I saw the Trademark show in 05 and immediately wanted to sell the Seattle home and start flipping. It was the coolest thing ever
I tell my wife we could go to some out of the way place like Aberdeen (true story) and buy in low, and start stacking modest profits until we move on to bigger markets
I saw the Trademark show in 05 and immediately wanted to sell the Seattle home and start flipping. It was the coolest thing ever
I tell my wife we could go to some out of the way place like Aberdeen (true story) and buy in low, and start stacking modest profits until we move on to bigger markets
I'm not moving to fucking Aberdeen
The dream died. But lives on
True story: This guy* who co-hosts one of the biggest real estate investing podcasts, the BiggerPockets Podcast, got started flipping in Aberdeen, WA. When he got to 100 rental doors, he moved to Maui. Now he put together an investment group that buys 100s/1000s of doors of mobile home parks. Did I mention he does it from Maui?
Anyhow, moving into the flipping space is also my dream. Flipping multi-family is where the leverage is at. It's going to fucking happen come hell or high water.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
True, but even in tight developments the minimum lot size is still usually 3k sq ft or more. The math doesn't work even on that small of a lot if it's a 20 acre site.
Is Horton still an entry-level builder? I ask because Quadrant used to be a lower-end "more square footage for the price" builder when there were a WY operation; and now they are building higher-end stuff.
According to my wife Horton has entry level and higher end
That have both. Same with Quadrant (aka Weyerhaeuser).
All the rage with the cost of development these days
Bingo.
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
This is so fucking spot on that even I, @creepycoug , have not one word to offer.
Especially the oak. My in-laws love fucking oak. Old oak is ok, and it's fine on floors. But new, big grain "I'm OAK!!!! Look at me!!!" is as bad and dated as shag carpet and chrome.
The Compound's main house has so much fucking oak and wallpaper, it's like time traveling back to 1983.
Until you have turquoise carpets and a pink bathroom, you really haven't scored a fixer in your real estate travels. Gold/brass bathroom fixtures make the retro shithole motif pop.
Toss a couple hundie into this bitch and ka-ching that motherfucker to the promised land somewhere outside of InsleeTaxLand.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
Bingo.
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
Lot of truth here
The problem is the shitty homes are overpriced limiting how much to light on fire remodeling it and still getting a return. If that matters which it usually does
You could take any house to the studs that is on a nice lot and build it back better (SWIDT). If you hire a good GC you can get it done fast. But its 100 grand easy. Or you could call @1to392831weretaken and spread it out over years of pain and suffering
As a contractor I always say there is nothing we can't do with your money
I like to say that
I see Race gets me and my pain. You said many months ago that I should have tore down and rebuilt. Just two evenings ago, I thought back to that post and admitted to myself that you were right. Would have probably been financially impossible, but you were right.
Tomorrow, the carpet in my bedroom is being installed. I tore that carpet out in August. Nearly ever day pain and suffering since is no exaggeration.
Which is where a word of caution for @RatherBeBrewing is necessary here: You described your options correctly, but not the total cost. In the past, renovating options two or three were the right move. Now? They're not an option. Those renovations will cost so much that you'll feel stupid for not just donating a black market kidney or two and upping your budget to over a million so you can have a better built custom home and also some space.
Even that isn't a guarantee that your house wasn't thrown together poorly. I'd want to contact the builder directly and ask some very specific questions: How is the house ventilated? What was used for water resistive barrier? How were the windows taped and flashed? OSB or CDX? Hot dipped nails or brights? Stainless nails for siding and treated sills? Proper wrapped foundation drain? Properly vented plumbing? Good luck finding such a place.
Perhaps the best bet would be to wait for the cost of lumber to reduce back to at least half of what it currently is (although I have my doubts this will happen) and just build something that won't fall apart.
It sounds like you need a new carpet guy.
Your words of caution are noted and appreciated. As a rule of thumb I assume that everything anyone ever does is poorly thrown together, and double so for anything involving construction. I’m no virgin to the clusterfucks that are renovations and wishing great harm to a general contractor and anyone they’ve ever cared about.
My parents have a custom 7,000 sq ft monstrosity that is the fever dream of a 16th century Tuscan nobleman and a 1980s narco-baron. It had a big general remodel 20 years prior, and is now going through piecemeal renovations that I’ve been overseeing. $100k+ of windows and decking, owner of the company dies from a heart attack, foreman/ops has a stroke and becomes a turnip. Work paid for not completed, shoddy work, go after bond, fun shit.
I get what you’re saying, and I do have a spare kidney. Since I stopped drinking selling one for a house with an extra 1/4 of an acre would be motivation to keep teetotaling. I should have been investing my weed dub bag profits into internet coins instead of BBQ and more weed.
I’m not looking for anything requiring a massive overhaul or something to remodel. More like picking an imperfect house and making it better. This would be for us to enjoy our new habitat, the added value is a bonus.
We want a house for at least the next five years, I’d prefer buying as is perfect but I’m okay with getting something older or in need of a bit of work I can spread out. I should note that while I am a supremely lazy millennial yuppie or whatever the modern equivalent is, I can also do 95% of the work myself. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, flooring, HVAC, landscaping are all in my wheelhouse. The only things I don’t touch are masonry, tile laying, and roofing.
Building your own house from scratch. I’m curious to see what other people would want in theirs. Speak up, show pictures, let us mock your dream house.. Size? Style? Special features? Setting (by water, hill, underground bunker, etc)? How much territory?
I even thought about posting here to see if any of you have gone the custom route recently, or ever.
I’ve done a ton of the background, as I thought it would be more feasible than it wound up being. I looked at land, talked to two builders, and others in the industry. Custom would most likely be the next time around as my budget grows. Even with good deals I could get on lumber or steel through my family’s related business the cost is still prohibitive and winds up being more than equally desirable houses that are already built.
