Cost to build your own home?

[buckeyefarmer]

I was in the $40's sf 19 yrs ago, but doing a lot of the work myself, including framing, roofing, electric, plumbing, painting, finish, landscape,... Around 2500 sf.

 

[MossRoad]

Friends of ours just built a 1500 sq ft home for about $200K. That comes out to $133 per square foot. He acted as his own general contractor and is a project planner by trade. Based on the quotes that he got during planning, he saved $40K doing the GC role and a lot of labor himself. So you can't really estimate how much a home is going to cost per square foot and compare apples to apples with anyone else if you don't know what materials are going to be used in the construction of the home, the flooring, the window choices, the cabinet quality, the tile, the fixtures, the HVAC details, siding, concrete quality, new furniture, fence for the dog, and cases and cases of beer consumed during construction, etc.... it goes on and on. Also, since your father-in-law will be assisting you in several areas, there's no way to estimate how much he's going to save you VS asking people here how much a home cost them without his assistance.

I envy you. We've been planning to build for 23 years! :laughing:

Do your homework and get pencil to paper (or keyboard to Excel spreadsheet) and get hard, firm estimates for everything before you begin. That's the only true way to figure the total cost. Then add 20% to that for screw ups just to cover your keister. If you don't use it, put it down toward the principle of the mortgage.

Good luck in your project. :thumbsup:

 

[newbury]

Shibaura, glad you started this thread.

I am kind of in same boat, but probably out a couple of years waiting on kids to get out of high school. <snip> What am I missing?

Your missing that your labor force is in high school!

In about 1962 my Father and Grandfather decided to build a duplex on 30 acres of land they bought in Essex Center, Vt. I was 11. Starting that spring I was 1/3 the workforce of Grandfather (a master carpenter), Father (an IBM engineer) and son (me, an 11 year old rural kid). We cleared the house plot, thorn bushes w/ 2 inch thorns. Had the basement dug and concrete poured then built it up. I started hauling concrete block by hand for Grandfather, 1 block per hand, then by the end of the basement and summer I was up to two blocks per hand. During the weekends, summers and vacations I worked side by side w/ Grandfather about 10 hours a day.

Kept me out of trouble, built muscle, taught me a world about building. And I never worried about internet access.

 

[WM75Guy]

We built 3200 square foot heated/cooled 7 years ago for $100/square foot. Total footprint is 5200 under roof. I had a contract with a GC for labor/materials cost plus a set percentage for the GC. That way I controlled the cost. We started off with an estimated cost of construction. Once the bids from the subs came in if I cut I saved money, upgrades cost me money. Since I saw all the invoices I think your estimates are on the low side. I think you could get it dried in for $50/square foot.

Where are you going to live after you sell? If you have to rent add that to the cost of the project, especially if your time is limited to spend working on the house. It may be better to pay someone to get it done faster so you get into the house and save rent costs if that applies.

One option is to get your plans drawn up or buy a set off the internet. Most lumber yards have an estimator that will take the plans for a few days and give you a quote for materials. That would give you some idea of the materials cost.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Don't forget lenders in all of this equation. If you are in a bank loan mode, banks are loath to loan to people without a track record. My neighbors GC'd a very large log house with no previous building experience. The only way they got the loan was that they hired a GC Consultant (10K I think the guy got).

I know the savings was substantial, the build time twice as long.... I remember being in his house, his wife on a 30ft scaffold at the top peak trying to apply laquer or whatever to the beams, and suddenl water rushing down the sheetrock. something to do with how humidity was being trapped in the house. Not saying not to do it, we plan to GC ours, but its a fulltime job.

 

[MossRoad]

.... Not saying not to do it, we plan to GC ours, but its a fulltime job.

As I mentioned our friends acting as their on GC and labor on theirs.... he put in a full day's work at his day job, then 3 hours on the new house every day, plus 8-12 hours on the weekend, pretty much every day for almost 6 months. He was tired, crabby, irritable, and physically beat down. But once it was done, they put their old house on the market, BY OWNER, got three hits in two days and a firm offer of asking price and will be closing next month! So it worked out well for them, but it took a lot out of him.

 

[dstig1]

I am in the middle of this right now, and can attest to a lot of the things people here have said. I am doing the bulk of the work myself. I am just about 3 years in from breaking ground now and still have a ton of finish work to do. I subbed out major excavation, foundation, framing, roofing and plumbing (had to by law on that one - don't get me started on what crooks the plumbers are...) I've done most everything else myself. Drywall was split. I hung a lot of the drywall, but not all, and the drywall guy did the rest of the hanging and all the taping. I pretty much picked up from installing the windows myself and on. I just got the kitchen fully functional last month (we moved in back in Aug with a mostly functional kitchen, but not done). That has been a big relief. We still have no doors, and the bathrooms are still partly cobbled together. I am building vanities for those now which will mostly finish them off. Next up is building some doors. And then finishing up the exterior stone work once it warms up more. I suspect I have another 3-5 years left until I can truly call it done. Many other things yet to be done...

As to cost, it is hard to say really. We financed the first major portion out of savings (saved a long time) and a equity loan on our old house, but it came to the point where I needed bank financing on the new place, and was able to get it worked out with our credit union. It was not easy, and we didn't get all that I felt we needed, but it was enough to keep us moving forward until we could sell the old house and cash out. Getting that financing was very much a challenge, but I was able to show them how well prepared I was on this so I didn't come across as some yahoo with a napkin sketch saying that I had it all covered without an obvious clue. It will cost way more than you expect, no matter how much you think you were able to cover in your estimate. In my case we built a 32x80 shop (fully insulated, heated and finished plus the house at about 3600sf finished. I didn't keep separate books for each, so I only have a total project cost. For the house itself, I would guess in the 120-160/sf range, based on the numbers. Materials can be very expensive.... and we spent a lot extra on materials that we could not have otherwise if it was contracted. if you are curious, my blog is in my sig.

Good luck!

 

[Ooklaa]

I worked for many builders in my younger years as a laborer But also did books for them. I can tell you if you know your stuff very very well and know how to negotiate when buying materils, labor, you can build a big house For under 75,000 grand nicely equiped inside. Toll brothers does it all the time.

 

[shibaura_4043]

We built 3200 square foot heated/cooled 7 years ago for $100/square foot. Total footprint is 5200 under roof. I had a contract with a GC for labor/materials cost plus a set percentage for the GC. That way I controlled the cost. We started off with an estimated cost of construction. Once the bids from the subs came in if I cut I saved money, upgrades cost me money. Since I saw all the invoices I think your estimates are on the low side. I think you could get it dried in for $50/square foot. Where are you going to live after you sell? If you have to rent add that to the cost of the project, especially if your time is limited to spend working on the house. It may be better to pay someone to get it done faster so you get into the house and save rent costs if that applies. One option is to get your plans drawn up or buy a set off the internet. Most lumber yards have an estimator that will take the plans for a few days and give you a quote for materials. That would give you some idea of the materials cost.

I will start working on a more detailed cost of construction. We will likely stay with the in laws for as long as I can stand itdde44 as the new build is a stones throw away. ( pretty much across the county road). I originally had decided to build my new shop with a small apartment first and live in it while building our new house but if we decide to sell this year the shop won't be constructed yet. I might go ahead and build the shop with apt. first, then start building the house. I love my in laws but I can't imagine living with them north of 6months.dde33

 

[dstig1]

It will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect. Plan for this...Especially if staying with in-laws...