Cost to build 3,000 square foot single story home on my land

[newbury]

Typically you do estimate based on cost per square foot, but those number do seem high. I'm not sure what labor rates are up there, but in the South you could probably get finished space in the $80-100 a square foot range (my knowledge is seven years old, so this could be low).

Taking the approach of using a new house in the area and backing out the lot cost is a good approach, but if they are building multiple houses with the same plan they are going to be less than what you would pay for one house.

I would talk to one or more local builders, go to a local building supply place (not a big box store) and ask them if they know of a good custom builder. Stop at the local biscuit place in the morning and ask the contractors who they are working for. The building industry is one where technology doesn't do much for you, most business is word of mouth.

I might be in the process of putting a 20x30 addition w/ basement on a house my son & his wife & his 2yr old son (and in May his not yet born daughter} will be living in. I say "might" because 3 out of 4 of the estimates came in sky high. We had a reputable architect design the plans and she estimated it would be about $200/sq foot and gave us a list of builders. Note this is about 10 miles south of the Washington Monument, not really a low cost area. One estimate came in about that, the other three from 100% to 150% more. There is no way I'll dump $400/sq foot into the house. But those high estimates also included stuff we did not ask for - Exterior doors for a material cost of $1,000 EACH, custom toilets FOR A ROUGH IN PLUMBING IN THE BASEMENT, expensive custom molding that wasn't asked for. AND 15% to 20% profit on everything, if we requested it or not! One guy quoted over $40K, besides the profit, JUST for "monitoring project on site", for something that should NOT take over two months.

I had a bunch of work done at the house in Mississippi where we are going to retire (buying the 2,500 sq ft house w/ 3.5 acres of land AND 5,500 sq foot of shop was $170K total in 2011/12) and estimates were ALL over the place, "reputable" builders w/ full time crews who promised to get it done in a few weeks wanted sky high prices.

So look around, MAKE SURE THEY HAVE GOOD CREDENTIALS. I don't mind a contractor bidding way high and trying to shaft me, I've come to expect it. But I don't have to take his bid.

Also consider that the housing market is finally booming again (at least in my areas) and some contractors are lusting after the profits they used to make.

 

[300UGUY]

My next door neighbor built a 3000 sq ft house in 2005. They spent about $375K on it then, a very nice house. His widow just sold it for $300K. And it was the only offer she had in 5 years of trying to sell. I haven't seen any new houses built around here since the crash, mostly condos and apartments, and they only started back up in the last year. A lot of folks in single family homes are still under water.

 

[WM75Guy]

Seems high to me for the house you describe you want to build but cost varies by location. We built in 2009 so prices have gone up some. The total footprint is 5200 square feet under roof, 3200 square feet in HVAC, front porch is 10'X35', back porch is 13'X38', garage is 1140 square feet. Cost was $320,000 which was $100/square foot HVAC. Our house is hopefully the last house we will have so it's custom everything. One example is the kitchen has custom knotty alder cabinets with a clear polyurethane finish and 135 square feet of granite countertops.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Around here, there is no shortage of peoples "dream homes" for sale to choose from. Retired people move up from the city having a pile of cash from the sale of their home in the city. Then build big and expensive. A few short years later, it is too much, or the grand kids are too far away, or they can't take the winters any more. Then they try and sell and can't evan get close to their invested price. The market is flooded in this price range and there arn't many good local jobs for younger people to afford such a home. A clean "starter" home would be easier to sell. It would probably be better to forgo some of your personal preferences and take advantage of someone elses misfortune. At least around here.

 

[Raspy]

I'm just finishing my 3,000 sq ft new home. It is 1,850 sq ft living and 1,150 sq ft garage with a 700 sq ft covered porch on the back and a 140 sq ft covered porch on the front. We also included remodeling a small guest house to live in while building and will come out at $100. per sq ft finished for the entire project not including the land. Very close to $300,000. This includes bringing in power, installing the septic system and installing a pump in the well with a holding tank. It's a steel frame house with a very massive foundation, Wolf cook stove, custom cabinets, a solar radiant heating system with an oil fired boiler and a wood stove. Two bedroom, 2 1/2 bath with a fully insulated, heated and sheet rocked garage. No basement.

You can save a lot if you design it yourself and have it signed off by a licensed engineer who can draw up the plans for the permit. Then be your own general and hire the subs as needed. Find and purchase all of your finish light fixtures, paint, appliances and tile. Do as much of the work as you can and certainly any specialties you can, such as electrical, plumbing, heating, painting, tile, or any other specialties needed. Avoiding a general contractor will save you 20% or more of the cost. Maybe a lot more, but you do need to be able to understand the process and be able to communicate with people when selecting your subcontractors. Once rolling, remember that money greases the wheels. Subs are very happy and responsive when paid immediately and treated with respect, but never pay the final payment until the work is done and has passed inspection. It's your project and you need to communicate what you want and expect. Let them know this is no spec house, but one you plan to live in for the rest of your life. Let them know they have to pass all building inspections and you want them to work around your building schedule. Then have fun, move along and try not to get bogged down while making hundreds of small decisions.

Building a house is just working through a very long and expensive list of problems. From the permit delays and fees, design considerations, material costs and personalities, to the nuts and bolts of getting everything delivered, cut, placed and nailed in place. And on to deciding colors, plug locations and trying to visualize the finished product from the very beginning. Expect to pay more than you imagined and be very tired by completion. But then it's done and your dream house is yours!

Too often, homes are built bigger than they need to be or with rooms that never get used. Or the size gets justified by saying that the resale value will be bigger. This means they are building a house for someone else that they will never meet. Avoid this mistake and build it for yourself. If you like it, another buyer, way down the road, will like it too. And when that time comes, you won't care anyway.