1.33 acre, designs, building permits, grading, septic, well, excavation, and concrete pour puts it at half a mil before we even get anything other than permission to use our own land, some water, and a very large underground poop bucket. It’s A LOT cheaper to build in other parts of the country. The park levy is 1/6 the total permit costs, and it alone is more than all the permits combined in most places. Labor costs, competition for specialists, weather considerations, etc.
Your words of caution are noted and appreciated. As a rule of thumb I assume that everything anyone ever does is poorly thrown together, and double so for anything involving construction. I’m no virgin to the clusterfucks that are renovations and wishing great harm to a general contractor and anyone they’ve ever cared about.
My parents have a custom 7,000 sq ft monstrosity that is the fever dream of a 16th century Tuscan nobleman and a 1980s narco-baron. It had a big general remodel 20 years prior, and is now going through piecemeal renovations that I’ve been overseeing. $100k+ of windows and decking, owner of the company dies from a heart attack, foreman/ops has a stroke and becomes a turnip. Work paid for not completed, shoddy work, go after bond, fun shit.
I get what you’re saying, and I do have a spare kidney. Since I stopped drinking selling one for a house with an extra 1/4 of an acre would be motivation to keep teetotaling. I should have been investing my weed dub bag profits into internet coins instead of BBQ and more weed.
I’m not looking for anything requiring a massive overhaul or something to remodel. More like picking an imperfect house and making it better. This would be for us to enjoy our new habitat, the added value is a bonus.
We want a house for at least the next five years, I’d prefer buying as is perfect but I’m okay with getting something older or in need of a bit of work I can spread out. I should note that while I am a supremely lazy millennial yuppie or whatever the modern equivalent is, I can also do 95% of the work myself. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, flooring, HVAC, landscaping are all in my wheelhouse. The only things I don’t touch are masonry, tile laying, and roofing.
Building your own house from scratch. I’m curious to see what other people would want in theirs. Speak up, show pictures, let us mock your dream house.. Size? Style? Special features? Setting (by water, hill, underground bunker, etc)? How much territory?
I even thought about posting here to see if any of you have gone the custom route recently, or ever.
I’ve done a ton of the background, as I thought it would be more feasible than it wound up being. I looked at land, talked to two builders, and others in the industry. Custom would most likely be the next time around as my budget grows. Even with good deals I could get on lumber or steel through my family’s related business the cost is still prohibitive and winds up being more than equally desirable houses that are already built.
1.33 acre, designs, building permits, grading, septic, well, excavation, and concrete pour puts it at half a mil before we even get anything other than permission to use our own land, some water, and a very large underground poop bucket. It’s A LOT cheaper to build in other parts of the country. The park levy is 1/6 the total permit costs, and it alone is more than all the permits combined in most places. Labor costs, competition for specialists, weather considerations, etc.
Whereabouts in the country?
If you can do a lot of work yourself, then it's a lot more feasible to go the fix-up route. Fucking sucks, though, particularly when you already have a full-time-plus job. My carpet's taken over seven months because peeling the old stuff out led down the path of reframing a fourth of the house and all that entails. And there's still tiling a bathroom to go.
My word of caution was strictly based off the cost of materials and what subs are billing at the moment. If you have an inside line on relatively affordable materials, that's definitely another data point.
To answer your query, if I were to build custom, it wouldn't be anything special--I don't like having a massive house to clean/take care of/repair when needed, so ~2200 sq.ft. for my family of four would be plenty. But it would be built properly from the ground up, with durability and energy efficiency (as long as it pays for itself) in mind. My vision would be a daylight basement formed with ICFs and with a single zone radiant loop in the slab, jatoba hardwood floor throughout except tile in the bathroom and kitchen. Two bedrooms, bathroom, laundry downstairs, the rest unfinished for utilities. Tall I-joists between floors for ease of running utilities. Kitchen, living room, entry, public bathroom, and master suite upstairs. Covered porch. Craftsman style windows. Hardi lap siding with tight reveal, stainless siding nails, 30# felt WRB, rain screen wall, fly ash trim boards (indestructible but expensive). Proper window/door taping and flashing is CRITICAL. 2x6 or staggered 2x4 wall construction (or I'd love to try the new insulated truss-style studs) with CDX wall sheathing and Rockwool insulation. I could be talked into SIP roof panels to remove the need for ventilation and make the attic space more useful. For upstairs heat/air, Fujitsu mini splits in the master and living room (more efficient heating than Hitachi, which are more efficient for cooling). Ventilation via ERV installed in the attic, with supplies and returns in every room.
I've never had the opportunity to design my own house, but I did go through the process when I built my 1100 square foot shop (limited in size by stormwater requirements and my beard's mandate that it not be bigger than the house...). Craftsman house with shop 20 feet away, so had to match. Everything above that's not house-only went into it: Radiant heat in the slab, 2x6 walls in a rainscreen design and with R23 Rockwool insulation, craftsman style. My shop is so much nicer than my house that all I can do is shake my head and laugh.
I asked where you are because you mentioned high cost of permitting. They make you jump through a ton of hoops where I'm at that ended up delaying construction over a year, but they weren't too terribly expensive. I think if I wanted to clear property and build a house from scratch (as opposed to replacing an existing structure), through, it would be more expensive due to stormwater management requirements. Still, would be something under $20K. It helps a lot that I did the plans drafting myself. After getting a bid for $10K, I said, "Fuck that!," pirated Chief Architect, and learned how to use it:
30# felt WRB, 1/2" treated furring strips for rainscreen wall, proper window taping and flashing:
I sheathed with OSB (walls, but roof was CDX), but I'd do CDX all over if I had to do it again. Savings wasn't worth it. I also ponied up for crazy expensive primed FJ cedar for trim. That's only because at the time I didn't know the even more expensive, even more indestructible fly ash board existed.
