Any home builders? I have a question...

[Z71GUY]

My fiance and I have agreed that we are going to build our first home. After looking around, we found a nice house, but have no idea how much it would cost to have it built. Can anyone give me a "rough" ball park? Thanks in advance!

 

Home plan

[tmf6902]

I am definatly not a builder nor do I know any...but isn't a good ballpark numer to figure something like $100-$150 a sq foot.....I thought I read that somewhere...I could be toally wrong though, but that would put it in the 150K-225 range ballpark....like I said that....I don't know nothing about houses...but it seems like it could be right

[PewterC3]

I think your a little high. If I take the purchase price of my 5yr. old home and subtract the land value, it comes to around $60 a sq. ft.

[Z71GUY]

I think your a little high. If I take the purchase price of my 5yr. old home and subtract the land value, it comes to around $60 a sq. ft.

d**n! now that would be nice if I could get it built for 60-70 per sq ft. I do have close family and friends in the plastering/dry wall, escavation and HVAC buisness...and I would do as much as I could...odd's and ends.

[GF7PE]

I think a lot has to do with the area you live in. A house like that here will run you $225000-$250000 depending on allowences

[PewterC3]

You could buy it for half that in Texas! New 1500sq ft homes go for $100,000 to 130,000 depending on area.

[LikeaRock14]

My dad's a framing contractor. When he aint so busy with the race cars I'll holler at him and have him type up a reply a decent price. Mind him though, he's only a framing contractor, and he might seem a little high, but in Cali everyhtings expensive.

 

Is that how the house will look though? I think it looks really dan good if it is

[GF7PE]

You could buy it for half that in Texas! New 1500sq ft homes go for $100,000 to 130,000 depending on area.

see this little dump (mine) this bad boy on point 19 acres (.19) costs $240,000 here

 

tought to see, its behind the truck

 

[Z71GUY]

man, I'm glad I live where I live! - I think...

 

I figure I can have the house plastered for a little over cost of materials.... I hope to get an escavation job pretty cheap and a good deal on the HVAC system. I also plan on doing the low voltage wiring...data, voice, audio and video.

 

Hopefully my father will know a couple other contractors that should help keep the cost down...

 

We are looking for around 1-2 acre lot (around $15,000) and REALLY hope to have the house built for 150-165k.

 

I also noticed that the 1500sq ft does not include the garage space which is around 400-500 sq ft. I would imagine that space could be built for alot less (not the $100-110 sq ft range)

 

I really appreciate everyone's help and opinion!!

[PewterC3]

Ouch. Yes, I know things are expensive in California, Mass,...other parts of the country too. $240k in most parts of Texas would get you well over 2000 sq feet on a half acre lot or more with hardwood and tile floors, crown mouldings, fireplace(or 2), marble/granite counter tops, 100% brick construction(no wood to paint except the eve's and garage doors)...the works....

[apache sierra]

Builders models(tract homes) run around 65 to 85 $ per sq ft. But you don't have many options. Upscale houses are around 90 to 115 $sq ft. You have more options like lighting and exterior trim and heating cooling efficencies. If you go for custom or semi custom they run higher but get into hardwood flooring and marble counter tops nicer fixtures and can run upwards of 170 sqft. so it depends on what you want and the area of the country you live in. also how much sweat equity you put into the construction as this helps a lot. But be sure to check with your contractor before attempting to do it yourself. A lot of areas require liscences to do work. But building can be a lot of fun and work but you will learn a lot and realize how much coordination goes into building a house

[ugeesta]

Construction costs vary around the country. You will save more money by doing more work yourself. But, the more work you do yourself, the longer it takes to finish the house. We just did the same thing. We built a 2900sf 1 1/2 story right after we got engaged. Our running joke was "If we don't get divorced before we get married, we'll be alright".

 

Houses take a lot of time and money to build. If you don't have the time, find a builder. We built our house in seven months. I work for a commercial GC and acted as the construction manager. I ended up spending more time at the house than at work towards the end (The boss didn't like that). So, if you build your own house, make sure you have the time. It could easily turn into a 2 year project if you don't.

 

If you don't have the money, ....... We blew our budget by 20%. I figured I could build the house for $100sf, ended up $120sf (granit tops, jacuzzie tub, sound system, etc.) It's too easy to add things into the house during construction. We got the "What the hell, throw it in there" attitude building ours. It's great to have all the toys, but now we have to pay that morgage interest on it all.

 

So, just make sure you know what your gettign into before you commit. Building a house is a full time job. If you have one already, it may be better to find a good, qualified home builder.

 

[Z71GUY]

Construction costs vary around the country. You will save more money by doing more work yourself. But, the more work you do yourself, the longer it takes to finish the house. We just did the same thing. We built a 2900sf 1 1/2 story right after we got engaged. Our running joke was "If we don't get divorced before we get married, we'll be alright".

 

Houses take a lot of time and money to build. If you don't have the time, find a builder. We built our house in seven months. I work for a commercial GC and acted as the construction manager. I ended up spending more time at the house than at work towards the end (The boss didn't like that). So, if you build your own house, make sure you have the time. It could easily turn into a 2 year project if you don't.

 

If you don't have the money, ....... We blew our budget by 20%. I figured I could build the house for $100sf, ended up $120sf (granit tops, jacuzzie tub, sound system, etc.) It's too easy to add things into the house during construction. We got the "What the hell, throw it in there" attitude building ours. It's great to have all the toys, but now we have to pay that morgage interest on it all.

 

So, just make sure you know what your gettign into before you commit. Building a house is a full time job. If you have one already, it may be better to find a good, qualified home builder.

 

Yep, I agree. My father built our house and as a kid I got to see how much time was needed to oversee the entire process. I think I will be hiring a GC to oversee it, but will need to sub some of the stuff out myself (ie plaster work and exterior finishes - family business).

 

Overall, I'm pretty excited and cant wait for next April when we can finally start!

[GF7PE]

We are looking for around 1-2 acre lot (around $15,000)

Man I think I need to move. 1/4 acre here runs about $100,000 on average

[Z71GUY]

We are looking for around 1-2 acre lot (around $15,000)

Man I think I need to move. 1/4 acre here runs about $100,000 on average

Well, I'm not talking about a plan lot... just a chunk off of a larger area.

 

Some plans in this area are around 1/2 for 50,000..... but 100,000 for a 1/4 acre is nuts!!!