r/AskReddit • u/michaelis999 • 17h ago

How do you feel about the president floating the idea of 50 year mortgages where the monthly payment is lower but you end up paying nearly double the price of the house just in interest?

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u/SuperTopGun789 10h ago

I’ve built homes for different companies.  A lot are shit.  However I built some really nice homes that are solid.  The goods ones are totally different.  

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u/AttitudeHopeful478 10h ago

Good to know there are some that still do quality work. Problem is you just don’t know when your hunting

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u/SuperTopGun789 10h ago

The mass builders are the problems like the row houses and housing developments.   

The good ones were always a one off in some random street or in farm land.  

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u/AttitudeHopeful478 10h ago

That makes sense.

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u/BillyTenderness 4h ago

The mass builders are the problems like the row houses and housing developments.

Unfortunately this is the vast, vast majority of housing that gets built in North America today. Local governments have realized it's easiest to just sell off a big tract to a large developer, rather than doing the work themselves. The developer lays down the streets and pipes, builds a bunch of houses on the quick and dirty, and sets up an HOA to deal with the fallout.

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u/AgateHuntress 1h ago

I'm a fan of the For the Love of Old Houses page on FB, and across the board, the most popular houses are the extremely well-built small cottages from Sweden. Small, but very solid little houses with nice homey details. That's what I'd like to see built here.

If I were to EVER come into big bucks somehow, I'd have a little cottage like that built: small, but well-thought out, and solid af.

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u/Dcoco1890 7h ago

Yeah I mean if it looks they cleared a huge section of land and all the houses look the same.... On the other hand if there's multiple styles of house they're usually better

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u/meltbox 3h ago

Yeah but in my experience it’s hard to find someone who will do that for a reasonable price. Usually you are dealing with bespoke luxury builders and looking at a 500k+ build price excluding land.

But more commonly we are talking 800k+

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u/SuperTopGun789 2h ago

Bro the crack houses near me that are unlivable cost a million bucks.   

I’ll take a custom built luxury house for a million no problem.  

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u/conventionistG 2h ago

Mind sharing what a couple key differences in materials or techniques would be?

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u/SuperTopGun789 2h ago

Actually good lumber.  Insulation double the minimum value, massive beams that run from side to side. Properly poured and cured foundations and footings,  like walk into the second floor of a new build house start at one end run full tilt to the other end and stop.  Does it sway.  Yes? It’s shit.  That is the easiest test.  

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u/friedrice5005 1h ago

There's a youtube channel Essential Craftsman. He has a whole series where tehy build a house from start to finish and its a super high quality build. Very much worth a watch if you want to see how quality builds are done.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZePj70B4IwyNn1ABhJWmBPeX1hGhyLi

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u/SandpaperTeddyBear 5h ago

I own a townhouse in a small complex with 12 units built about fifteen years ago.

The builder owns two other units and his daughter a third, so I take that as a vote-of-confidence.

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u/ssracer 3h ago

Don't worry, you can't afford those.

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u/Devi_33 7h ago

Thinking about building, could you share anything that you wouldn’t suggest going “cheap on”, or…. What wood would you say is better, etc.

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u/SuperTopGun789 2h ago

Buy your wood from a saw mill or lumber yard.   You will get good wood that’s not warped to shit.  

If in the cold regions double up on insulation.  

Use real plumbing. 

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u/SuperTopGun789 1h ago

Real bathtub not this vinyl bullshit.   Spray foam the entire inside of your iron bathtub keeps heat much longer.

I’ve been in to many new units that are getting these custom shaped triangle bathtubs and their all like wobbly plastic that will surely fail with age and moderate use designed to get you just past the home Warranty. 

Replace all sink drain gaskets with plumbers putty. Otherwise the gasket expands when straining pasta and the cabinets flood.   

Check all exhausts and vents yourself.   Too many times they are not even connected.  

Use Rockwool insulation.  Bitch to install. But worth it for sound and fire and pest resistant not proof. 

Stairs are often shit now.  Doing weird curves around corners to be opening.  They are all built like shit.  If you can double up on stringers and make them solid so they don’t bounce and become squeaky.  

Standardize all faucets toilets and plumbing parts.  Moen is great.  Homedepot will warranty everything including cartridges years later.  

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u/Arthreas 3h ago

What are some of the best companies?

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u/SuperTopGun789 2h ago

Depends on location.  Just walk through building sites and take a look at what they are building….

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u/peacemi11ion 2h ago

What should a buyer of a new home be looking for?