Your New House

As part of my preparation, I've been reading a fair amount of real estate information.  A good chunk of this takes the form of news articles and online sources, but I also have several books that I've read or that I plan to read.  I'll try and summarize such books here, to describe both the good and the bad of each.

"Your New House" was written by the husband-and-wife team of Alan and Denise Fields.  It covers a relatively narrow category of real estate: purchasing a new house, with extra emphasis on overseeing construction.  In other words, rather than looking at a set of existing houses to find one that you like, working with professionals to build a house to your specifications.

The book has a lot of personality and is pretty enjoyable to read.  They stuff the book with anecdotes, a couple from their own experience and many more from readers who contacted them after reading earlier editions of the book.  This isn't a dry, detached, clinical look.  It self-advertises as being part caution, part information, and part rant. 

They don't put any effort into being "objective," and just call 'em like they see 'em.  They are relentlessly harsh towards builders and subcontractors.  If you take one thing away from this book, it will be the importance of choosing a good builder and watching them like a hawk.  They also sneer at real estate agents, only begrudgingly allowing that, in certain circumstances, it may be wise to find an exclusive buyer's agent.  On the other hand, they are generally glowing about architects, and speak fairly well about lawyers. 

Which does bring up an interesting point that they regularly raise: home-building is NOT a profession.  To become an architect or a lawyer, one must go to school for many years, study, and prove themselves.  Most real estate agents have no college degree, and anyone who picks up a hammer and (depending on the state) gets a license can become a builder.  I'm sure that there are bad architects and good builders out there, but when you consider how much money we spend on homes, it does seem pretty surprising that we don't have true systems for certifying professional builders.

While the breezy writing of the book is entertaining, it also makes it feel a bit loose and even untrustworthy.  In one example, the authors off-handedly mention that in an earlier edition of the book, they recommended that people frame their houses with 2x6 beams instead of 2x4s.  The reason for this was to permit more insulation, saving on energy bills.  Since the book came out, they had learned that the cost of the extra lumber and extra insulation was far too high, and the savings on lost heat far too low, for this to make sense.  On an average house, it would take about 75 years to recoup the extra money on materials.  So, never mind: 2x4s are fine!

Now, I'm delighted that they owned up to this mistake and talked through it, but it does shine light on a problem with this book: it's heavily anecdotal.  The authors aren't experts in the field.  Throughout the book, they're reporting what other people have told them.  Some of that is good advice; some of it is not.  You can't take this book as gospel.  Instead, you should treat it the same way you would treat a funny and opinionated guest at a dinner party.

That said, I am really glad that I read the book.  On the downside, it doesn't directly speak to my situation - the word "condo" isn't mentioned once in the entire book (fair enough, since it's "Your New House" and not "Your New Home"), and I won't have the opportunity to make many of the decisions they discuss (picking an architect, selecting a building site, etc.).  Nonetheless, all of those decisions will be made, and I now know how important it is to learn about them after the fact.  As a condo buyer I don't have as much choice, but that doesn't mean that the foundation is any less important, or that I should be less concerned about the builder's quality.

Probably the most valuable part of the book for me was the section towards the end that discusses the various choices available for components of the home: different styles of roof, materials for roofing, bathroom fixture manufacturers, siding, and so on.  Again, these aren't choices I'll be able to make, but after reading this book I now have a much better understanding of what the various options mean.  I now have a better understanding of the trade-offs between stucco, wood, brick, vinyl, and so on.  This extra knowledge will help me better evaluate various condo options and decide what I want.

Part of the book did make me seriously re-consider whether I wanted to stop being a renter at all.  The sections on builder scams and especially home-warranty fraud were especially distressing.  Once again, you would think that if you're spending so much money on something, you'd get some level of assurance of quality, but it's quite clear that a lot of people get into deep trouble.

That said, it's far better to read and think about these problems now than when I'm about to sign a check.  "Your New House" isn't gospel, but it is worth reading and thinking about.