From when I was painting:
Bathroom/utility room framing (you cans see the PEX coming up from the slab):
DIY (cheaper/better) radiant loop:
I only include this picture of core-drilling the house foundation to route shop plumbing through because I'm wearing the beanie I got for having the "pleasure" of attending the 2016 USC loss:
This picture is to show you what Rockwool insulation looks like installed (I fucking loooooooove this stuff), but it also proudly displays where I fell through the ceiling and dangled by my armpits to save a 12' fall to concrete:
Interior window treatment:
Anyway, take that building, give it a kitchen and put a covered porch on the back and nicer doors, and that's what I want for my house. The plan for the next major project is to do exactly this, ripping off all the house siding, shiplap sheathing, and windows, fixing framing and rot issues, rebuilding new, and siding with a rainscreen wall and matching trim to the shop. Was going to get started this July, but not only am I burnt out, but I'd like to give lumber prices a chance to drop back down below ridiculous if they're going to. So probably next year. Not like the house is going to get any shittier than it already is in the meantime...
Last thing, as I'm pretty sure I've already killed this thread deader than 2019 Husky football killed my heart: I believe you're in Oregon, and rainscreen is now code there, so might as well get familiar with it. Nothing wrong with how I did the shop, but when I have a go at the house, I'm going to change things up a bit with new products I was not aware of.
The theory behind the rainscreen wall is that water WILL get in eventually, so you might as well aid in it drying back out before it rots. You do this by creating a convection channel between the WRB and the siding. The siding is there strictly to repel driven rain, the channel of moving air keeps the water off the actual wall and dries any that gets by. Looks like this:
This detail can be (and must be in Oregon new construction) used under lap siding, panel siding, even masonry (brick/stucco). It only takes a sixteenth of an inch separation from the wall to work, but everything's going to 10 mm now. In the past (my build), 1/2" pressure treated plywood strips were used. At the top and bottom of the wall, you need some kind of screen to keep the bugs out but the air moving. Many builders still just wrap mesh screens around the tops and bottoms of the furring strips, but there are also products on the market that are cool and save time. I used Cor-A-Vent:
It's basically plastic sign board with plastic mesh crammed into one edge to keep the bugs out. Where things get even more awesome now (slightly more expensive, but worth it) is in the furring strips themselves. Instead of ripped treated plywood, there are products that breathe in all directions:
The advantage to this stuff is that air can move both up the wall and across, so you don't have to have air outlets below every window and air inlets above every window and door: The entire wall is the "chimney," not individual stud cavities.
Beneath all this, allow me a minute to shit on Tyvek and similar housewraps: The goal of the WRB is to keep water out but allow water vapor through. No plastic housewrap is good at both. Good ol' felt paper does just fine at both. My understanding (maybe Race knows) is that Tyvek is all but going extinct in California. Just what I've read on building forums. Where I'm at, ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT of $800K+ McMansions--even custom--are going up with either Tyvek or even cheaper Tex paper, paper wrapped into window rough openings (not good), and then windows nailed on top and fins taped over (or not), basically creating a pathway for water that gets through the Tyvek to travel right into the house and rot out the window framing (because once water gets through Tyvek, it ain't comin' out...).
Old building methods accidentally did a few things right: Houses weren't even remotely tight, had felt for WRB, etc. So they dried both to the inside and outside, thus inhibiting rot and improving indoor air quality (to counter the horrible indoor air quality effects of wood burning and/or fuel oil stoves) at the expense of burning a LOT more fuel for heat. Worst thing you can do to an old house is make it efficient by tightening it up to duck's-ass levels. Prepare to repair a lot of rot in very short order. Ask me how I know...
New houses have to pass energy code, to the point of even passing a blower door test if the AHJ gets off his ass and does it (in Washington, we're one of only two states in which this is required even for accessory buildings if they're heated). Which is to say buildings have to be tight. It's amazing the impact this has on energy bills--ours dropped to a third instantly. It's also amazing the impact this has on indoor air quality and inability of walls that aren't designed for it to dry. To the latter, I already described rainscreen construction. To the former, a properly sized HRV or ERV (depending on climate) is a must. If building from scratch, it's even better to have a supply and return in every room to avoid pockets of stale air and mildew. A buddy of mine a few years ago bought a custom McMansion that would go for probably $850K today. I was actually impressed with the quality of everything I could see (obviously can't look under the siding). He said he had to call out an HVAC contractor because he didn't think the ERV was working (I was impressed it even had one), as they were getting mold in his daughter's room. The guy came out, gave him a wink, and showed him the solution: Cracked open the bedroom window. In December. Modern houses are tight!
Lastly, my experience is that all of the goofy code requirements for insulation (slab perimeter, under slab if heating with in-floor radiant, insulated headers, high ceiling and walls R-values) pay for themselves. Pointless to fight it, just spend a little now to save a LOT over time. Again: You must mitigate this with fresh air movement using an HRV/ERV.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
We’re loving our .13 acre 2400 sq ft lifestyle. But that’s only cause our neighbors are great. I’d hate comparable density in Woodinville or most places.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
Bingo.
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
Lot of truth here
The problem is the shitty homes are overpriced limiting how much to light on fire remodeling it and still getting a return. If that matters which it usually does
You could take any house to the studs that is on a nice lot and build it back better (SWIDT). If you hire a good GC you can get it done fast. But its 100 grand easy. Or you could call @1to392831weretaken and spread it out over years of pain and suffering
As a contractor I always say there is nothing we can't do with your money
I like to say that
I’ve gotta interview GC’s this coming week. Worst year ever to remodel. Oh well.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
Bingo.
