Homebuilding in Pittsburgh (Lincoln, Bloomfield: sales, insurance, modular home)

[rockthecasbah121]

I drove by this house on Saturday just because of the sheer absurdity of the low price of this new construction. The three houses are brand new, but in a weird area, and are probably being subsidized, but it got me wondering about the cost of building a home in Pittsburgh. Has anyone had any experience or know the price ranges for having a house built in the area that isn't a mcmansion? Would anyone happen to know who the builder is of these three houses?

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[eschaton]

The local paper that the Bloomfield-Garfield-Friendship Corporation puts out said a few months back that it's all but impossible to sell unsubsidized new single-family housing in Pittsburgh below $250,000 and still make a profit.

[urbanbird]

Do you guys have local non profits that build homes?

[rockthecasbah121]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The local paper that the Bloomfield-Garfield-Friendship Corporation puts out said a few months back that it's all but impossible to sell unsubsidized new single-family housing in Pittsburgh below $250,000 and still make a profit.

Do you think that applies just to Pittsburgh proper or would costs be roughly the same in places like the south hills or north hills?

[selltheburgh]

Steve Catranel is the builder and he does quality work.

That is a project of PHDC, which is a wing of the URA. There are income restrictions for the purchaser of a property like this.

The idea behind this is that it is owned and developed by the URA, so instead of making their profit now, they stabilize a blighted section of a neighborhood and create a tax base for the next 50+ years.

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by rockthecasbah121

Do you think that applies just to Pittsburgh proper or would costs be roughly the same in places like the south hills or north hills?

Yeah, I'm also extremely skeptical of that comment as well. You can buy new homes from both Ryan and Maranda for under that amount, and I'm sure they're not selling them at a loss. Depending on the size of the house you can easily get a place for under $200k from some of the custom builder like Wayne. Individual homes have a lot of profit build in to them. A large chunk of the cost overhead goes to support the machinery of the company the sells them. All of the major builders spend a lot of money of sales and advertising, that gets paid for in the price of the home. An individual or a small builder can build a lot more home for the same amount of money.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Velvet Jones

Yeah, I'm also extremely skeptical of that comment as well. You can buy new homes from both Ryan and Maranda for under that amount, and I'm sure they're not selling them at a loss. Depending on the size of the house you can easily get a place for under $200k from some of the custom builder like Wayne. Individual homes have a lot of profit build in to them. A large chunk of the cost overhead goes to support the machinery of the company the sells them. All of the major builders spend a lot of money of sales and advertising, that gets paid for in the price of the home. An individual or a small builder can build a lot more home for the same amount of money.

That comment was in a city paper. Keep in mind in the city:

1. Greenfield development is all-but impossible, meaning development is either scattered-site or small-batch. This means economies of scale are somewhat if not entirely lost, and "builder's special" style construction is essentially impossible.

2. There could be various elements which raise cost, including liens on property, combating locals with NIMBY issues, more detailed zoning code, etc.

In general, I think it's fair to say I haven't seen any housing much south of $250,000 in the city that didn't have income limitations placed on it (and thus probably got federal money on the other end).

[robrobrob]

Part of the total cost is the cost for the lot. I would imagine that you could build a house in the city for well south of 250,000 if you build on a vacant lot purchased for next to nothing. Then again, areas of city with vacant lots aren't in the most sought after neighborhoods.

Another option is a modular home. They have really come a long way. Some of the builders even have homes designed for "urban" lots. They usually have a price list so you can ball bark it by adding the cost of the lot and the foundation.

A few months back, a contractor friend gave us a very imformal quote on a 2 story addition. Bascially, a block foundation and siding second strory. He said 125/sq. foot. Add plumbing, kitchen, baths, etc and you are looking at much more.

P.S. There is a development in Lincoln Place that has some very nice homes for 350,000 or so called Casa Bill.

[selltheburgh]

I'll throw out some numbers for building a 2000 sq ft house:

10k - plumbing
10k - electric
7k - roof
15k - foundation, footer, excavation, etc
15k - drywall & paint
6k - insulation
10k -windows
12k - HVAC
15k - kitchen (relatively basic)
12k - 2.5 baths
15k - flooring
5k - trim and baseboards
8k - interior & exterior doors
15k - siding (30k + for brick)
5k - soffet and fascia
3k - light fixtures
=================
I'm at 171k and this is very basic finishes I'm not including:

Land acquisition cost - 10-40k
Builder's fees - 10-20% of total cost
Architect's fees - 5-15k
Holding costs - finance interest charges, utilities used, insurance, etc - 5-15k.

==========================

That's another 30-50k and I didn't even tap into landscaping, fences, etc.

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by selltheburgh

I'll throw out some numbers for building a 2000 sq ft house:

10k - plumbing
10k - electric
7k - roof
15k - foundation, footer, excavation, etc
15k - drywall & paint
6k - insulation
10k -windows
12k - HVAC
15k - kitchen (relatively basic)
12k - 2.5 baths
15k - flooring
5k - trim and baseboards
8k - interior & exterior doors
15k - siding (30k + for brick)
5k - soffet and fascia
3k - light fixtures
=================
I'm at 171k and this is very basic finishes I'm not including:

Land acquisition cost - 10-40k
Builder's fees - 10-20% of total cost
Architect's fees - 5-15k
Holding costs - finance interest charges, utilities used, insurance, etc - 5-15k.

==========================

That's another 30-50k and I didn't even tap into landscaping, fences, etc.

I would disagree with some of those numbers. I had a 1000sf drywall job done last year, it was $2900 for labor and $600 for materials. That was basically a retail price for a single job. Big builders pay less. In fact, they've been squeezing local contractors so much that many of them will no longer work for the big guys(and guess who has replaced them?).