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House & Cottage is your source
for design ideas and resources in building your small home or cottage...
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There is a word predatory lenders use for consumers who borrow mortgage money from them - smuck, sucker, or just damned stupid. That is because they will agree to almost anything to obtain a house. One can't blame the borrower who after all wants part of the American Dream - to own one's home - we all do. The problem is being talked into high interest rates on the principle, or variable interest or balloon payments or any variable of the above will eventually turn the consumer into a renter who in the end will have nothing to show for their investment but negative cash flow. The end result, the homeowner gets evicted and the company gets to re-sell the house to another sucker...and on, and on and on. Another tactic is companies willing to buy your "distressed" home for pennies on the dollar. First, these are tradesmen who realize that replacing a few pipes, electrical outlets, a roof or a few plaster boards bought at contractor discounts can then turn around and sell it for a substantial profit - nothing really wrong with that if the owner is too lazy and/or cheap or lacks even rudimentary skills. But the result remains the same - the owner loses all his or her equity in the process. They lose the roof over their heads! House & Cottage recommends two things - don't get into a house via "creative" financing, and don't take on a "fixer-upper" unless you are a "fixer-upper handyperson" to begin with. There are other ways to get a better home with a little study, experience and sweat equity! Again, as mentioned above, walking into a home built before the 1980's means in most cases, roof repairs, plumbing repairs and some electrical and HVAC upgrades. The home at this point is less of a bargain than first thought. Another concern is cost of utilities continue to rise - especially heating and cooling. Even homes built as late as the early 1990's don't have proper insulation to keep down costs. On the other side of the coin, houses built in the 1950's forward are usually built to code, and can be successfully upgraded. Its a mixed bag. But you as the potential owner need to weigh advantages against the negatives. For an older home you'll pay more as market values rise and incur the costs of upgrades, however, you'll be able to move in once paperwork gets approval - longer, if there are certain repairs to be made before permit of occupancy is granted. In most cases, if you decide to build a home, its going to take anywhere from three months to a year from start of actual construction to physically occupy a home. The advantages are you (with lots of thought and preparation) will end up with a state-of-the-art structure built to your needs now and into the future - and be very economical to live in. So what does House & Cottage recommend as a bottom line. If you are at or below the poverty line;
Ascertain your housing needs - now and into your future, including old age such as making a house accessible for wheelchairs and such - the longer you can live in a home, the more you get for your dollar.
Buy good house design software - we recommend Punch brand and Chief Architects Better Homes & Gardens Home Design software which offer a "materials list" calculator. Realize that you will still have to run your designs through an architects for approval of the housing department in the area you plan to live. You might even ask the building department if they can recommend an architect as a consultant once the plans are final.
We won't kid you, its a lot of work - however the benefits are many over your lifetime. Knowing how something is put together makes it easier to do DIY repairs that will save you a ton of money over your lifetime - we're not kidding! Finally, through the design and building stage, "THINK GREEN", the cost for being "on the grid" is going to continue going up as fossil fuels get more expensive and it becomes more rare. Find ways to reduce or eliminate operating costs through more efficient materials and trying to incorporate solar and wind power along with high insulation values in your building plans - read up on it! House & Cottage wishes you the best of luck in your endeavors...
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