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
Lot of truth here
The problem is the shitty homes are overpriced limiting how much to light on fire remodeling it and still getting a return. If that matters which it usually does
You could take any house to the studs that is on a nice lot and build it back better (SWIDT). If you hire a good GC you can get it done fast. But its 100 grand easy. Or you could call @1to392831weretaken and spread it out over years of pain and suffering
As a contractor I always say there is nothing we can't do with your money
I like to say that
I’ve gotta interview GC’s this coming week. Worst year ever to remodel. Oh well.
This for the kitchen? At least there's not a lot of lumber involved in that. The main problem with a lot of other materials isn't so much the cost but the wait. Eight weeks for a bathroom vanity. We got our bedroom carpet in Friday, so it's time for base and trim. I'd rather have the doors and door moulding in before installing the baseboard so I don't have to trim the baseboard later. Like a fucking idiot, I rock up to HD thinking I'm going home with some doors. Nooooope. If I want anything close to matching the rest of the house, it's make 'em myself or wait until June. Trying to decide how much more pain and suffering I'm into...
All the rage with the cost of development these days
Bingo.
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
Lot of truth here
The problem is the shitty homes are overpriced limiting how much to light on fire remodeling it and still getting a return. If that matters which it usually does
You could take any house to the studs that is on a nice lot and build it back better (SWIDT). If you hire a good GC you can get it done fast. But its 100 grand easy. Or you could call @1to392831weretaken and spread it out over years of pain and suffering
As a contractor I always say there is nothing we can't do with your money
I like to say that
I’ve gotta interview GC’s this coming week. Worst year ever to remodel. Oh well.
This for the kitchen? At least there's not a lot of lumber involved in that. The main problem with a lot of other materials isn't so much the cost but the wait. Eight weeks for a bathroom vanity. We got our bedroom carpet in Friday, so it's time for base and trim. I'd rather have the doors and door moulding in before installing the baseboard so I don't have to trim the baseboard later. Like a fucking idiot, I rock up to HD thinking I'm going home with some doors. Nooooope. If I want anything close to matching the rest of the house, it's make 'em myself or wait until June. Trying to decide how much more pain and suffering I'm into...
We’re already planing for the delays and getting appliances ordered now. What a shit show. Liking the new Bosch dishwashers based on @BennyBeaver recommendation.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
We’re loving our .13 acre 2400 sq ft lifestyle. But that’s only cause our neighbors are great. I’d hate comparable density in Woodinville or most places.
This raises a great question. Probably not pole-worthy, and I've already jacked this thread so hard it'll be avoided like an AOG Central gamethread, so I'll just put it here:
I work with a younger guy who bought his first house up in the sticks a few years back. Five acres, came with a tractor, old house, long commute. It was the compromise he had to make to be able to afford anything at the time. He's a hardworking, outdoorsy type who grew up on acreage and doing chores, so he thought that's the lifestyle he wanted for himself and his young family as well. Took three years (and two babies) of that shit, and he sold the place and moved into town and rents a house that sounds a lot like what @YellowSnow has going on. He was tired of spending all of his free time doing yardwork and fixing up an old house and was done with it.
I've wondered often lately if I made a similar mistake. I, too, grew up on acreage in the sticks, and my two years in the dorms were the only time in my life that I didn't have a lot of space and privacy. I thought having a big yard, trees to climb, chores to do, etc. would be good for kids, so a house with some property was what I sought out. It's always been a curious thing for me that these cookie cutter neighborhood houses sell for more than the houses in older neighborhoods where each house is different and lots are three times as big. I'm sure the houses being newer has something to do with it, but, from watching my friends go through the house-hunting process, I came to realize that it's also simply a product of demand: People want to live in neighborhoods. They want to have neighbors close by. I call it "the cul de sac life."
Three or four years ago, I finally understood why. Lack of property upkeep aside, the thing I started to envy about my friends' cul de sac life was that we were always having to drive our kids around to visit their friends. Or people would have to drive their kids here, so it happened a lot more rarely. My friends? They'd just push their kid out the door. Every time I'd drop off my son or daughter, there'd be a gang of little kids playing together in the cul de sac. I wondered for a long time if my choice of more "rural" living was disadvantaging my kids--socially, athletically, etc. I don't know. If you're raising young kids, there's definitely an appeal to being surrounded in walking distance by a ton of other families with kids for yours to play with.
Nowadays, not such a big deal. The kids are old enough to bike or walk to several friends in each direction, and they are constantly doing so. Moreover, their friends can easily come here, and our place is finally paying off as the sweet hangout. COVID turned the shop into the epicenter of elementary school activity this year, as having an 18' door rolled up was an acceptable compromise on shitty days for "playing outside" for most of the neighborhood parents. That, and having a dirt bike track in the backyard is finally something that the other kids think is cool. So not uncommon for there to be anywhere from six to eight kids at my place three or four days per week since last April.
Still, I think new(er) house, .13 acres, cool neighbors is a pretty sweet recipe for raising young kids, and I still have some regrets.
All the rage with the cost of development these days
We’re loving our .13 acre 2400 sq ft lifestyle. But that’s only cause our neighbors are great. I’d hate comparable density in Woodinville or most places.
This raises a great question. Probably not pole-worthy, and I've already jacked this thread so hard it'll be avoided like an AOG Central gamethread, so I'll just put it here:
I work with a younger guy who bought his first house up in the sticks a few years back. Five acres, came with a tractor, old house, long commute. It was the compromise he had to make to be able to afford anything at the time. He's a hardworking, outdoorsy type who grew up on acreage and doing chores, so he thought that's the lifestyle he wanted for himself and his young family as well. Took three years (and two babies) of that shit, and he sold the place and moved into town and rents a house that sounds a lot like what @YellowSnow has going on. He was tired of spending all of his free time doing yardwork and fixing up an old house and was done with it.
