanding as he lost interest as soon as he got his money. but we had a sum held back so didn't really loose out.
If you had asked us after we moved in we would never do it again, now of course we would - the bad memories have faded, we got much more house by buying off plan and we have that experience behind us so it would be a doodle next time

[hendeg]

We also built our house recently. I would love to take some credit but I managed to stay out of the process. Pauline did much of the work herself along with her brother and her dad. They had help with some of the specialist trades but had no architect and no project manager. We bought a plot with a small pre-fab type cottage on it and demolished it.

Pauline wanted to build her own house - wanted something large but didn't want to have the bills associated with a large house. She decided to build a house to the Passivhaus standard - http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/ based on a design she'd seen.



Pauline is having a career change which means we're going to have to move and the house is up for sale at the moment so there's some info here.

She's happy to give the benefit of her own experience but like DJ there's so much to say so I guess it comes down to specific questions you have. We're in Aberdeen so the contacts in terms of trades etc. probably won't be much use. She would do it again to get what she wants and may well do at some point. You've just got to be prepared for all the typical setbacks like the weather and having to deal with contractors that turn up when they feel like it - It's a real roller coaster.

[mxvx]

Amazing house, good luck with sale

[douglasgdmw]

Looks absolutely lovely and sure it won't take long to sell.

George

[ChrisG]

What a stunning house. Good luck with the sale.

[jen]

Pauline did an amazing job, it's so beautiful, and everything is to the highest of standards. I wish we could afford to buy it!

Alan and I looked into building before we bought the house we're in now. We visited a self build place in Livingston, but not sure if it's still there? In Houstoun Industrial estate? I'd like to build my own house, not sure if I could deal with tradesmen messing me around though! I think I'd have to employ Pauline to be my project manager!