Building a Home

Anyone on here have a home built or build their own home? We’re looking at having a home built in the next three to four years. I wondering what’s the best way to get a ballpark figure on how much it will cost, just ballpark? We found plans for a house we really like. We contacted the company because they provide cost estimates but they had drastically different estimates based on quality. For instance, excellent = $860k, very good = $650k, good $400k. I’ve talked to friends with similar square footage and there’s wasn’t even to that $400k mark. Any suggestions on getting a better figure? Hopefully one that doesn’t break the bank.

I'm not a fan of Rule-of-Thumb gestimates but $200 per square foot was a rough estimate before building material prices recently shot up.

I have right at $75 a square foot in my house that I built a few years ago. I did good bit of the work my self.

With lumber prices the way they are right now any estimate is going to be skewed higher than it may be 4 years from now.

Many building supply companies have in-house estimators who will give you a pretty good idea of your costs if you are considering buying materials from them. If you have a set of plans with a materials list, just submit that list to a supply company for a quote on the materials. That will give you part of what you need to know.

I suspect there are several on this forum that could do the same if they had a copy of the plans and an idea of the site.

The only reason I can see for the numbers you are getting would be differences in finish materials, dirt work to deal with topography and appliances.

As long as your building meets all codes it should be sufficiently safe and efficient for you to determine a reasonable cost. Materials, permits, labor, shipping..if any.

Where I live freight is a huge cost because it is all by air. But on any job........in my experience......labor is the largest cost input.

I built mine in mid 1980's and cost per square foot when I built was ~$19.00 including the lot. I did all the labor except shingle, sheet rock and dig the hole. I started March 3rd and was in it for the first night on June 4th. I had one guy help me all through to the end because he wanted to learn how to build and do his own. Both my dad and father in-law help about 4 weeks also other then that it was myself. I was young with a full head of steam and lots of ambition.

150 to 200 per SF should get you in a ballpark, pending what kind of finishes you want, material pricing and the layout.

if you want top of the line countertops and cabinets, floors, etc. that cost will climb.
large open rooms and spans without columns or bearing walls is gonna drive up your structural elements costs.

if you have a plan you like - get a local builder to get you a cost estimate, knowing that in 3 to 4 years, the materials costs are probably going to be higher (and labor probably will be too, depending on the market).
also know that if you pull plans from one of these national chains or off the internet, they sure look nice, but they often have design elements that have to be reviewed and stamped by an engineer - and most of them don't supply that, so you'll have to find that on your own as well.

well/septic or public utilities is something else to consider as well

Custom or catalog house? Don’t forget to factor in the costs of ground work or installing utilities either on site like a well/septic or municipality. Most of the $ per foot is just the finished structure cost. If you pick from a catalog look at the contract extremely close, many here have fines for lots of thing if not done on time schedule, fines for to much customer on site time or involvement, it’s surprising what they have written to jack you out of more dough. 150 - 200 per foot should get a nice custom home.

Will your lender let you be the general?



Owl

That's a good point Ranger.

When Gulo, on this forum, was ready to build he bought a set of prints off the internet. We submitted the plans to the county and they rejected them. I had to redraw the foundation completely before the county would issue the permit.

There were also small details that were omitted from the plans but that became obvious as work progressed.

I built my house in 2010-2011 on my own property. The excavation was done by a local guy. And I watched him closely how and what he did.

My son and I dug and poured the footings for the crawl space. Poured a 3" thick floor in that crawl space. An one working on your furnace, plumbing and what not will thank you.

I used the Fox Block forms for the crawl space wall (4') high. Reinforced w/re-rod and filled w/cement. I had to hire a pump truck to cover it. Major help.

After putting in the floor beam, laid out the floor joists and put down the 3/4" floor sheeting, glued then nailed.

With the subfloor down I was ready for the walls etc.. That was when I had to hire help. My son is a teacher. Back to work.

I hired an x-Amish and helpers. In sight of a week the house was up and enclosed. He hung all the windows and doors on the external. Including steel on the roof.

Then he gave me a quote on doing the siding. Away he went to town.

All in all I have a 1425 sq. foot house with a large 2 door garage for about $145,000. Its all about shopping around and inquire. Don't be in such a hurry that you get hurt.

Good luck.

I just enclosed a livestock shelter we bought and put on concrete.
Its my new bait shed, an i tell you what got some insulation, a walk in door, a window and particleboard.
And wow it do take long to blow a grand, i was amazed at price of stuff.
I don't do much building myself but maintain two houses, an i know now why insurance keeps going up.
Best of luck to you, an have fun.

