Four years ago I built a brand new home and the payment is only 253 a month at a 15yr mortgage @ 3.5%. I only make around 32-33k a year depending on how much I work.
When I built the home I had a company build only the shell for me and I finished it myself. The shell is foundation, siding, windows, doors, shingles, etc. My house is not very big. It's a one bedroom home with a screened in porch that can be made into a extra bedroom in the future. The screened in porch is covered and on a block foundation. The home is built on a crawlspace with vinyl siding. I was able to get many materials from salvage yards and done much of it myself such as insulation, flooring, trim, installation of doors, and cabinets. I also installed a radiant barrier myself using atticfoil.com. For the things I did not know how to do to I subcontracted it out - electrical, plumbing, HVAC, holding tank for sewer, and drywall.
I found a very good deal on flooring from builddirect.com 12mm laminate for 1.09 a sq foot. Shipping I can't remember, me and my friend went in on it and got sent to his house.
Total sq. footage is 552 but with extra bedroom the living area (10x14 140sq ft) would come to 692. I also have a 6 foot by 14 foot covered front porch. Total land is right over half an acre .52. I got the plans from countryplans.com and modified them a little somewhat.
What I have learned is that you if you build a split heat pump unit is the cheapest. I did not do this however and wish in many ways I did. I have gas heat and it's gas package unit that sits outside of the house - air conditioner or compressor is inside the unit. The inside uses ducts that are ran in the crawlspace. Heating unit is very quiet it is a Trane.
I went into this knowing that the smaller I build the better - less maintenance, heating and cooling, less property tax, and insurance. I chose vinyl siding because it's practically maintenance free. My main goal is to eventually rent my house out in the future. At this point in time I could do so and get a return. However, the bank did not appraise the house what I wanted - which isn't a huge deal considering I will rent. But, to liquify the asset it may be a problem - if housing does not go up in my area. I built in a crappy area - land was cheap so.. but I didn't care. But, I live in the city in my area and very close in to the highway. This was a huge plus for me as that I didn't want to drive way out in the country to get home and to get groceries etc...
What I have learned is that there are 2 things that hold people back from building wealth - pride and lack of perspective. Being prideful blinds people to making the best decisions - they want the nicest car, and biggest home in the nicest area, etc.. And lack of perspective meaning that people have no idea what they will do in the future. If you fail to plan you will plan to fail. Simple as that. Life is like a chess game - choose your moves carefully because the decisions you make in life will ultimately determine the quality of life in which you live. It has taken me a while to get where I am, but right now I am able to save about 58% of my income.
The only debt I have is the house and a plastic shed I bought from home depot - owing about 962 I believe - got in on sale and 0% for 6 months. Will be paid off next check or so.
Any questions just ask..