I've wondered often lately if I made a similar mistake. I, too, grew up on acreage in the sticks, and my two years in the dorms were the only time in my life that I didn't have a lot of space and privacy. I thought having a big yard, trees to climb, chores to do, etc. would be good for kids, so a house with some property was what I sought out. It's always been a curious thing for me that these cookie cutter neighborhood houses sell for more than the houses in older neighborhoods where each house is different and lots are three times as big. I'm sure the houses being newer has something to do with it, but, from watching my friends go through the house-hunting process, I came to realize that it's also simply a product of demand: People want to live in neighborhoods. They want to have neighbors close by. I call it "the cul de sac life."
Three or four years ago, I finally understood why. Lack of property upkeep aside, the thing I started to envy about my friends' cul de sac life was that we were always having to drive our kids around to visit their friends. Or people would have to drive their kids here, so it happened a lot more rarely. My friends? They'd just push their kid out the door. Every time I'd drop off my son or daughter, there'd be a gang of little kids playing together in the cul de sac. I wondered for a long time if my choice of more "rural" living was disadvantaging my kids--socially, athletically, etc. I don't know. If you're raising young kids, there's definitely an appeal to being surrounded in walking distance by a ton of other families with kids for yours to play with.
Nowadays, not such a big deal. The kids are old enough to bike or walk to several friends in each direction, and they are constantly doing so. Moreover, their friends can easily come here, and our place is finally paying off as the sweet hangout. COVID turned the shop into the epicenter of elementary school activity this year, as having an 18' door rolled up was an acceptable compromise on shitty days for "playing outside" for most of the neighborhood parents. That, and having a dirt bike track in the backyard is finally something that the other kids think is cool. So not uncommon for there to be anywhere from six to eight kids at my place three or four days per week since last April.
Still, I think new(er) house, .13 acres, cool neighbors is a pretty sweet recipe for raising young kids, and I still have some regrets.
We very much have the cool neighbors cul de sac lifestyle. There’s like 8 little boys the same age as our oldest with 100 yds. It looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and will limit TV and video games. Kids still like playing outside over anything else.
The price point is such that there’s no riff raff to be pain in the ass neighbors.
I am on my second Bosch dishwasher. As far as doing their jerb, they're great. HOWEVER... I'm about to be on my third Bosch dishwasher. A few months ago, my wife opened the door to unload, and the handle ripped right off. Turns out it's just a thin piece of injection molded ABS (or painted ABS if you get the stainless version) that's screwed into the top of the door panel. It's held on by a whopping four tabs. The shittiness of this design absolutely blows me away. As in, this part breaking off wasn't a one-off, it was inevitable eventually. Because our appliances are black, which is now totally out of style, it takes even longer to get replacements. We've debated just biting the bullet and swapping all of them out just so we don't run into the problem of not being able to find replacements, but we're too cheap/stupid to do so (replacing the refrigerator last April was suuuuuper fun...). Anyway, in order to avoid being without a dishwasher for the three or four months it would probably take to get a replacement, I plastic-welded the trim piece with the built-in handle back together and buffed it out as best I could. Half the locking tabs are still missing, so it's super ghetto, but it still does the job, and nobody visiting can tell it's broken. Pisses me right the fuck off, though. I believe it's only two or three years old.
Here's a similar part for a different model, but it attaches the same way:
You can see the four bigger tabs that screw this piece on. They're flimsy as fuck and barely reinforced. All four snapped, cracking the face of the fascia piece. I was at least able to weld these tabs back on. What I couldn't fix is those six little tabs on the top side that hook it into the main door panel. Those are tiny. So most of them also snapped off, hence this fascia panel feeling like it's going to tear off every time you open the door now. I need to get off my ass and just buy a replacement part or new dishwasher. I'm stubborn and too pissed off for that just yet, though.
Point is, it looks like this is a pretty standard design feature for many if not all of their models, as it was actually hard to find a replacement part for mine because I was wading through dozens and dozens of similar shitty flimsy ABS integrated fascia/handles from other models. If you're going to go Bosch, watch our for this. The handle should be metal, and it should be separate from the plastic fascia.
Bosch dishwasher fupdate: I was just in HD getting bent over/no lube for some doors and trim, so I thought I'd head over to the dishwashers and check out what's going on these days.
There were only three dishwashers there that were Bosch. The handles are still molded into plastic fascia pieces, but they seem to wrap around better and be more supported. It still flexes and feels cheap, but seems superficially like it at least wouldn't break.
I know it's not cool looking to have a metal handle that protrudes from the front, but I might go that route next time to avoid breakage.
Horton is shit. The only way to get something that isn’t builders grade is a custom home builder. Too rich for my pour ass.
Probably with selling right now is you have to buy in the same market. An almost identical home adjacent from us went for 65k more than we paid less then a yr ago. Side note, dude that bought it just came from Tacoma and is super happy about how much house he got for a third of WA housing prices. He also brews... 4 kinds on tap but I digress.
TOF and I are seriously thinking about selling because we could get at least 10k more if not closer to 20k. Then rent until I find my next promotion because we’re not staying here. Save $500 a month so 6k a yr back into retirement.
My point, unless you’re downgrading, moving to an area where you’re dollar gets you more, or finding a fixer upper, you’re SOL.
Horton is shit. The only way to get something that isn’t builders grade is a custom home builder. Too rich for my pour ass.
Probably with selling right now is you have to buy in the same market. An almost identical home adjacent from us went for 65k more than we paid less then a yr ago. Side note, dude that bought it just came from Tacoma and is super happy about how much house he got for a third of WA housing prices. He also brews... 4 kinds on tap but I digress.
TOF and I are seriously thinking about selling because we could get at least 10k more if not closer to 20k. Then rent until I find my next promotion because we’re not staying here. Save $500 a month so 6k a yr back into retirement.
My point, unless you’re downgrading, moving to an area where you’re dollar gets you more, or finding a fixer upper, you’re SOL.