A lot of people end up wanting smaller houses later in life. Be practical. Very few seem to complain that he garage is too big. So make sure there is room for your heirlooms and your projects. Where will the tractor live and can you work on it in the winter?

 

[Tomtint]

I have built and remodeled a number of houses here I Mass since 1997. Today, the entry point to build a SFH with the very basics is in the 110.00 PSF range. This is for the home only not the land cost. This is also acting as the GC and not assuming that you are banging nails yourself. I built our current 4000 SF home about 4-5 years ago. It has a good deal of upgrades and nicer things. I was also here banging nails on it every day for 6 months ( un paid labor ) By the time it was ready for us to move in I was in the 130.00 PSF range, and still had a few odds and ends to finish that were not added into the final ticket. Such as the asphalt driveway,AC condenser, landscapeing, and misc small ticket items.

 

[EddieWalker]

General rule of thumb is that 1/3 of the cost to build a house is materials. The rest is labor and fees. I don't know your area at all but when comparing prices to build, be sure to compare prices of custom homes to what you are wanting to build. A contractor can build a track home or a spec home a lot faster, easier and cheaper then he can a custom home. \

In my part of the world, it's common for a contractor to build a house for under $60 a sq ft and sell it for somewhere in the mid $70's a sq ft. $100 a square foot homes are where the custom homes run. I know a guy who spent $140 a sq ft to build a small 2 bedroom place and it's high end, the most expensive materials and open plan he could come up with. He wanted everything his way and he said he had to fight with the contractor who wanted to do it a more economical way. Your builder will know how to save you money looking at your plan, but if you want some thing special, it's going to cost you a lot more. Usually it's a waste of money.

I did all the labor on my house except pouring the foundation and installing the HVAC system for $35 a sq ft. I built my parents house and did all the labor except the pouring the foundation, HVAC, sheetrock and installing the shingles for $50 a sq ft and their house is pretty fancy, where mine is fairly plain.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when hiring a contractor to build a house is they talk to just one guy. Referrals are great, but very few people even know if their house is built well or if they just have a good feeling about it because their contractor was a nice guy that they like. Talk to at leave five contractors before hiring one. According to somebody, they are all the very best, so that's kind of meaningless. Find out what they are working on right now, what they have done and how long is the wait for them to get started. Busy usually means good, and a long waiting time means they are busy for a reason, while ready to start right away sends up red flags. I've never met a good contractor that ever had to go out and look for work, advertise or wasn't busy on a job. Be careful on building with the cheapest out there. They all have to buy the same materials, so either they are using labor that works for less, which means less skill or maybe criminal history or some type of addiction. Or they are just giving you a low ball price to get the job and then will add to it as the job goes on and you end up paying more by the time its all said and done.

Eddie

 

[ddbackhoe]

I'm breaking up my reply because of the variety of things I see.

My wife and I are in the process of looking for a firm to build a 3,000 square foot single story house on our land. Our design isn't very complex

Not very complex design - what does that mean? 3000 sq/ft. of finished living space w/ full basement plus porch plus garage?

our garage needs to be dry walled, finished and painted and the basement will be completely unfinished.

What size 3 car garage ? Will it be conditioned also?

Because of the level of detail in our presentation I feel there's little chance an experienced person could misunderstand what we're asking for.

Without seeing what you think is a great presentation, I'm hesitant to throw out numbers and have questions.

A design build firm we're talking to has given us the following rules:
- Finished Space Rule: $175/sq ft including Porch but not Basement or Garage
- Conditioned Space Rule: $140/sq ft including Porch and Basement but not Garage
- Enclosed Space Rule: $125/sq ft including Porch, Garage and Basement
Using these rules we calculate between $568,750 and $937,500 which, again, seems very high for a 3,000 square foot house with a 250 square foot porch and a 3 car garage.

Is this porch a covered deck, screen in area or 4 season area?

My questions are:
- What's wrong with the method of determining building costs in my area that I've described above?
- Are design build firms known to be more expensive than other approaches like the traditional Architect then General Contractor approach?

Thanks.

The design/build should only be more expensive if they have to create your drawings from scratch (architect's fees + additional site location time) and hire a survey crew. Do you have an approved site location drawing? Is the site currently approved for well and septic? school allocation fees paid? Building permit, etc., etc. paid? As a GC, I will do all of that, but someone is paying for my time.

For us, ballpark under roof with basic design and building (single story, a-frame 4/12, builder grade flooring, appliances and fixtures, minimum landscape - no hardscape) $125 sq/ft. would get it done (total footprint).

 

[ddbackhoe]

Seems high to me for the house you describe you want to build but cost varies by location. We built in 2009 so prices have gone up some. The total footprint is 5200 square feet under roof, 3200 square feet in HVAC, front porch is 10'X35', back porch is 13'X38', garage is 1140 square feet. Cost was $320,000 which was $100/square foot HVAC. Our house is hopefully the last house we will have so it's custom everything. One example is the kitchen has custom knotty alder cabinets with a clear polyurethane finish and 135 square feet of granite countertops.

Very attractive home. The kitchen is gorgeous with lots of lighting (that's a great thing). Wasn't the a/c for the barn a tad over the top?

 

[WM75Guy]

Very attractive home. The kitchen is gorgeous with lots of lighting (that's a great thing). Wasn't the a/c for the barn a tad over the top?

Thanks. HVAC is for tack room, bathroom, and in case I have to sleep in the barn. Keeps the tack in good shape and all the plumbing is in the tack room walls to prevent freezing. Horses have windows and a fan.