Okay, I'm a contractor, but not in your area. Here's what I would tell you.
1. Don't listen to the people telling you to hire an architect and get plans first. Very dumb. They generally have the same knowledge of cost that you do. Find a contractor you like and are comfortable with, nail down a budget and features you want, then work with a plan guy to meet those needs.
2. Hire a contractor. Jeez dude, what you need to realize is that we get 10-25% discounts on material. I just had a friend beg me to order lumber through our biz for him because it saved him 6K right there on form and lumber packages.
3. Push for hard quote contractors. The cost plus is perfect for large customs where money is not an issue. For most people iron out exactly what you want and get a price. Remember if I am making 10% on you where is my best interest? To have you spend more.
4. You will need some cash. Most construction loans are 90/10 or 80/20. Plus you won't get your first draw until you pour a slab and you have to pay closing. You probably should have 50K availible if you want to self contract unless you want a nightmare.
5. I will say if you want standard stuff with a few upgraded items, you can self contract for about $60/sqft total sqft assuming about 70/75 percent is living. It will go up or down based on that ratio bc living is more expensive than non.
6. Remember contractor discounts? You can probably get a contractor to build the same thing from $63-$65/sqft total footage. So that's 9-15K extra to have someone back it and take care of it for you. Find somebody who you are comfortable with.

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Posted by kingbob

Sorrento, LA

Member since Nov 2010

67237 posts

Posted on 7/24/14 at 4:54 pm to Libertariantiger

quote:
Okay, I'm a contractor, but not in your area. Here's what I would tell you.
1. Don't listen to the people telling you to hire an architect and get plans first. Very dumb. They generally have the same knowledge of cost that you do. Find a contractor you like and are comfortable with, nail down a budget and features you want, then work with a plan guy to meet those needs.
2. Hire a contractor. Jeez dude, what you need to realize is that we get 10-25% discounts on material. I just had a friend beg me to order lumber through our biz for him because it saved him 6K right there on form and lumber packages.
3. Push for hard quote contractors. The cost plus is perfect for large customs where money is not an issue. For most people iron out exactly what you want and get a price. Remember if I am making 10% on you where is my best interest? To have you spend more.
4. You will need some cash. Most construction loans are 90/10 or 80/20. Plus you won't get your first draw until you pour a slab and you have to pay closing. You probably should have 50K availible if you want to self contract unless you want a nightmare.
5. I will say if you want standard stuff with a few upgraded items, you can self contract for about $60/sqft total sqft assuming about 70/75 percent is living. It will go up or down based on that ratio bc living is more expensive than non.
6. Remember contractor discounts? You can probably get a contractor to build the same thing from $63-$65/sqft total footage. So that's 9-15K extra to have someone back it and take care of it for you. Find somebody who you are comfortable with.