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

[Member]

Hi,

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 and we don't want Sub Zero, Wolf, custom cabinets, central vacuum, home automation, whole home audio or any of the other stuff you see in McMansions these days. In addition to what you should normally expect as far as interior drywall, finishing, trim and paint, our garage needs to be dry walled, finished and painted and the basement will be completely unfinished. Our lot is very near a city of 250,000 people where the builders we're talking to would probably live. It is out in the country but we could drive to the center of this city in 20 minutes. We do not include Well, Septic or Electricity from the road in our price discussions, we'll handle that separately. We have detailed our request in a presentation including a dimensioned floor plan, a 3D model in Sketchup, and lists of finishes including things like "IKEA cabinets" because custom cabinets just aren't important to us. 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.

We've been through the calculator on building-cost.net and find the numbers to be very high.

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.

We read an article that said to determine building costs in your area you can find homes for sale that were built in the last few years, subtract the lot value and divide what's left by the number of square feet to get a number. Doing this for some of the most complex houses in the area that have finishes well above our expectations we come up with prices per square foot that are much lower than building-cost.net and the design build firm we're talking to.

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.

 

[jeff9366]

My questions are:
- What's wrong with the method of determining building costs in my area that I've described above?

Florida Real Estate agents tell potential sellers of homes 1-2 years old, who want to sell for some reason, that "new" homes depreciate 20% the first day someone moves in.

 

[TnAndy]

We don't live in a McMansion, having built the house ourselves (as in drove all the nails/built the cabinets/etc), but wife and I LOVE our central vacuum. Being able to sweep up the dirt I track in the back door to a baseboard mounted outlet is great ! You might want to re-think some of your exclusions.

I built some fairly nice, single family rentals a few years back. This one, for example, was 1800sqft, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, hardwood floors down/carpet up/tile in all the baths/kitchen, custom oak cabinets, 40yr architectural shingles, copper flashings, one acre lot, well, septic, backyard fenced. Cost me $38sqft to build, I rented it for several years, recovering most of my costs, then sold it for 165k ($92/sf).......and did that several more times to fund my retirement.

I'm always amazed seeing these $175/sf prices.

 

[paulharvey]

Sounds high to me. I think $125/sf for the finished sounds closer, but I don't know your area.

 

[Country Geek]

Don't forget the factors caused by the basic design of the house. A 3000 sf ranch will need the same amount of foundation and roofing as a 6000 sf 2-story, for starters.

 

[roadhunter]

I do mostly commercial estimating but the numbers look pretty realistic to me.

Some people choose to act as a GC which could save them the O&P that the GC charges but not everybody is capable of managing a project like building a house. Don't pick a contractor based on price alone.

 

[LD1]

I agree those prices sound a tad high for a 3000sq ft home. But, there are so many factors.

Flooring. $1 per sq ft carpet or laminate? or $5/sq ft hardwood or ceramic with higher labor cost to install?

Insulation. Fiberglass? SIP? Spray foam?

Exterior. Brick, stone, stucco? or cheaper vinyl?

Plumbing fixtures can range from a few bucks, to several hundred bucks. Same with light fixtures.

Trim. You can trim a whole house for $500 for cheap simulated wood stuff. or go all out and spend several thousand.

Basement. Poured walls or block?

HVAC?

Just so many things that can effect the cost. I am no expert, but having known a few people that have had houses built in the last few years, I think $100-$150 /sq ft completed is accurate for a modest house. Nothing too fancy but not the cheapest stuff either. I would think you could build a rather nice 3000sq ft ranch for under 500k.

 

[semntrails]

We built a house 2-3 years ago in Northern, WI. 1,300 sq ft foot print, basement is walkout and mostly finished - needs flooring & trim. Main level is finished, wood flooring, trim, wood ceilings, low cost tile in bathrooms/entry, Ikea cabinets in kitchen & bath's, shower/tub inserts, Intergrity windows, blown cellulose in walls/ceiling. 3 car garage. ~$110-115/ sq ft if you call it a 2600 sq ft house Probably $120/sf by the time we completely finish the basement. That includes well, septic, electric.

You'll have similar drywall, flooring, etc. needs as we did but double the concrete and roofing.

 

[hwatkins]

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.

 

[dmccarty]

Our house is now 10 years old, :shocked:, and was around $100-110 per square foot. That did not include the driveway costs which I put in myself.

There are many variables though. In our case, we have big, expensive, windows with lots of wide trim around the windows, doors and floor. All interior doors are 36 inches wide and 96 tall made of solid wood. The house has granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms with good quality cabinets. The roof has 40-50 year rated shingles, that after 10 years, look like they are brand new. Brick all around the house with 2x6 walls and insulation to match along with 1 inch of rigid foam insulation. We have about 85 recessed lights in the house as well. Our floor is finished, colored concrete which saved us a bunch of money. Flip side is that when we built concrete was in short supply and we paid about $100 a cubic yard. :shocked:

Septic systems can be expensive here compared to other places. TBNers were reporting paying about $5,000 for a spray septic system that here would cost over $30,000! Go figure. In the nearby cities, builders were getting $5,000-$10,000 for ONE side of the house done in brick. I think our total cost to brick our house, including the brick and labor, was about that price. Go Figure.

If you are going to build, start looking for a builder now. It took us years to find the right builder and we found him by looking at different types of house construction. Our builder became a friend which is danged unusual. Some of the builders we met, I would not have let build a dog house. Others I suspect would have done a good job but I simply did not like them. As you look for a builder, ask how much their houses have been costing per square foot. Still lots of variables but it will be a better number than what we can give you.

Good Luck,
Dan