building new home

[steveo2155]

Looking at possibly building. Located in midwest. Would be hooked up to city utilities/water. Is it unrealistic to think a two story 1600-2000 sq ft home with poured basement and two car attached garage can be built under $200k all costs included? Nothing extravagant, just a square two story with detached 24x24 garage and maybe a front porch

[Andy Seibel]

At $125 per square foot that would put you at the bottom end - 1600 SF. I have been talking to builders too since I'm thinking of building in a couple years. That is the cost they estimate for a new house.

 

And that does not include buying the lot.

 

If you can keep the wife from wanting all the fancy finishes you may be able to pull it off.

[steveo2155]

$125 per sq ft even for two story?

[Andy Seibel]

you probably can figure a bit less for the upstairs. maybe 100. I'm just guessing. You only need 1 basement.

 

So if your two floors have equal square footage and you use 112 average price/ SF, then you can do 1785 SF.

Again, this is without the lot. If your total budget is 200,000 and you still need a lot, I don't know if that will work.

 

to build your max size of 2000 SF, you would have to keep everything at $100/SF, which i think is around what you could buy a house for, but not build new.

 

if you find a pre-built home in a subdivison where you just pick out the paint and cabinets, your price would be better.

[asilverblazer]

Around here 150 a SF is cheapest cheap.

[steveo2155]

Not looking good for my 200k budget. Unless skip the two story and go with a 1300-1400 sq ft ranch and finish the basement on my own time. Still doesn't leave much for garage, landscaping, overages etc. How do average income people do it? Might have to look at buying an existing property I guess

[diyer2]

Retired construction worker.

IMO your best deal would be to be the General Contractor yourself. Hire the subs through a bidding process.

You could build/finish some of the house if your capable. You could have the shell built and finish the inside with chosen contractors.

 

I will add that very few people enjoy building a home and never do it again.

[steveo2155]

Ideally I would like to go with a simple two story. Kitchen, dining, living, bathroom and master bedroom (possibly master bath depending on space/price) all on main. Two bedrooms up & possibly bathroom. Basement unfinished. Laundry either on main or basement. At least 24x24 detached garage. Then in future finish basement myself to add rec room etc. Maybe I wouldnt need as much room as I think? Id like all bedrooms decent size 12x12 maybe less? And kitchen dining living all good size.

[Andy Seibel]

How do average income people do it? Might have to look at buying an existing property I guess

 

yup. building a house is not for those on a tight budget. you can generally get more for your money buying an outdated home and doing a few renovations. find a place with outdated original kitchen & bathroom for $150,000. spend about $30,000 upgrading those two areas and it will feel like a new house for less than your budget. That leaves 20,000 to build one helluva garage.

[steveo2155]

I am definitely not opposed to the above. My main concern is finding an affordable way to finance these updates. Any suggestions? We are talking $50,000 in updates on top of a $150,000 mortgage payment.