5 ms·

Are you quoting prices including the cost of the land? Around here there's plenty of new construction being sold at well under $200/sq. ft., and even a fair amo

by lftl 5y ago

Are you quoting prices including the cost of the land? Around here there's plenty of new construction being sold at well under $200/sq. ft., and even a fair amount at or under $150 / sq. ft. This is even when you include the price of the land.

j45 5y ago
Construction prices should not be assumed to be standardized, comparable or equivalent between locations.
- lowercased 5y ago
  agreed - many medium cost places in central NC are still under $200/sqft for new builds, including the land. It's typically a smaller lot than, say, 3-4 years ago, and the construction quality is (continually?) slipping, etc, but location is still a huge factor. We were close to pulling the trigger with a builder last fall and it was going to be around $180/sqft, and it was a custom build, and included around .8 acre. Lumber and material spike through the winter here has put that on hold (and put a lot of their building on hold) and we might not be able to afford a revised price when things 'get back' to normal. We'd actually had plans sent to an engineering firm who came back and said "you have to redesign this, because some of the foundational materials aren't available, and won't be for at least 6 months". So we couldn't even get a final price had we wanted to, without revising the original plans, and... there was no guarantee that whatever the redesign included would be available at that point (possibly now it would - this was back in March/April?). We're basically in a holding pattern for a bit longer (as are some of the other customers they had lined up).
  - j45 5y ago
    Supplies, land, labour, demand, location, taxes are some of the things that make it difficult to have a universal construction cost per sq foot. At a granular level maybe some comparisons are possible. The original premise of the comment above that because it’s not the same as where I am.. it can’t exist anywhere else is all I was shedding some light on.
dcolkitt 5y ago
Maybe $200. I’d be shocked if there’s still any new builds going for $150. Don’t just trust the “sticker price”. You’re almost always going to pay 25%-50% higher than what the builder advertises.
bluedino 5y ago
Even with current materials pricing? I live in a new development and the price went from $180/sqft to $300/sqft for the lowest end builds. We were all set to build our 'forever house' but we'd either spend 50% more or have to build a much smaller house, so we're just going to wait for a bit.
- lftl 5y ago
  Yep: https://bit.ly/3w3XyeR https://bit.ly/3w3XyeR https://bit.ly/3hmGBak https://bit.ly/3hmGBak
DVassallo 5y ago
There’s a big difference between spec houses and custom houses. I’m building a custom home in King County, WA right now, and it’s almost impossible to build under $300/sqft. And no, doesn’t include cost of land or land preparation costs.
- bluGill 5y ago
  You can build a custom home for the price of a spec home. However it means sticking to the budget instead of upgrading. You can put a $15 light fixture in the bedroom, or a $50 one - spec homes do the former, custom homes all later - it doesn't seem like much but these all add up. The cost to build a custom home and a spec home is nearly the same if you are careful not to do any upgrades. Those upgrades cost money though - if you are planning to live in the house for many years I'd say they are worth it but be aware of what you are getting into.
  - DVassallo 5y ago
    In my region, the material costs are just ~15% of the total cost to build. It's almost all labor costs.
    - bluGill 5y ago
      That depends on the materials. Installing a $600 light fixture is the same labor as a $40 one. Thus a spec home the material cost tends to be a lot less a % of the total costs compared to a custom house. Though some custom changes require more labor, the effort difference between most is 0, and in a few cases slightly negative (if the material cost wasn't higher all spec homes would get these features)
coding123 5y ago
I'm building a MFG home right now on 10 acres we're sitting at... $260 sq ft. That includes everything (home, site work and land)

by lftl 5y ago

j45 5y ago

Construction prices should not be assumed to be standardized, comparable or equivalent between locations.

lowercased 5y ago
agreed - many medium cost places in central NC are still under $200/sqft for new builds, including the land. It's typically a smaller lot than, say, 3-4 years ago, and the construction quality is (continually?) slipping, etc, but location is still a huge factor. We were close to pulling the trigger with a builder last fall and it was going to be around $180/sqft, and it was a custom build, and included around .8 acre. Lumber and material spike through the winter here has put that on hold (and put a lot of their building on hold) and we might not be able to afford a revised price when things 'get back' to normal. We'd actually had plans sent to an engineering firm who came back and said "you have to redesign this, because some of the foundational materials aren't available, and won't be for at least 6 months". So we couldn't even get a final price had we wanted to, without revising the original plans, and... there was no guarantee that whatever the redesign included would be available at that point (possibly now it would - this was back in March/April?). We're basically in a holding pattern for a bit longer (as are some of the other customers they had lined up).
- j45 5y ago
  Supplies, land, labour, demand, location, taxes are some of the things that make it difficult to have a universal construction cost per sq foot. At a granular level maybe some comparisons are possible. The original premise of the comment above that because it’s not the same as where I am.. it can’t exist anywhere else is all I was shedding some light on.

dcolkitt 5y ago

Maybe $200. I’d be shocked if there’s still any new builds going for $150. Don’t just trust the “sticker price”. You’re almost always going to pay 25%-50% higher than what the builder advertises.

bluedino 5y ago

Even with current materials pricing? I live in a new development and the price went from $180/sqft to $300/sqft for the lowest end builds. We were all set to build our 'forever house' but we'd either spend 50% more or have to build a much smaller house, so we're just going to wait for a bit.

lftl 5y ago
Yep: https://bit.ly/3w3XyeR https://bit.ly/3w3XyeR https://bit.ly/3hmGBak https://bit.ly/3hmGBak

DVassallo 5y ago

There’s a big difference between spec houses and custom houses. I’m building a custom home in King County, WA right now, and it’s almost impossible to build under $300/sqft. And no, doesn’t include cost of land or land preparation costs.

bluGill 5y ago
You can build a custom home for the price of a spec home. However it means sticking to the budget instead of upgrading. You can put a $15 light fixture in the bedroom, or a $50 one - spec homes do the former, custom homes all later - it doesn't seem like much but these all add up. The cost to build a custom home and a spec home is nearly the same if you are careful not to do any upgrades. Those upgrades cost money though - if you are planning to live in the house for many years I'd say they are worth it but be aware of what you are getting into.
- DVassallo 5y ago
  In my region, the material costs are just ~15% of the total cost to build. It's almost all labor costs.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    That depends on the materials. Installing a $600 light fixture is the same labor as a $40 one. Thus a spec home the material cost tends to be a lot less a % of the total costs compared to a custom house. Though some custom changes require more labor, the effort difference between most is 0, and in a few cases slightly negative (if the material cost wasn't higher all spec homes would get these features)

coding123 5y ago

I'm building a MFG home right now on 10 acres we're sitting at... $260 sq ft. That includes everything (home, site work and land)