3 ms·

> even if the land and materials were free, it now still costs $2-300k to put up a modern home Where do you live that the legal labor costs that much and how b

> even if the land and materials were free, it now still costs $2-300k to put up a modern home Where do you live that the legal labor costs that much and how big or bespoke of a house are we talking? You can build a new home for 300k in a lot of places with the land included.

ethbr1 3y ago
Median price in the US as of 2019 was $281,700: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-much-does-i... That's probably for something around 2,000 sq ft (~185 sq m). Forbes has a handy breakdown by state: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/contractor/cost-to-build-a-house/ https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/contractor/cost-to-b...
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  That's a good link. If you try to build anything these days, you are paying a lot more than that. $150k in Seattle might barely be enough for a kitchen renovation, renovating a whole house is going to go for $300-400k or so. A new build...here @ $500k (and a lot of that is labor). I bet it is significantly cheaper in the USA south/southwest (due to immigration).
  - deaddodo 3y ago
    > I bet it is significantly cheaper in the USA south/southwest (due to immigration). If you want to do it illegally, sure. Legal labor (immigrant or not) is most assuredly more expensive almost anywhere in the Southwest, compared to Seattle; and a requirement for anything beyond the most trivial of projects.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Lowest cost: South Dakota - 204.4k Kansas - 207.1 Nebraska - 210.9 North Dakota - 212.5 Iowa - 214.0 Michigan - 216.7 Indiana - 219.3 Looking at that and the list, I'd hazard ranking is a consequence of the type of housing being predominantly built in the state. Even build cost per sq ft wouldn't normalize for fixtures and customization.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      Labor costs are a huge part of that, and Seattle housing is pretty cheap quality considering that our weather is mellow (townhomes they put up now to sell for $1m would have been fairly affordable 20 years ago, but these developers are barely breaking even because of a labor shortage). Seriously, nothing in them would be considered luxury except maybe the bathroom with a full size shower. I'm suspicious that the numbers might be still out of date.
- foogazi 3y ago
  There’s a lot of room below the median

ethbr1 3y ago

Median price in the US as of 2019 was $281,700: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-much-does-i... That's probably for something around 2,000 sq ft (~185 sq m). Forbes has a handy breakdown by state: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/contractor/cost-to-build-a-house/ https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/contractor/cost-to-b...

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
That's a good link. If you try to build anything these days, you are paying a lot more than that. $150k in Seattle might barely be enough for a kitchen renovation, renovating a whole house is going to go for $300-400k or so. A new build...here @ $500k (and a lot of that is labor). I bet it is significantly cheaper in the USA south/southwest (due to immigration).
- deaddodo 3y ago
  > I bet it is significantly cheaper in the USA south/southwest (due to immigration). If you want to do it illegally, sure. Legal labor (immigrant or not) is most assuredly more expensive almost anywhere in the Southwest, compared to Seattle; and a requirement for anything beyond the most trivial of projects.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Lowest cost: South Dakota - 204.4k Kansas - 207.1 Nebraska - 210.9 North Dakota - 212.5 Iowa - 214.0 Michigan - 216.7 Indiana - 219.3 Looking at that and the list, I'd hazard ranking is a consequence of the type of housing being predominantly built in the state. Even build cost per sq ft wouldn't normalize for fixtures and customization.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Labor costs are a huge part of that, and Seattle housing is pretty cheap quality considering that our weather is mellow (townhomes they put up now to sell for $1m would have been fairly affordable 20 years ago, but these developers are barely breaking even because of a labor shortage). Seriously, nothing in them would be considered luxury except maybe the bathroom with a full size shower. I'm suspicious that the numbers might be still out of date.
foogazi 3y ago
There’s a lot of room below the median