[jrose_lee]

Hey! I think we may be moving to Iowa! Now we just need to decide what type of home to get! We are trying to decide whether to just get land with a house already on it or buy property and build.

We are on a bit of a budget though. I would love to hear some reccomendations. Would it be better to get land and build the solar home of our dreams? Or better to just get an older home for cheaper on some property? We pretty much had better keep it all under $100,000 if we want to be able to live without boiling over with financial stress

(land included in that price)

Is anything do-able for this amount? We can't build it ourselves...we need it built for us if we decide to go that route. Or would it be okay to just buy an existing house?

Any thought? I'm so new at this. I've only rented before!

 

[thriftyqueen]

You have a couple of different options that I can see.

Building solar homes (any green architecture) can get expensive so you would probably be able to build a small house that is "off the grid" or you could buy an existing home.

I would say you could probably get a better deal on buying an existing home, but then you sacrifice the solar idea.

You really have to make a decision based on your goals. Maybe if you really want to have a solar home, you could start small and then add on as money is more available. If building isn't a top priority, I would probably say just purchase exisiting.

 

[2busy2clean]

My suggestion would be to buy an older home that needs some remodeling love and get to work on that. Try to give the house a 5 year commitment, and then when the time is right, sell and build your dream house. This way you will see how well your dh and you work together, you will be able to do the work on your future house (and save $$) or, know quality construction to hire good contractors and you will see how much stress house work really is. =)

I hate to discourage you from building NOW, but 100K is not much $$, especially if you have to hire contractors. I've heard 1/3 of building cost is the material, and the other 2/3rds are labor.

Home ownership is a fun adventure! Wishing you the best as you decide what to do!

 

[accountclosed3]

typically, the 'older' the home, the more 'green friendly' adaptable it is.

buying a home that is more than 80 or 100 years old is a great option. they're often constructed architecturally for passive heating/cooling, will have various types of heat sources in place (fire places, etc), and if they need new wiring, etc, would be relatively easy to convert to solar power. if they need new plumbing, etc, then you can easily convert to grey water systems.

the hardest part, of course, is finding the right kind of bargain.

my husband and i are ocnsidering building very small on a very small plot of land. we'll be in suburbia--but we can build 'off grid' if we build small and pretty.

so that's our idea right now.

 

[UlrikeDG]

You're probably not going to be able to buy land and build on it for under $100,000--not unless you go really small and/or do a lot of the work yourself (e.g., strawbale house or cabin from a kit). Prices do go down when you get farther from town, so you could actually find an amazing old farmhouse in the country on a couple of acres or a house with a big yard in a small town for $100,000 *if* you're willing to do some work on it. If you know what you're looking for, you may also find a house that is set up for passive solar heating/cooling. Check out Realtor.com to get an idea of what's available. IowaRealty.com has the best website of any of the local real estate companies (very comprehensive, easy to navigate and user friendly).

 

[camprunner]

I've heard of people contracting houses out themselves to build cheap. I know our house was built for about $65,000 including an acre of land.