u/InevitablePainter410

Looking for some advice/real world experiences from people in the Hudson Valley/Dutchess County area in New York, who have built their own home or acted as their own GC.

My fiancée and I are starting to seriously look into possibly buying land and building own own home, instead of buying an older house that needs major work. I work in high-end residential construction in NYC, so I have construction experience and would likely self manage a good portion of the project (if banks allowed of course)

We’re trying to get a realistic understanding of:

• How much cash/liquidity people actually needed upfront.

• What lenders required for down payment/reserves.

• Architect/engineering/permitting costs before loan approval.

• Construction-to-permanent loans and which local banks were easiest to work with?

• Acting as your own GC / owner-builder experiences.

• Septic + drilled well vs municipal utilities.

• What to look out for when buying land in the Hudson Valley.

• Hidden costs people didn’t expect

We’re likely looking at a modest but well built home, possibly around 2,000 sq ft with a walkout/daylight basement.

Would appreciate any advice, lessons learned, lender recommendations, lot recommendations, or “things you wish you knew before starting.”

Thanks in advance.

Update:
For reference, my bother does concrete work so we would be doing the foundation and excavation etc ourselves, as well as septic tank. I would be doing all interior carpentry and all flooring installs. All this would reduce overall cost a lot I would imagine.

Looking for some advice/real world experiences from people in the Hudson Valley/Dutchess County area in New York, who have built their own home or acted as their own GC.

My fiancée and I are starting to seriously look into possibly buying land and building own own home, instead of buying an older house that needs major work. I work in high-end residential construction in NYC, so I have construction experience and would likely self manage a good portion of the project (if banks allowed of course)

We’re trying to get a realistic understanding of:

• How much cash/liquidity people actually needed upfront.

• What lenders required for down payment/reserves.

• Architect/engineering/permitting costs before loan approval.

• Construction-to-permanent loans and which local banks were easiest to work with?

• Acting as your own GC / owner-builder experiences.

• Septic + drilled well vs municipal utilities.

• What to look out for when buying land in the Hudson Valley.

• Hidden costs people didn’t expect.

We’re likely looking at a modest but well built home, possibly around 2,000 sq ft with a walkout/daylight basement.

Would appreciate any advice, lessons learned, lender recommendations, lot recommendations, or “things you wish you knew before starting.”

Thanks in advance.

Update:
For reference, my bother does concrete work so we would be doing the foundation and excavation etc ourselves, as well as septic tank. I would be doing all interior carpentry and all flooring installs. All this would reduce overall cost a lot I would imagine.

Looking for advice on what to update the heating system on an old house I’m buying.

It currently has forced air run on propane. No back up radiators. Only back up heat is a wood burning stove in the Living room.

What’s the most cost effective way to upgrade this? Ideally id love to a proper central air system for heat and cooling but my budget is tight as I have two kids under 2.

I’m thinking maybe a heat pump and ductless mini splits. Would I need a back up system for the severe winter months though? I’m thinking I would.

For context it’s a 2 bed 1 bath in Dutchess County NY.

One way or another I do plan upgrade the cooling as well in the next year or two.

Any advice is greatly appreciated 🙏