You're not wrong at all, but what I've been cautioning is that fixering uppering is a lot more expensive these days than it used to be. Definitely have your ducks in a row and make sure you've checked your math if your strategy to get ahead in RE investment involves building materials and subcontractors. Depending on where you're located, it might not be worth it. There were temporary shortages in building materials due to COVID (they're WELL stocked now, but the price is still climbing, hence my concern that this is just the new reality now that they know they can get away with it), but a lot of it has to be demand driven due to lack of inventory on the RE market. When there's no house to move up to, everyone at once is having a go at improving the one they're in or building new, and this has made it a free for all in the construction trades.
You nailed it - The cost of materials due to supply and demand is pricing a lot of people out of new builds making existing homes that much more coveted and driving those costs to some stupid numbers.
The sign in front of our neighborhood, mentioning homes starting at $$, has changed since covid and now shows a 75k increase compared to this time LY.
Yet, they are almost sold out of lots and are currently working on 4 homes. Riches going to rich... bigger and newer homes in the back half of the neighborhood.
Comments
I tell my wife we could go to some out of the way place like Aberdeen (true story) and buy in low, and start stacking modest profits until we move on to bigger markets
I'm not moving to fucking Aberdeen
The dream died. But lives on
Anyhow, moving into the flipping space is also my dream. Flipping multi-family is where the leverage is at. It's going to fucking happen come hell or high water.
*This guy, Brandon Turner
Like we say: Ballpark.
Both are National builders.
Until you have turquoise carpets and a pink bathroom, you really haven't scored a fixer in your real estate travels. Gold/brass bathroom fixtures make the retro shithole motif pop.
Toss a couple hundie into this bitch and ka-ching that motherfucker to the promised land somewhere outside of InsleeTaxLand.
Your words of caution are noted and appreciated. As a rule of thumb I assume that everything anyone ever does is poorly thrown together, and double so for anything involving construction. I’m no virgin to the clusterfucks that are renovations and wishing great harm to a general contractor and anyone they’ve ever cared about.
My parents have a custom 7,000 sq ft monstrosity that is the fever dream of a 16th century Tuscan nobleman and a 1980s narco-baron. It had a big general remodel 20 years prior, and is now going through piecemeal renovations that I’ve been overseeing. $100k+ of windows and decking, owner of the company dies from a heart attack, foreman/ops has a stroke and becomes a turnip. Work paid for not completed, shoddy work, go after bond, fun shit.
I get what you’re saying, and I do have a spare kidney. Since I stopped drinking selling one for a house with an extra 1/4 of an acre would be motivation to keep teetotaling. I should have been investing my weed dub bag profits into internet coins instead of BBQ and more weed.
I’m not looking for anything requiring a massive overhaul or something to remodel. More like picking an imperfect house and making it better. This would be for us to enjoy our new habitat, the added value is a bonus.
We want a house for at least the next five years, I’d prefer buying as is perfect but I’m okay with getting something older or in need of a bit of work I can spread out. I should note that while I am a supremely lazy millennial yuppie or whatever the modern equivalent is, I can also do 95% of the work myself. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, flooring, HVAC, landscaping are all in my wheelhouse. The only things I don’t touch are masonry, tile laying, and roofing.
Building your own house from scratch. I’m curious to see what other people would want in theirs. Speak up, show pictures, let us mock your dream house.. Size? Style? Special features? Setting (by water, hill, underground bunker, etc)? How much territory?
I even thought about posting here to see if any of you have gone the custom route recently, or ever.
I’ve done a ton of the background, as I thought it would be more feasible than it wound up being. I looked at land, talked to two builders, and others in the industry. Custom would most likely be the next time around as my budget grows. Even with good deals I could get on lumber or steel through my family’s related business the cost is still prohibitive and winds up being more than equally desirable houses that are already built.
1.33 acre, designs, building permits, grading, septic, well, excavation, and concrete pour puts it at half a mil before we even get anything other than permission to use our own land, some water, and a very large underground poop bucket. It’s A LOT cheaper to build in other parts of the country. The park levy is 1/6 the total permit costs, and it alone is more than all the permits combined in most places. Labor costs, competition for specialists, weather considerations, etc.
If you can do a lot of work yourself, then it's a lot more feasible to go the fix-up route. Fucking sucks, though, particularly when you already have a full-time-plus job. My carpet's taken over seven months because peeling the old stuff out led down the path of reframing a fourth of the house and all that entails. And there's still tiling a bathroom to go.
My word of caution was strictly based off the cost of materials and what subs are billing at the moment. If you have an inside line on relatively affordable materials, that's definitely another data point.
To answer your query, if I were to build custom, it wouldn't be anything special--I don't like having a massive house to clean/take care of/repair when needed, so ~2200 sq.ft. for my family of four would be plenty. But it would be built properly from the ground up, with durability and energy efficiency (as long as it pays for itself) in mind. My vision would be a daylight basement formed with ICFs and with a single zone radiant loop in the slab, jatoba hardwood floor throughout except tile in the bathroom and kitchen. Two bedrooms, bathroom, laundry downstairs, the rest unfinished for utilities. Tall I-joists between floors for ease of running utilities. Kitchen, living room, entry, public bathroom, and master suite upstairs. Covered porch. Craftsman style windows. Hardi lap siding with tight reveal, stainless siding nails, 30# felt WRB, rain screen wall, fly ash trim boards (indestructible but expensive). Proper window/door taping and flashing is CRITICAL. 2x6 or staggered 2x4 wall construction (or I'd love to try the new insulated truss-style studs) with CDX wall sheathing and Rockwool insulation. I could be talked into SIP roof panels to remove the need for ventilation and make the attic space more useful. For upstairs heat/air, Fujitsu mini splits in the master and living room (more efficient heating than Hitachi, which are more efficient for cooling). Ventilation via ERV installed in the attic, with supplies and returns in every room.
