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Estimate on Custom Construction
Posted on 3/24/15 at 10:33 pm
Posted on 3/24/15 at 10:33 pm
My wife and I have found a house we really like. We already own our own acreage and are about to start looking into the building process. As I know it all fluctuates with what amenities, which we would go middle of the road on most, are put into the house but what is a good starting point to know you are not getting the shaft? Should I go to different builders to get each ones bid? Whats the average going rate per sq ft?
This is a link to the house if anyone with a construction background could take a ballpark guess of what we may be looking at. House only, no pool.LINK /
This is a link to the house if anyone with a construction background could take a ballpark guess of what we may be looking at. House only, no pool.LINK /
This post was edited on 3/24/15 at 10:37 pm
Posted on 3/25/15 at 7:52 am to blades8088
You need plans before you can get bids...
Posted on 3/25/15 at 7:58 am to blades8088
$100/sq ft would probably be the low end, but for the extras that house looks to have it could easily get up to $150-$200/sq ft
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:18 am to blades8088
I am about to build and it's going to cost me around $125 SQFT not including my lot. This is for a 2500 SQFT custom home. You can get a set of preliminary plans and bring it to builders. They wil give you an educated guess on what it costs. You won't be able to bid out until you have all of your plans finished.
This post was edited on 3/25/15 at 9:20 am
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:18 am to civiltiger07
Are you planning to act as your own general contractor, are you interested in getting it finished to a certain level and doing the rest yourself, or are you talking about a turnkey build? A good custom builder, on a turnkey project, will walk you through the costs on all aspects of the build. If you provide a target number of cost per square foot, the builder can help you to meet that cost, steering you toward amenities/finishes that will fall into line. You don't want to overbuild for the area, nor do you want to spec out a house that won't appraise for what you will spend to build it.
The house you linked would cost between $125/150 square foot in my area. But it could easily be more or less, depending on how much dirt work needs to be done, the size of driveway/lengths of sidewalks needed, whether the neighborhood has landscaping requirements, etc.
If you're still looking for plans, remember that corners cost money, roofline elevation changes cost money, and auxiliary spaces like porches and garages don't necessarily add $$ to the appraisal value, but they certainly add to the cost.
The house you linked would cost between $125/150 square foot in my area. But it could easily be more or less, depending on how much dirt work needs to be done, the size of driveway/lengths of sidewalks needed, whether the neighborhood has landscaping requirements, etc.
If you're still looking for plans, remember that corners cost money, roofline elevation changes cost money, and auxiliary spaces like porches and garages don't necessarily add $$ to the appraisal value, but they certainly add to the cost.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:28 am to blades8088
I just built a house with a builder. About 3500 sqft. No pool. Minus the land it was about $115 sqft. Our under roof is something like 4900 sqft.
Square foot cost is going to come down to what you want in the house. You need to find a plan first. Don't buy the plan before you talk to a builder about the plan.(usually these plans are on a website or page somewhere) We bought a plan first and it ended up having to be redrawn due to complexity and cost.
Square foot cost is going to come down to what you want in the house. You need to find a plan first. Don't buy the plan before you talk to a builder about the plan.(usually these plans are on a website or page somewhere) We bought a plan first and it ended up having to be redrawn due to complexity and cost.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:37 am to hungryone
quote:
If you're still looking for plans, remember that corners cost money, roofline elevation changes cost money, and auxiliary spaces like porches and garages don't necessarily add $$ to the appraisal value, but they certainly add to the cost.
Very true. The roofline some a-hole architect had on the pre-redrawn plan had about 8 extra gables. Redesign of the roof chipped something like $25,000 off our estimate. It seems like most builders can look at the base layout of a plan and the base elevation and make an "expensive or not expensive" judgement in like 15 minutes.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:43 am to BeerMoney
Yes, they absolutely can. For someone doing a custom build within a reasonable budget, my best advice is to pick out a range of plans and then meet with your builder (or several, if you haven't picked one out & plan to solicit bids on the job). The builder can tell you which style/house type will be more or less expensive based on a simple sketch plan (the kind displayed for free on the web).
Exterior decorative details (box or bay windows, specialty brickwork details, columns, operable shutters, dormers, etc) can really increase the overall price. Cost is a reason you see so damn many square-box, faux French provincial houses going up all over LA. They're cheap to build--four corners, hipped roof, prefab dormers, no front porches or columns, simple windows--and people are sheep, thinking that their house must look like every other one built in the last 10 years.
This post was edited on 3/25/15 at 10:21 am
Posted on 3/25/15 at 10:13 am to BeerMoney
Thanks for the help. I would be super happy to be able to build for $115 sq/ft. Im assuming the company that built this house either still have the plans or can re draw them.
We love the layout of the house and will probably be changing minor things.
