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Just found this site this morning, lots of good info, you'll be reading a lot from me over the next year....
My brother and I live in San Diego, and we were planning on buying a fixer upper in the next couple of months. In our searches we came across an empty lot in a neighborhood we are interested in. Our dad is a general contractor and we grew up working construction as a side job. We are thinkning of building a new house rather than buying an existing P.O.S... My question to everyone is how much does it cost to build a new home if you do the work yourself? Any pointers or thoughts would be a huge help.....Thanks
I'm sorry that I can't help you directly with the sq ft building price in San Diego. I can say that the construction will vary by region in the county. Codes are different, labor costs are different, and some material costs are different. That's what I've found.
In the meantime, whatever you decide you're going to spend, I'll almost guarantee you'll spend more. Something is going to happen like, code inspections will require something you didn't expect, some bird will need protection so you lumber price will go up, copper pipe prices will skyrocket because of worldwide demand, or you decide that granite looks better than laminate. Something will happen both in and out of your control.
That's been my experience so, whatever you choose to do, add 10%-20% to the total after you've totaled everything. I will bet that your end cost will be closer to the high end than the lower end.
If you do it yourself, you'll at least be able to cut down on the wasted materials... I saw a statistic that showed that 40% of material is wasted in new home construction... imagine if you cut that down to only 10% waste, that would be a big savings right there.
thanks for the info guys...bump bump....anyone else have any ballpark figures? i know a guy who is having a contractor build a house from the ground up in Tahoe for 160/sqft. any idea what a percent a contractor mark up would be?
housing construction has many variables,, thats why its such a range (60-130 per squ ft) is what i hear today..if i had to narrow down a median,,it'd be 110-120
but all depends, on amenities and what you are building.
what does a contractor make?? im sure this varies on region, experience, etc,
the figure i hear most is around ten percent
If you do it yourself, you'll at least be able to cut down on the wasted materials... I saw a statistic that showed that 40% of material is wasted in new home construction... imagine if you cut that down to only 10% waste, that would be a big savings right there.
Good idea, but. An experienced subcontractor is less likely to waste materials than a novice do-it-yourselfer. As OP said, it all depends. You can build extra cheap for $60 psf but what I am used to runs between $150 and $400 psf.
In the meantime, whatever you decide you're going to spend, I'll almost guarantee you'll spend more. Something is going to happen like, code inspections will require something you didn't expect, some bird will need protection so you lumber price will go up, copper pipe prices will skyrocket because of worldwide demand, or you decide that granite looks better than laminate. Something will happen both in and out of your control.
Garth, did you say use granite? I read an article written by someone that said granite emits radon gas and can be harmful inside a home. This guy was serious but he's not going to stop me from using granite counter tops...no possible way!
I read an article written by someone that said granite emits radon gas and can be harmful inside a home. This guy was serious but he's not going to stop me from using granite counter tops...no possible way!
dont just look at the material cost. you need to figure out the design cost as well. I would contact a reputable Designer / Architect in your area and see what they say for cost. about what size are you looking at for the home?
we have done some plans for as little as 10,000, and as high as 180,000 for just the design and engineering, of course the 180,000 plans were for a 25,000 sqft. home with some very specific design needs.
but figure in the cost of design too. and permits / approvals as well.
thanks all....I'll probaly assume around 100/sqft...hope it all works out in the end
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