I've never had the opportunity to design my own house, but I did go through the process when I built my 1100 square foot shop (limited in size by stormwater requirements and my beard's mandate that it not be bigger than the house...). Craftsman house with shop 20 feet away, so had to match. Everything above that's not house-only went into it: Radiant heat in the slab, 2x6 walls in a rainscreen design and with R23 Rockwool insulation, craftsman style. My shop is so much nicer than my house that all I can do is shake my head and laugh.
I asked where you are because you mentioned high cost of permitting. They make you jump through a ton of hoops where I'm at that ended up delaying construction over a year, but they weren't too terribly expensive. I think if I wanted to clear property and build a house from scratch (as opposed to replacing an existing structure), through, it would be more expensive due to stormwater management requirements. Still, would be something under $20K. It helps a lot that I did the plans drafting myself. After getting a bid for $10K, I said, "Fuck that!," pirated Chief Architect, and learned how to use it:
30# felt WRB, 1/2" treated furring strips for rainscreen wall, proper window taping and flashing:
I sheathed with OSB (walls, but roof was CDX), but I'd do CDX all over if I had to do it again. Savings wasn't worth it. I also ponied up for crazy expensive primed FJ cedar for trim. That's only because at the time I didn't know the even more expensive, even more indestructible fly ash board existed.
From when I was painting:
Bathroom/utility room framing (you cans see the PEX coming up from the slab):
DIY (cheaper/better) radiant loop:
I only include this picture of core-drilling the house foundation to route shop plumbing through because I'm wearing the beanie I got for having the "pleasure" of attending the 2016 USC loss:
This picture is to show you what Rockwool insulation looks like installed (I fucking loooooooove this stuff), but it also proudly displays where I fell through the ceiling and dangled by my armpits to save a 12' fall to concrete:
Interior window treatment:
Anyway, take that building, give it a kitchen and put a covered porch on the back and nicer doors, and that's what I want for my house. The plan for the next major project is to do exactly this, ripping off all the house siding, shiplap sheathing, and windows, fixing framing and rot issues, rebuilding new, and siding with a rainscreen wall and matching trim to the shop. Was going to get started this July, but not only am I burnt out, but I'd like to give lumber prices a chance to drop back down below ridiculous if they're going to. So probably next year. Not like the house is going to get any shittier than it already is in the meantime...
The theory behind the rainscreen wall is that water WILL get in eventually, so you might as well aid in it drying back out before it rots. You do this by creating a convection channel between the WRB and the siding. The siding is there strictly to repel driven rain, the channel of moving air keeps the water off the actual wall and dries any that gets by. Looks like this:
This detail can be (and must be in Oregon new construction) used under lap siding, panel siding, even masonry (brick/stucco). It only takes a sixteenth of an inch separation from the wall to work, but everything's going to 10 mm now. In the past (my build), 1/2" pressure treated plywood strips were used. At the top and bottom of the wall, you need some kind of screen to keep the bugs out but the air moving. Many builders still just wrap mesh screens around the tops and bottoms of the furring strips, but there are also products on the market that are cool and save time. I used Cor-A-Vent:
It's basically plastic sign board with plastic mesh crammed into one edge to keep the bugs out. Where things get even more awesome now (slightly more expensive, but worth it) is in the furring strips themselves. Instead of ripped treated plywood, there are products that breathe in all directions:
The advantage to this stuff is that air can move both up the wall and across, so you don't have to have air outlets below every window and air inlets above every window and door: The entire wall is the "chimney," not individual stud cavities.
Beneath all this, allow me a minute to shit on Tyvek and similar housewraps: The goal of the WRB is to keep water out but allow water vapor through. No plastic housewrap is good at both. Good ol' felt paper does just fine at both. My understanding (maybe Race knows) is that Tyvek is all but going extinct in California. Just what I've read on building forums. Where I'm at, ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT of $800K+ McMansions--even custom--are going up with either Tyvek or even cheaper Tex paper, paper wrapped into window rough openings (not good), and then windows nailed on top and fins taped over (or not), basically creating a pathway for water that gets through the Tyvek to travel right into the house and rot out the window framing (because once water gets through Tyvek, it ain't comin' out...).
Old building methods accidentally did a few things right: Houses weren't even remotely tight, had felt for WRB, etc. So they dried both to the inside and outside, thus inhibiting rot and improving indoor air quality (to counter the horrible indoor air quality effects of wood burning and/or fuel oil stoves) at the expense of burning a LOT more fuel for heat. Worst thing you can do to an old house is make it efficient by tightening it up to duck's-ass levels. Prepare to repair a lot of rot in very short order. Ask me how I know...
New houses have to pass energy code, to the point of even passing a blower door test if the AHJ gets off his ass and does it (in Washington, we're one of only two states in which this is required even for accessory buildings if they're heated). Which is to say buildings have to be tight. It's amazing the impact this has on energy bills--ours dropped to a third instantly. It's also amazing the impact this has on indoor air quality and inability of walls that aren't designed for it to dry. To the latter, I already described rainscreen construction. To the former, a properly sized HRV or ERV (depending on climate) is a must. If building from scratch, it's even better to have a supply and return in every room to avoid pockets of stale air and mildew. A buddy of mine a few years ago bought a custom McMansion that would go for probably $850K today. I was actually impressed with the quality of everything I could see (obviously can't look under the siding). He said he had to call out an HVAC contractor because he didn't think the ERV was working (I was impressed it even had one), as they were getting mold in his daughter's room. The guy came out, gave him a wink, and showed him the solution: Cracked open the bedroom window. In December. Modern houses are tight!