A guy i work with just completed a custom home in April it was 190 a sq ft

One approach that might work for you is to look at spec homes in your area if there are any being built nearby. They may have open houses scheduled that would allow you to tour a few homes, see what kind of finishes they have, number of sq ft, bathrooms, etc. If you see something similar to what you would want built you would get a good idea what a builder is going to charge for the complete package (land, septic, home, landscaping).

It’s from a house plans catalog and website. They have multiple pictures of the same house built in different locations.

I think the lender will need specifics which I can get when the time gets closer. Right now just trying to get a figure so that I know how long I have to save before starting the process.

Thanks for all y’alls help. This is stressful to me. I’d just assume live in a shack but momma wants her dream house that she can call hers forever. She’s been a trooper during med school, residency, and now fellowship. She takes care of me and the kids while I’ve put in consistent 80 hour weeks for many years. It’s soon to be her turn for great reward.

I was the general contractor of my house that i built 2 years ago. Be prepared for a lot of headaches. Its a job in itself trying to schedule various subcontractors to do the things you can't or don't want to do. My advice is start early on them, anyone that does good work is booked 3 months in advance most of the times and they go to the guy building 15 house a year versus your one first. I saved about 35 thousand doing a lot of the work myself but it took over a year to finish. The kitchen will be the most expensive part of the house if the wife wants custom cabinets forgot to add it was around 52 dollars a square foot with me doing the roofing ,siding, insulation and all the painting and the wiring

Be very careful when reviewing your estimates. Try to get 3 but definitely 2. Be very cautious of the allowances. Example contractor A wants 300,000 and contractor B wants 250,000. Contractor A has $30,000 allowance for cabinets and $20,000 for flooring. Contactor B has 10,000 for cabinets and 10,000 for flooring. These numbers are the ones you can control. You probably are going to go way over with contractor B. Plan for 10 to 15% more than the estimate

Look at modular homes, there are some good companies that build them. It takes out a lot of the unknown/extra costs of dealing with contractors. I built my home in 1996, put in the septic system and well a year before and started the foundation in the spring. Schedule was 10 months and finished in 9 months.

it was a very stressful process for me. I kept thinking I wasn't saving the money I could. After it was all over I realized it wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be.

This.

Way more often than not, you’ll be your own worst enemy. I work with new builds of all kinds everyday working for a utility. Make informed decisions and try to enjoy the journey. You and your family will remember the entire process, good or bad is up to you mostly. Remember the end goal along the way, nothing is perfectly smooth along the way, but when you’re done, it will be worth it.



Owl

I agree and would seriously consider a modular home now especially when there's almost nothing they can't do in terms of plans, layouts, multiple roof lines etc. People think of modulars as 1200 sq ft rectangles. Far from it now.

How do you go over budget on a new home build? One dollar at a time.

Bingo...plus they have eng/art that will stamp the plans for your state bldg. dept approval.

Visited Avis homes in PA and talked to the engineering staff and watched a home in progress. Was very impressed.

$150-$200 /ft is spot on...keep it real simple and you can probably get it to $140, lots of variables

I hate the baloney of so much per sq foot pricing. I built my home which is roughly 2700 sq ft for $110k but built it myself. The worst thing somebody can do is build in a development and use a developer. you are lining his pocket. Upgrades get expensive.

My advice is and when I started I could not cut a piece of wood straight. I was 22 yrs old but was determined to build my own home with very little mortgage. I drew my own plans, met with inspectors etc. We built the first 1500 sq ft all cash. The second 1200 sq ft had a $20k equity loan and roughly $35k cash. Anybody with half a brain can build a house that they can be proud of. Drive around to new home developments and check them out. Go to open houses and see what's new and great. I bet right now I could contract out most of a 2000 sq ft home that would be beautiful and be in the $250k range which would include sewer/septic, land etc. But.......you would be doing your own GC work, interior trim, plumbing, HW floors and electrical. I have been planning 2 houses for my kids and that is the range that I have been coming up with. Why be married to your wife AND a 30 mortgage ? If you cannot afford HW floors then put some semi-cheap laminate that say down the road in 5-7 yrs you can do all hardwood & tile. I have a 12'x12' cultured stone wall that I did in 1989 with no experience and it is still standing with no problems. Do not fall into the trap of nearly half a lifetime mortgage. And I am just a normal working stiff.

At the time we were ready for a new house, we were not ready for the huge payment. So without drawn plans we dug a foundation. We never made a drawing and proceeded to framing it up. Ordered full span trusses and formed a work party of friends to lift walls and trusses. I won't say it was easy, but it sure was cost effective and fun to try to figure how much was saved daily. 32x60 cost was right around 50k in 2002. Must say I was able to build all cabinetry, kitchen and baths which saved a bundle. Good luck

My first house in Dallas WI. Was 16,900.00 1989