designing and building your own house

[PandaPancake]

5 hours ago, ARSEN said:

I'm working for the largest home builder in US.  Purchasing power, baby!  I also get favors from laborerers (they do work for half the price) so I can talk to VP of construction (who is my buddy) and tell him they did a good job.

And yet you haven't passed the savings on to 12,000 of your closest friends.

[Bronn]

15 hours ago, PhillyB said:

actually it's funny you bring the church thing up. as i began a gradual pull away from organized religion and then a sudden, bandaid-style ripping away from the church as a whole, i began pondering how on earth to recreate the amazing, wonderful things inspired by church communities without the things that make church ...well, church. how do you get a massive community of people in one place, with some sort of consensus-defined mission, and using that as your pole around which to gather and also have a constant, tight-knit social and economic group that's in continual communion with one another?

for secularists it's bars, panthers games, maybe country clubs if you're rich, frats if you're in college, etc. but trying to sustain that is incredibly difficult and if you look at the state of modern suburban america it's socially disaffected, disconnected, and disparately scattered. how do you take the obvious advantage that belonging to a church offers and divorce it from the religious precepts that make it a thing to begin with?

in that sense this whole idea is deeply experimental. i want to see how well i can use it as a platform to cull something similar community-wise, and having a multifunctional property is probably the best way to make it happen. from having a bar in the basement to watch panthers games to having educational material for other people to bring their kids to access if they want to being able to host events i think it's generally going to be an awesome and positive thing for greensboro, guilford county, and the state if this thing can produce enough good poo that keeps on producing good poo.

i'm very, very hesitant to take any kind of grants or donations. gofundme type stuff grosses me out... i can work my ass off and pay for it myself, and i'd rather

edit: oh and it'll be green as hell. i want it to be as self-sustainable as possible, which will mean solar and wind technology integrated into the grid as efficiently as possible, and a water collection tank as well, and gardens and poo

I read this on the way home yesterday, but didn't want to actually type out my reply while driving, lol...

I hate to sound like a downer again, and I hope I don't... I was actually inspired a bit by this post, but the realist in my head keeps screaming at me...

Based on what you said above, I would still caution your optimism a little bit. It will be extremely hard to do something like this and prevent people from bringing in their own agendas, even if you control the finances 100%.

Here's a scenario: Bob shows up and becomes an active member of the community. Bob works hard to help everyone have food to eat and to maintain the property. As the months go by, you notice Bob starts bringing in some shady guests. Over time, Bob becomes a distraction and has had several run-ins with other community members. You want Bob gone, but he has the argument that he's been earning his keep and you can't get rid of him.

To be blunt, people are fuging weird and quirky. Present company is included. What you may see as the purpose of this project will most definitely adapt over time by your own hands, but imagine the adaptation and obstacles that can be presented by the outsiders. To truly motivate people, you have to offer them something more than enlightenment and personal growth opportunity. And, given time, people are going to take advantage of your optimism.

I still feel like you'll need to market part of this as a business, as taboo as that sounds right now. It will help protect you down the road. You need to limit your liability under any possible future event or action against your property. Don't be quick to shy away from public funding. You don't have to use one of the sites out there. You can make your own. You might also find government grants for educational institutions.

You definitely have a task on your hands in getting people to rally around the cause, without a promise of spiritual salvation. For some, you're offering exactly what they are looking for. For others, they'll get in and then start wondering why they can't include their own personal agendas. I think people, most of the time, opt into religion because they are wanting to fill a void in their lives. Once that void is filled, they feel free to let the ugly come out six days a week. I know that is a wide brush I am painting with, but I hope you take my meaning.

Again, I would love to be a part of something like this myself, and I envy your goals. I wish you nothing but good luck and positive energy throughout the process, so please don't take any of my words as harsh criticisms or anything like that.

On the green tech... Make sure to do your research into passive solar, photovoltaic systems, wind in your property's area, hydroelectric (if you're going to have a running body of water on the property,) grey water systems, geothermal, etc. etc. etc. ... It could be very possible for you to almost if not 100% be off any power grid at all, even on a project this big.
 

