re: Build Home Now or Wait to Build

Finishing up a build right now… we are about $15k over bid in July. Literally everything is more expensive from landscaping to appliances to fixtures etc. my recommendation is same as others, order early (garage doors, windows, plumbing fixtures) and if you can, borrow 10-20k more. Price of wood came down, I remember worrying about that but looking back that was the least of my concerns. I don’t regret building right now, as this is the house we hope to stay in for 30 + years and I got one hell of an interest rate last June. I know my contractor had to eat a lot of cost related to inflation as well, I imagine they may start changing how they word their contacts to reflect this so this is something to discuss before getting started as well.

15-20% in normal times should always be factored in. I would think 25-30% because of materials and labor shortages should be observed for the near future.

Had a friend that rebid their house 3 times hoping that the cost would come down, and it only ticked up each time. Got in for 30% higher than they originally hoped and still got hit with cost increases and delays after the bid.

Really rough time right now for any type of commercial or residential construction.

We started around the same time as y'all, but won't be done until probably July or August. We will probably come in at $134.00/total sqft, or $210.00/living, both without cost of land or architect. The cost is a little skewed because the house is 3100 living but about 4900 total with garage and porches, and that's for a totally custom home with high end appliances/finishes. Like you, I got quotes as high as $250.00/ft when we started. I have heard of quotes as high as $300.00 in my area lately.

We got lucky-ish with lumber. Once we get our windows we should be out of the woods with supply chain problems. Everything else has been accessible for the most part.

congrats on being close to putting it behind you. I am very ready for that ha. The uncertainty of everything over the last several months has been stressful to say the least.

Just finished framing and our budget has been BLOWN out of the water...Also hearing that another 12-15% increase will be happening in April. I'm trying to order as much as I can now.

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I would wait at this point. I can't believe it will get worse.... but I said that last Summer too and it did.

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We just finished last summer, we missed some of the worst of the price jumps but caught some others.

Looking back I should have built in 2015-2016, could have saved over $150k on the same house, but I wanted to be in my first house 10 years, then the flood happened, well I’ll wait till the kid is out of daycare, or the vehicles are paid off.

Unless you are paying straight cash, don’t wait, the timing will never be right

Im about to start so i will let you know how bad it goes!

I have land and I’ve been planning to build. I decided to refinance my current house instead when interest rates were really low. If you are certain you’ll be there for 30 years, I might go ahead with it.

My thought process was that it wouldn’t be a mistake to sit on my land and stay in my house, but it might be a big mistake to pay 400k to build a house that won’t be worth that when I’m done. I was still considering recently but the higher interest rates and increased uncertainty of material costs just took it off the table for me.

I hate it because I have this great piece of land I’m not really enjoying, because I don’t live there.

No one has a crystal ball. I would say it is better now than it has been in the last two years. Still high. I am not sure it will go lower or higher. We just built in Lafayette. $197 a sft.

I had 2 windows replaced under warranty because the seal broke. I filed the claim last November. They just got delivered Thursday.

Oh and now I have to find someone to install them