Unfinished second floor

[Mr. Chenevert]

Are there any builders in Houston that are currently selling a house with an unfinished second floor?

I recently was in Atlanta (Decatur to be exact) and visited my cousins new house. A brand new craftman style home. He bought it for 230k, and it has three bedrooms on the first floor.

What was really interesting was that the second floor was left unfinished. Simply a wooden staircase leading to a plywood floored space.

He has since built a small recording studio and master bedroom suite in this space to his exact specs.

I love this idea for several reasons.

1) It keeps the initial purchase price lower.

2) Smaller down payment to avoid PMI.

3) Allows the owner to design his/her own space which is very rare when buying a spec home.

All of my searches through HAR and my realtor come up blank with a Houston version of this idea.

[musicman]

so where were the a/c and the various vent stacks?

[HoustonRealtor]

The only unfinished space I have seen in the Houston area is over a garage or possibly an attic, but not a true unfinished second floor. Interesting concept.

[Mr. Chenevert]

so where were the a/c and the various vent stacks?

There were some basic framed walls that were inset from the exterior walls a few feet. This allowed some basic plumbing and ducts to be routed into the unfinished space. No finished plumbing or electric, or real interior walls were framed though.

[musicman]

There were some basic framed walls that were inset from the exterior walls a few feet. This allowed some basic plumbing and ducts to be routed into the unfinished space. No finished plumbing or electric, or real interior walls were framed though.

gotcha....so could you tell whether the furnace/ac was in the attic or was there a basement? only reason i'm asking is that if it was in the attic mods to accomodate the new space would be easy. the basement may be more of a challenge.

[Mr. Chenevert]

gotcha....so could you tell whether the furnace/ac was in the attic or was there a basement? only reason i'm asking is that if it was in the attic mods to accomodate the new space would be easy. the basement may be more of a challenge.

I honestly don't remember seeing the AC or furnace unit. Its possible they were up there and behind a wall or something. His place does not have a basement.

I do know that the place was designed from the get go to eventually have a finished second floor.

[Dan the Man]

When building a house, I've always thought that leaving rooms unfinished is a perfectly acceptable option, especially if the budget is tight. Put most of the money into the shell of the house, using good quality materials to make a durable exterior. The interior can then be finished at a later date when finances allow.

Unfortunately people usually take the opposite approach, in that they put most of the money into the interior finishes, but use low quality materials on the exterior. Hence the common "My EIFS townhome has a mold problem..." story. 9 times out of 10, there are probably granite counter-tops, stainless steel appliances, and hardwood floors in that moldy townhome...

[RedScare]

At one time, banks were none to keen on lending money on homes with unfinished rooms. Their belief was that if they had to foreclose, unfinished living space would make the homes harder to resell. Though building for a growing family, and leaving unfinished space to stay within a budget makes perfect sense from the buyer's view, the banks understandably looked at it from a worst case financial point of view.

I don't know if this view is still held by mortgage lenders, but I suspect that unfinished rooms are even harder to sell today than in the past, given society's movement toward "instant gratification". Though many of us who post on this forum would relish the chance to finish a room to our tastes, that does not seem to be the prevailing view among most homebuyers.

[Mr. Chenevert]

At one time, banks were none to keen on lending money on homes with unfinished rooms. Their belief was that if they had to foreclose, unfinished living space would make the homes harder to resell. Though building for a growing family, and leaving unfinished space to stay within a budget makes perfect sense from the buyer's view, the banks understandably looked at it from a worst case financial point of view.

I don't know if this view is still held by mortgage lenders, but I suspect that unfinished rooms are even harder to sell today than in the past, given society's movement toward "instant gratification". Though many of us who post on this forum would relish the chance to finish a room to our tastes, that does not seem to be the prevailing view among most homebuyers.

I see your point, but the house as sold on day 1 was fully functional. The entire first floor was finished (very nicely) and included 3 bedrooms, and two baths.

As long as you only market the house as a 3/2 1 story, the fact that it has an unfinished 2nd floor can only be a plus in my eyes.

[mumbles]

I dont see why you couldn't have any builder do it that way, excpet for the previously mentioned finance problem. I too have wondered about buying a house only finished up to the sheetrock. Install my own cabinets, flooring, etc. Why pay someone to paint all the walls white and get overspray on everything when you don't want them white? It's really hard to get all that crap off the floor before you lay tile.

[musicman]

I dont see why you couldn't have any builder do it that way, excpet for the previously mentioned finance problem. I too have wondered about buying a house only finished up to the sheetrock. Install my own cabinets, flooring, etc. Why pay someone to paint all the walls white and get overspray on everything when you don't want them white? It's really hard to get all that crap off the floor before you lay tile.

if you're just doing cabinets and flooring, i know the city doesn't require permits for those. but when you start doing electrical/plumbing/etc a permit is required.

[RedScare]

In doing a little reading this morning, it appears that FHA, as well as several other mortgage programs, will not lend on an unfinished house. I also noted that several banks will not do so. The primary reason appears to be the problem of resale if the house is foreclosed. Requiring construction to be finished is a simple risk avoidance factor for banks.

Like everything else, this does not mean that you cannot buy an unfinished house, nor does it mean that you cannot build your own, leaving an unfinished second floor. It simply means that you will need to do more research to find a lender willing to do so, or come up with enough down payment that the lender's fears are diminished.