So, you want to build a home? With 4% interest rates (the lowest in 50 years) and labor available at a discount, it seems to make sense. Most of the cost of housing is in materials (Lumber, copper, concrete, steel, etc.). Houston, there's a problem in the claimed "recovery" from the recession. Just because our economy is lagging it does not mean the world economy is following suit. If you can just imagine what the world thought of our massive growth over the last 75 years. It is time for us to consider looking out our windows at our chief competition as consumers. Right now India, China, and Brazil are exploding with growth. Their economies are booming so much that we are exporting most of our lumber, steel, and copper (to name a few items) to these countries. There is such a demand that we are exhausting natural resources around the globe at a staggering pace and thus driving up prices. Steel has increased 30% since Sept. 2010! Material costs have risen so much that the mere savings you will find in labor cannot offset the skyrocketing cost of the product itself. It makes you wonder how much money Brazil is putting into the infrastructure for the 2016 olympics (i.e. Birds Nest II).
The secret is to buy existing homes at recessed prices and upgrade. Yep, it sounds easy. I know that everyone wants to buy a home and immediately start the construction project, right? Don't be scared off - you can save tens of thousands of dollars or more and live in a home built on a mature site with quality materials. That's my tip (or word for the wise)!
