Question's for the home builder on Here

[Jdub176]

My wife and I are currently looking into building our dream house. We have contacted two different builders in our area, Jefferson City Mo, and both have gotten bids back to us, which to me see high, but I know prices have gone up. We are building a 1650 sq ft rancher with stacked garages, which I know this in itself will run up the price. We are also wanting brick on 3 sides with siding in the back, as well as geo thermal, and again I know these run the price up as well. My question is what do you consider a fair price is on a house this size? I won't disclose what the bids are that we have gotten, but would appriciate a email, or pm. Mainly I want to make sure we are not paying more than we should, and also it would be nice to have the most nolage we can going into this. Also we are having to dig a well and put in a septic system.

Thanks,
Josh

[sethv]

We are building in Michigan right now - not including land cost it is about $113/ft. This includes a walkout basement and a 5 car garage.

[milligjg]

Geothermal, brick and a well are large cost right there. My 2 cents. Sounds nice!

[barbarian]

I am in the housing industry, but don't think I can help much on pricing. Down here in Texas, I have several (actually most) of my customers selling new homes complete with sodded yards, fences, property, 2-3 car garages, granite, landscaped yards, etc for $75-95/sq ft.

[Jdub176]

The bank say's sure yeah your good, but our budget say's wooo chit , but yeah it will be nice once it is said and done.

Josh

[Jdub176]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by barbarian &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I am in the housing industry, but don't think I can help much on pricing. Down here in Texas, I have several (actually most) of my customers selling new homes complete with sodded yards, fences, property, 2-3 car garages, granite, landscaped yards, etc for $75-95/sq ft. </td></tr></table>

Okay so here in central mo, they think quite a bit differntly.

[519DVX]

I am going thru a similar process right now. We bought our land 2 years ago and are now in the preliminary stages of talking to a builder. We have a floorplan we like that we found online, but want to make some changes.

Here's the big thing...nobody can accurately answer your question as you asked it. Building costs vary from area to area, and by that I mean not only state to state, county to county, but 2 areas only 5 miles away from each other. Also, what are the builders "standards" as far as material selection (truss' vs stick frame, 2x12 floor joists vs engineered I-beam, window mfg and type, basement type and depth, PVC/Pex/Copper plumbing...you get the point).

Other factors go into it too. Is this a tract home or on a rural lot? You're going to pay more for the rural lot because they have to transport equipment and materials to your site vs building one house next to another where the equipment already sits. Also, are they taking care of the entire project, or just the house? Are they doing to have to deal with a shallow water table and take extra measure to keep the basement dry?

Keep in mind too that septic systems can vary greatly in cost, mainly dependant on the soil type. Did the site pass a perk test, or are you going to have to put in a raised bed system? The raised bed could put the cost of the system over the $20k mark in my area.

What I am facing is my property is on the edge of a wetland. I will have to be very careful how the house is placed and how the entire property is graded. It is all stuff that can be overcome, but could greatly affect the final price.

If anyone offers you an opinion on their cost, it is only an opinion. It will never be an apples to apples comparison. The best thing you can do is bid it out to whoever will look at it. Even that isn't apples to apples, you have to go back to what each builder is offering and "standard". From the information you provided, it sounds like if 2 builders came in about the same price, neither one is trying to jack you and you'll end up paying a similar price from anyone else, +/- a small percentage.

It really comes down to what you can afford and what you're willing to pay. Don't listen to the bank. Twice now, I've been approved for almost double what I could realistically afford.

Fun, ain't it??

Good luck!

[Allsup]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by barbarian &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I am in the housing industry, but don't think I can help much on pricing. Down here in Texas, I have several (actually most) of my customers selling new homes complete with sodded yards, fences, property, 2-3 car garages, granite, landscaped yards, etc for $75-95/sq ft. </td></tr></table>

We're getting ready to build this year too. For about the same specs. as Barbaian stated, plus exterior of stone and stucco, our bids have been $90-115/sqft depending on builder and floorplan.

[Jdub176]

Thanks, for this info. It seems like a huge undertaking, but I know at the end of the tunnel we will be very happy.

Josh

[milligjg]

Sent you an IM

[519DVX]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Jdub176 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Thanks, for this info. It seems like a huge undertaking, but I know at the end of the tunnel we will be very happy.

Josh</td></tr></table>

I have been doing a lot of research because I was originally thinking of doing the General Contracting myself. However, the more I think about it and the more I learn, the less I want to do it. I basically don't want to give up 6 months of my life, all my vacation, and never see my 2 kids in that time period, plus roll off a ton of miles back and forth to the job site, work, and home every day. That stuff isn't worth the CHANCE at saving some money (I say chance, because it's not a guarantee you'll save anything and may end up costing you more).

However, I am looking at only hiring the builder to build the actual house. I'm probably going to undertake coordinating the Engineering and site work, including the Septic design and installation. I am a Mechanical Engineering with a Project Management background and have a couple buddies who are Civil Engineers that I can bounce ideas off of, so I think this is somehting I can easily handle. I think by taking this part of it and only involving the builder for the house will save me some money, because he's going to take a cut from anything else done. I may even try and get the builder to hand off the HVAC to me since I am also looking at Geothermal.

It's fun and stressful all at the same time. The hardest part for me is keeping the wife from getting too excited about the good things and irritated over the obstacles. It's all part of the process!

Good luck.

[mikepags]

when you say stacked garage?? you mean what

[cowtrimmer]

I'm assuming the difference in price is the extra 15 grand for a basement in Mo.

[mikepags]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by cowtrimmer &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I'm assuming the difference in price is the extra 15 grand for a basement in Mo. </td></tr></table>

could be that or site work or who knows what

[Jdub176]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by mikepags &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">when you say stacked garage?? you mean what</td></tr></table>

I mean the upper garage will be sitting right about the basement garage with a suspended concrete floor and 80 lb/in steel I beam.

Josh

[Jdub176]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by mikepags &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

could be that or site work or who knows what </td></tr></table>

The cost to dig out the basement is about 40,000 by the time you figure in excavation and concrete work.

Josh

[Bsktball55]

My uncle is a builder in St. Louis area and he told me to expect anywhere from $100 to $125/ft turnkey where you walk in and the house is completely done. I've been told you can save up to 10% by generaling yourself. We are looking at building next year after we pay on our land for a little while. We are going to do a lot of the finish work ourselves along with generaling it. I teach so I have the summer off anyway.

[Jdub176]

To me it is not worth saving 10 % to have to deal with all the hassels of being the general contractor. Plus I don't have a job that I could leave whenever something came up.
Good luck to you with your house build.
Josh