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Few endeavors in life are as worthy of anxiety as building your own home. All that money, all that stress -- and if you don't believe that building a house is stressful, then may the good Lord preserve your innocence.
But if what you want is your dream house, built to your specifications, nothing but a new house will do.
Fortunately for those about to embark on building a house, intrepid travelers have gone before you. Some have written excellent guides, and as a bon voyage, we've culled five of the newest and best.
Some warnings: Most of the advice in the books reviewed here is geared to people buying a production house, what was once sometimes called a tract house (though builders hate that term, thinking it sounds tacky). Those are the houses generally built in developments, large and small, and chosen from a stock set of plans. You may have some choices in options and finishes, but you won't be able to make large-scale changes.
Production houses are built with maximum efficiency, which is why they're usually the most affordable new-home option. However, as Alan and Denise Fields warn in "Your New House," maximum efficiency means your house isn't being built by the lovable, finicky Norm Abram and Tom Silva of "This Old House," but by a crew that has to move fast. If you're a perfectionist or someone in love with handcrafting, build a custom house or spend your life savings on renovating a vintage house.
Custom house builders can give you anything you want, as long as you're willing to pay. Generally, you'll need to own a piece of land and hire an architect -- which is a whole other set of questions only partly addressed in these books.
Semi-custom house builders occupy a third, often confusing, area. A semi-custom builder should allow you to make some substantial changes to a stock plan, such as moving walls, resizing rooms and so on. If you're interested in that kind of builder, be doubly sure to study the advice in these books. Your savings and your sanity may depend on it.
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"Your New House: The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home," by Alan and Denise...