[thefuzz]

10 hours ago, PhillyB said:

most of it's static though. other than probably insanely high utility bills for powering and heating all that (which i'm hoping ppl on the property will pitch in for anyway, but if not whatever) and some annual repair bills how high is the cost actually gonna be? the salon will be the biggest room in the entire place, but once it's up it's up. it's an open space with some chairs and tables, lamps, a bunch of bookcases, low lighting, and an open atrium staircase leading up the second level. it just sits there so its monthly expenses are a can of pledge and a featherduster.

unless i am just horrendously naive

I think that you at looking at the plus side of 800k, and closer to 1M honestly, and that's with it stripped down pretty good.

[SmokinwithWilly]

12 hours ago, PhillyB said:

most of it's static though. other than probably insanely high utility bills for powering and heating all that (which i'm hoping ppl on the property will pitch in for anyway, but if not whatever) and some annual repair bills how high is the cost actually gonna be? the salon will be the biggest room in the entire place, but once it's up it's up. it's an open space with some chairs and tables, lamps, a bunch of bookcases, low lighting, and an open atrium staircase leading up the second level. it just sits there so its monthly expenses are a can of pledge and a featherduster.

unless i am just horrendously naive

What I have always done, and it's worked out to be fairly accurate so far over the past 10 years is figure 2% of home cost as annual maintenance and put this aside for when those expenses occur. Our custom home was $230k, so we figured $4500 a year for annual upkeep and it averaged out to that after the first 3 years. The first couple of years weren't bad, but then things started to roll in. Exterior trim needed to be sanded and repainted, dishwasher went out, furnace upkeep, tree maintenance, irrigation system, carpet cleaning, septic clean out, and the list goes on. I figured every 5 years to paint the interior, and 7 for carpet replacement because I hate laminate flooring. I'm not saying you can't do these things yourself, I just found that with my business which takes a ton of my free time, I didn't have the ability to keep up with everything myself and I had to budget for those things. It seems that once you start doing maintenance, it never stops, and the more people you have, the more frequent the maintenance. 

*edit* - I figured the 2% included work I did. I used $45.00 as an average figure for my time/labor and what it would average across several trades combined. 

[PhillyB]

1 hour ago, thefuzz said:

I think that you at looking at the plus side of 800k, and closer to 1M honestly, and that's with it stripped down pretty good.

if i can keep it below 800k i'll be thrilled.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Will this compound be the only Neo-Branch Dividian unit you oversee? 

 

 

 

 

I want to live there.....

[thefuzz]

20 hours ago, PhillyB said:

if i can keep it below 800k i'll be thrilled.

As to the cost of land on top of that....I have no idea.

 

Either way, good luck.  And were I in your shoes, I would probably find a good GC and talk to him/her about exactly what you are looking to do, then let them advise you where to start.

[stirs]

Philly B Koresh

[PhillyB]

anyone selling a used bus

[electro's horse]

somethingawful is updating their dB right now, but tomorrow look up "Grover House" on google and you will laugh your ass off. Basically a dude who was building his own house that had no idea how to do it and got combative when people tried to tell him such.

It is one of the funniest things that has ever happened on the internet

[electro's horse]

Make sure to insulate the stairs!

 

[Ja Rhule]

As someone who works for home builder... Good luck!  You will really need it.  Remember...  You will need to spend around $250k to furnish that home.  Your $900k project can end costing you $1.5M. If you take a loan at 4%...  You will end up paying ALOT of interest on top of principle.  I mean... Your mortgage can be around $14k a month.... For that money you can get a nice house in South Charlotte and Bentley in your garage. 

[electro's horse]

otoh money is basically free right now

[Ja Rhule]

But also... As an accountant I can tell you that you are underestimating your future income.  Right now you are a bartender and earn most of your money under the table aka tax free.

If you and your wife both make good money, you will be taxed at around 30% plus you will pay for health insurance and other things so whatever you make, give 40% away. If you and your wife gross salary at $180k a year, that's roughly $100k after tax.  It is recomanded to have max 40% debt including mortgage so you looking at $40k annual mortgage payments or $3.3k a month.  That's about $380k construction loan.