I guess my main question was if we was going to be around our budget, instead of going to the builder first and given a number we could do absolutely nothing with. Basically to see how realistic we were being. The number in my head i would be hoping to do it for was 280. With all quality mid grade interior finishes.
We love the layout of the house and will probably be changing minor things.
I guess my main question was if we was going to be around our budget, instead of going to the builder first and given a number we could do absolutely nothing with. Basically to see how realistic we were being. The number in my head i would be hoping to do it for was 280. With all quality mid grade interior finishes.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 11:14 am to blades8088
A good builder can look at your house plans and give you a cost estimate for bare bones, middle and high end finishes, etc. No matter what the estimate is, you need to have a 10% or so reserve in mind to cover cost surprises (soil remediation may be needed, etc.) and your changing desire to upgrade selections once you actually start picking things out. A way to minimize some of the extras is to select most "allowance" items beforehand and resist the urge to upgrade.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 4:04 pm to blades8088
Oh yeah they still have the plans. In fact they told me I wasted my money buying them since they would've been able to draw them based off of the online layout and elevation shots of the demo plan on the architects website.
You were hoping to build the 3500 sqft house in that link for $280,000? I'm no expert by far but I wouldn't think that'd be doable unless you were a contractor or related to a contractor. Obvious from the tone of the conversation that you're not. The finishings in it look very similar to my home.
You were hoping to build the 3500 sqft house in that link for $280,000? I'm no expert by far but I wouldn't think that'd be doable unless you were a contractor or related to a contractor. Obvious from the tone of the conversation that you're not. The finishings in it look very similar to my home.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 4:13 pm to BeerMoney
quote:
3500 sqft house in that link for $280,000?
That's $80/sq foot. At that price range, you're gonna get builder grade finishes. Think cultured marble bath countertops and tub surrounds, formica kitchen counters, very basic light fixtures, a single interior paint color, paint grade trim (not stained), hollow-core interior doors, and carpet or laminate floors (rather than tile/engineered hardwood).
Posted on 3/25/15 at 5:56 pm to hungryone
Guess I should have stated. Its 2450 living. Im not putting the garage on it. So 2450 living with about 2700 under beam. Which I figured to be about 115 per sq/ft as the porches do not cost near as much as finished
Posted on 3/25/15 at 8:01 pm to lsufan1971
quote:
cost me around $125 SQFT
Can't even imagine a bid that low. We are planning to build in Washington state on our own property. 3500 sq ft, typical LA finish level and the bids came in at $310/sq ft Some items that bumped it up a bit were metal roof and geothermal heat pump. Our budget is $225. Back to the drawing board.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 9:29 pm to islandtiger
Oh boy. The wife and I have a lot and we really like a house plan around 2400sf. Im hoping we can get it built at around $115 a sf but won't know till I get the plans. ( I'm getting the CAD files) Im doing the build on my own, a little nervous about it but I have the construction experience. I'll let you know how it goes.
This post was edited on 3/25/15 at 9:34 pm
Posted on 3/25/15 at 10:01 pm to blades8088
To my knowledge price per square foot is typically living area not under roof. Garages are not considered living area. That listing says 3496 which is living area right? It's kind of confusing to me because 2450 for a 3 bedroom makes much more sense than 3496. Hell my house is 5 bedrooms with the same square footage.
But yeah if you're talking under roof prices then my house cost right at $80 sqft to build. My builder harped about it quite a bit since 1400 sqft of non-living space was pretty big.
But yeah if you're talking under roof prices then my house cost right at $80 sqft to build. My builder harped about it quite a bit since 1400 sqft of non-living space was pretty big.
Posted on 3/25/15 at 10:10 pm to BeerMoney
Yes it is 2448 living. Garage is 594 porches total 374.
Posted on 3/26/15 at 7:05 am to blades8088
That size house with finishes in house shown could be done around $ $120-125/sq ft., maybe minus the metal roof. If you wanted nicer touches, it would be more. That a pretty basic house.
Posted on 3/26/15 at 7:50 am to ItNeverRains
quote:
That size house with finishes in house shown could be done around $ $120-125/sq ft
Is this assuming he acts as the GC or gets a builder/GC to do it turnkey?
What type of markups are GC's getting these days on residential builds?
Posted on 3/26/15 at 10:18 am to Ziggy
I would think the 120-125 is based on a gc building the house. And assuming they have their own lot already.
GC fees can range from 10%-20% depending on the market and how busy or hungry the GC is. Be advised that GCs will always have "juiced" numbers in their bid, so if they say there oh/p is 10% that sometimes is not the case.
GC fees can range from 10%-20% depending on the market and how busy or hungry the GC is. Be advised that GCs will always have "juiced" numbers in their bid, so if they say there oh/p is 10% that sometimes is not the case.
This post was edited on 3/26/15 at 10:21 am
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