Lastly, my experience is that all of the goofy code requirements for insulation (slab perimeter, under slab if heating with in-floor radiant, insulated headers, high ceiling and walls R-values) pay for themselves. Pointless to fight it, just spend a little now to save a LOT over time. Again: You must mitigate this with fresh air movement using an HRV/ERV.
I work with a younger guy who bought his first house up in the sticks a few years back. Five acres, came with a tractor, old house, long commute. It was the compromise he had to make to be able to afford anything at the time. He's a hardworking, outdoorsy type who grew up on acreage and doing chores, so he thought that's the lifestyle he wanted for himself and his young family as well. Took three years (and two babies) of that shit, and he sold the place and moved into town and rents a house that sounds a lot like what @YellowSnow has going on. He was tired of spending all of his free time doing yardwork and fixing up an old house and was done with it.
I've wondered often lately if I made a similar mistake. I, too, grew up on acreage in the sticks, and my two years in the dorms were the only time in my life that I didn't have a lot of space and privacy. I thought having a big yard, trees to climb, chores to do, etc. would be good for kids, so a house with some property was what I sought out. It's always been a curious thing for me that these cookie cutter neighborhood houses sell for more than the houses in older neighborhoods where each house is different and lots are three times as big. I'm sure the houses being newer has something to do with it, but, from watching my friends go through the house-hunting process, I came to realize that it's also simply a product of demand: People want to live in neighborhoods. They want to have neighbors close by. I call it "the cul de sac life."
Three or four years ago, I finally understood why. Lack of property upkeep aside, the thing I started to envy about my friends' cul de sac life was that we were always having to drive our kids around to visit their friends. Or people would have to drive their kids here, so it happened a lot more rarely. My friends? They'd just push their kid out the door. Every time I'd drop off my son or daughter, there'd be a gang of little kids playing together in the cul de sac. I wondered for a long time if my choice of more "rural" living was disadvantaging my kids--socially, athletically, etc. I don't know. If you're raising young kids, there's definitely an appeal to being surrounded in walking distance by a ton of other families with kids for yours to play with.
Nowadays, not such a big deal. The kids are old enough to bike or walk to several friends in each direction, and they are constantly doing so. Moreover, their friends can easily come here, and our place is finally paying off as the sweet hangout. COVID turned the shop into the epicenter of elementary school activity this year, as having an 18' door rolled up was an acceptable compromise on shitty days for "playing outside" for most of the neighborhood parents. That, and having a dirt bike track in the backyard is finally something that the other kids think is cool. So not uncommon for there to be anywhere from six to eight kids at my place three or four days per week since last April.
Still, I think new(er) house, .13 acres, cool neighbors is a pretty sweet recipe for raising young kids, and I still have some regrets.
The price point is such that there’s no riff raff to be pain in the ass neighbors.
I am on my second Bosch dishwasher. As far as doing their jerb, they're great. HOWEVER... I'm about to be on my third Bosch dishwasher. A few months ago, my wife opened the door to unload, and the handle ripped right off. Turns out it's just a thin piece of injection molded ABS (or painted ABS if you get the stainless version) that's screwed into the top of the door panel. It's held on by a whopping four tabs. The shittiness of this design absolutely blows me away. As in, this part breaking off wasn't a one-off, it was inevitable eventually. Because our appliances are black, which is now totally out of style, it takes even longer to get replacements. We've debated just biting the bullet and swapping all of them out just so we don't run into the problem of not being able to find replacements, but we're too cheap/stupid to do so (replacing the refrigerator last April was suuuuuper fun...). Anyway, in order to avoid being without a dishwasher for the three or four months it would probably take to get a replacement, I plastic-welded the trim piece with the built-in handle back together and buffed it out as best I could. Half the locking tabs are still missing, so it's super ghetto, but it still does the job, and nobody visiting can tell it's broken. Pisses me right the fuck off, though. I believe it's only two or three years old.
Here's a similar part for a different model, but it attaches the same way:
You can see the four bigger tabs that screw this piece on. They're flimsy as fuck and barely reinforced. All four snapped, cracking the face of the fascia piece. I was at least able to weld these tabs back on. What I couldn't fix is those six little tabs on the top side that hook it into the main door panel. Those are tiny. So most of them also snapped off, hence this fascia panel feeling like it's going to tear off every time you open the door now. I need to get off my ass and just buy a replacement part or new dishwasher. I'm stubborn and too pissed off for that just yet, though.
Point is, it looks like this is a pretty standard design feature for many if not all of their models, as it was actually hard to find a replacement part for mine because I was wading through dozens and dozens of similar shitty flimsy ABS integrated fascia/handles from other models. If you're going to go Bosch, watch our for this. The handle should be metal, and it should be separate from the plastic fascia.
There were only three dishwashers there that were Bosch. The handles are still molded into plastic fascia pieces, but they seem to wrap around better and be more supported. It still flexes and feels cheap, but seems superficially like it at least wouldn't break.
I know it's not cool looking to have a metal handle that protrudes from the front, but I might go that route next time to avoid breakage.
Probably with selling right now is you have to buy in the same market. An almost identical home adjacent from us went for 65k more than we paid less then a yr ago. Side note, dude that bought it just came from Tacoma and is super happy about how much house he got for a third of WA housing prices. He also brews... 4 kinds on tap but I digress.
TOF and I are seriously thinking about selling because we could get at least 10k more if not closer to 20k. Then rent until I find my next promotion because we’re not staying here. Save $500 a month so 6k a yr back into retirement.
My point, unless you’re downgrading, moving to an area where you’re dollar gets you more, or finding a fixer upper, you’re SOL.
The sign in front of our neighborhood, mentioning homes starting at $$, has changed since covid and now shows a 75k increase compared to this time LY.
Yet, they are almost sold out of lots and are currently working on 4 homes. Riches going to rich... bigger and newer homes in the back half of the neighborhood.