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Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville
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Old 05-09-2015, 01:43 PM
 
Location: FLORIDA
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MotorDavid,

also part of it has to be the cost of materials. because it cant be the cost of labor. cost of labor is pretty cheap (low paying) in Western NC compared to places like FL. I'd be surprised if builders are even walking away with 10% profit in Asheville with the cost of land and improvements that need to be done.
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Old 05-09-2015, 02:33 PM
 
Location: Western NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by young92 View Post
I talked to a couple of area builders and this is what they told me for going price:
$140 a sq/ft will get you a basic floor plan, no frills, vinyl floors and inexpensive countertops
$170 - $200 a sq/ft will give you a little nicer home with hardwood floors and some granite.
The price goes up from there with the more complicated designs and higher quality finishes
Sorry, no, this does not include land. The contractors I talked to work mostly in Madison County
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Old 05-09-2015, 03:36 PM
 
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Definitely good and interesting information. Our house here in Central Florida (which is seeing a really good return of market prices) is estimated at about 250k. It was built in 2000 and is in a very desirable area. That puts it at about $110/sq foot (~2300 sq foot house). It's got granite throughout, tile, etc.

$200/sq foot would run just about anyone but a doctor, lawyer, or retiree out of the game. I really didn't think WNC would be that expensive to build in (although I did think it would be substantially more expensive than Flat central florida). That kind of money could buy a mansion on land in Tennessee.

I'm not giving up just yet. We've spent way too much time discovering WNC to just walk away; it's just a shame that it is so cost prohibitive for anyone in my age/professional bracket to move here.
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Old 05-09-2015, 04:10 PM
 
Location: Mtns of Waynesville,NC & Nokomis, FL
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Don't know your house/locale, but having had two FL winter season houses built, (2005 & 2013), the usual FL house is a very different structure with different building methods, imo:
slab foundation, block walls, one floor, often from a set of a couple few 'plans', and frequently done in situ by crews that are doing repetitive building.

Even a 'non community' build in FL is generally pulled from a builder's set of plans that the builder has done dozens of times.

Much muscle work is done by Latino crews, and the subs are roving from site to site, and community to community, during the build process.

A generalization I realize, and your western NC house could be done in that budget, but even FL house building in the past several years, on either southern 'coast', (not waterfront, but along either coast), has not generated much housing for in the $150/ft range, in our experience.

We have good friends all over FL, some seasonal and some full time, and the inland/less southern FL housing costs are nearly always substantially less than housing built within 15-20 mins of either southern east or west coast, imo.

Have you done some serious searching for existing housing in western NC via realtor.com, et al?
GL, mD
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Old 05-09-2015, 06:45 PM
 
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Look at any add for existing property. You can buy 3000 sq.ft. With mountain views in Kenmure for $200 a sq.ft. Granite and hardwoods throughout, designer baths and kitchen, and fully landscaped.
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Old 05-09-2015, 07:20 PM
 
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Originally Posted by evensen007 View Post
Definitely good and interesting information. Our house here in Central Florida (which is seeing a really good return of market prices) is estimated at about 250k. It was built in 2000 and is in a very desirable area. That puts it at about $110/sq foot (~2300 sq foot house). It's got granite throughout, tile, etc.

$200/sq foot would run just about anyone but a doctor, lawyer, or retiree out of the game. I really didn't think WNC would be that expensive to build in (although I did think it would be substantially more expensive than Flat central florida). That kind of money could buy a mansion on land in Tennessee.

I'm not giving up just yet. We've spent way too much time discovering WNC to just walk away; it's just a shame that it is so cost prohibitive for anyone in my age/professional bracket to move here.


Early in your posting you mentioned these towns: "We have located some land in Weaverville, Fairview, and Black Mountain". Those are very popular areas and are justified in asking and getting higher prices for homes and land. As MDavid said, please take a look at housing via www.Realtor.com and put in your exact criteria from what you say you want/need and search those areas in particular. Your wants and needs and expectations for new construction including the price of land for $350K is not realistic in this market for those areas.

There are several other lovely areas within a radius of Asheville that you should explore. As mlhm5 suggests, you can definitely find some nice homes with upgrades in good locations under $400K. Look at homes priced around $365K to $375K that can be negotiated. Remember, the best land has already been built upon in the more desirable areas. There are subdivisions everywhere in the area, a good Realtor can guide you much better than we can once you have a face to face meeting with an agent(s) that specialize in areas you are interested in. However, agents don't cover wide areas for example from Weaverville to Black Mountain and in between. They specialize within their own service areas, and can then refer you out to someone else good that they know if you want to explore another town or two. The development, however, that mlhm5 is referring to will have homes/condos/townhouses under $300K, with less square footage of course than you want. The average price of homes in the Kenmure development will be over $500K to possibly a million or more. You simply have to get an agent to take you through there.

The average nice subdivision in Henderson County is in your price range. Sorry to say new construction is not, unless you want to lower your expectations. FL and WNC are totally different areas, weather, construction costs and types of construction on slab foundations and CBS walls vs. stick built or high quality modular. The two areas are far from comparable. The weather alone in each area determines construction requirements.

My best advice would be to do some looking around here a week at a time and dont' get wrapped up in entertainment/vacation type activities. Treat your search like a job, because that is really what it is; it's a lot of work and looking inside the properties to see what they have. Pictures online are merely for narrowing down curb appeal.

Best wishes on your relocation.
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Old 05-09-2015, 07:47 PM
 
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You know, some of the high prices are because construction in WNC is more complicated, but not entirely. Houses were dirt cheap in WNC in 1992.

Plus, houses are cheaper in North Georgia even though the topography is the same.

The high prices are almost completely because of demand.
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Old 05-09-2015, 08:01 PM
 
Location: Full Time Resident of City of Asheville
497 posts, read 963,284 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shooting Stars View Post
You know, some of the high prices are because construction in WNC is more complicated, but not entirely. Houses were dirt cheap in WNC in 1992.

Plus, houses are cheaper in North Georgia even though the topography is the same.

The high prices are almost completely because of demand.
Agree that it is demand driving prices up. There are bidding wars occurring in the immediate Asheville area in the $250-350K price range as per an article in the AC-T. http://www.citizen-times.com/story/n...kets/14210377/ and http://www.citizen-times.com/story/m...ends/26299279/
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Old 05-09-2015, 10:58 PM
 
Location: FLORIDA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by young92 View Post
Sorry, no, this does not include land. The contractors I talked to work mostly in Madison County

That expensive? To live in Madison Co? HUH?
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Old 05-09-2015, 11:07 PM
 
Location: FLORIDA
8,963 posts, read 8,819,654 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shooting Stars View Post
You know, some of the high prices are because construction in WNC is more complicated, but not entirely. Houses were dirt cheap in WNC in 1992.

Plus, houses are cheaper in North Georgia even though the topography is the same.

The high prices are almost completely because of demand.



But the area isnt really growing that fast at all really. Cities in Northern GA (like mentioned above) have experienced far more growth, and I agree, same topography which can definitely make things more expensive. I would rather have a CBS home than a wood frame with vinyl siding (very popular in WNC), but thats just me. And you know the folks in FL (on the labor side) get paid higher than they do in WNC. And I bet the owners are making quite a bit more $$$ than they do in WNC. It has to be that the cost to making a lot buildable has to account for a HUGE part of the cost.
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