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The bold depends on where you live and just look at realtor.com listings for the kind of house you want to get an average -- and then get a "ballpark" estimate from three builders. This advice is based on my ACTUAL experience:
We looked for about six years (2011 through 2016) for a retirement home in the Lakes Region in New Hampshire, which is where we were convinced we would retire. When we started looking, our budget was about $350k for a modest one-story home on a wooded lot in a fairly rural location but within a half hour of a major grocery store. (We also learned to specify that the home be on a paved road, which, to our surprise, we learned was not common on the side roads in rural NH.) After our 2016 trip, we finally gave up finding anything we wanted in our price range in NH, even though we had raised our house budget by $100k to $450k. Another discouraging aspect was that ALL (no exceptions) of the real estate agents we started to deal with personally were dishonest. (I am not saying that all the real estate agents in New Hampshire are dishonest, but the ones we dealt with were and ditto for Maine.)
So, for reasons too long to go into here, one night in 2017, my husband asked, "What do you think about Wisconsin?". Neither of us had ever even been to Wisconsin, but I did some research, and as a result of that, we took a vacation here in October 2018 and fell in love with the area. We returned in 2018 looking to buy (as retirement was getting close), but again, none of the available houses met our requirements, even though they were well within our budget. So, feeling somewhat desperate, my husband called three different designer-builders and asked if they could give a ballpark estimate for a one-story, no basement, open concept home, about 1500-2000 s.f. with a woodburning fireplace. All three said the exact same thing -- "about $250 a square foot". WOW (we thought), a 1500 to 2,000 s.f. home would be between $375k and $500k (ballpark), and it would be new andcustom. So, at that point, we looked for and found a 1.5 acre wooded lot we fell in love with, in a GREAT location, and bought it for $40k.
We then returned to Wisconsin in June 2019 after making appointments with three builders (two of the ones we first approached plus a new one) after asking if they would be willing to meet with us to get a more exact estimate on our design, which ended up being 1,875 s.f. The approximate bids based on our design ended up being between 290k (!), $390k, and $475k, but the lowest and highest bid would not be "locked in" even after the contracts were signed. The middle bidder said the prices would be locked in unless WE changed our minds about something.
So, we went with the $390k bid, and the final price for the house and well was just about $401K. (Btw, we signed the contracts in October 2019, and we moved in on July 31, 2020, so it took less than five months for the house to be completed, except for landscaping. Note that the cost did NOT include landscaping or the driveway, which will probably cost us another $30k altogether for the driveway, patio, grading, and some plantings, which will be an ongoing project. We just had the concrete driveway and patio installed, and the plantings will be done next spring.)
BOTTOM LINE FOR FINAL PRICE: $471K total will be the final approximate price for everything -- which is actually pretty amazing because dividing $473.000 by 1875 (.s.f) is $251.20 -- which is almost unbelievably close to what we were first told, even though the $250 per s.f. ballpark figure was just for the house and well; we do have public sewer.
But, whatever you do, before you build, GET REFERENCES. The builder we went with is a local firm with 40 years of experience only building homes in our particular area. (In the past an inexperienced builder had built our new home, which was a disaster, and we ended up losing $150k when we tried to sell it.)
P.S. And, btw, the online custom house estimator (a calculating tool) was WAY off, even though it was very detailed. According to the one I used, our house should have cost $285k, not $401k!
Wow, thank you for your answer. We are actually wanting to buy in Wisconsin as well! lol.
So my husband works in Arlington Heights, IL but he doesn't want to buy in Illinois under any circumstances. Wisconsin is beautiful and cost of living is much less than Chicago Area not to mention the property taxes. We are looking close to the Illinois border. Maybe you can recommend some names for me. We are willing to pay up to 500k for a house but I want at least 2500 sq feet. We also want somewhat rural but an easy access to shopping and freeways.
BTW, a wood burning fireplace would be amazing.
Thank you everyone for your answers. I know where to start now. We owned a house once before but renting now. I am exploring all options here and I am not saying we will not be buying an existing home already. We have at least 20 years left before we will be retiring and our kids our still young so we need a bigger place. I don't want to spend more than 500k on a house even though we can afford it.
Thanks again.
otoh... if you mean a new home from a builder/development then first stop is the real estate attorney that your regular family attorney directs you to.
otoh... if you mean a new home from a builder/development then first stop is the real estate attorney that your regular family attorney directs you to.
otoh... if you mean a new home from a builder/development then first stop is the real estate attorney that your regular family attorney directs you to.
Actually, we didn't use one and didn't need one -- everything went as smooth as silk BUT it was with a very reputable builder with excellent references and 40 years' of experience -- but maybe we were lucky! We certainly could have used an attorney in the past!!
Is this or is this not the largest financial transaction you have ever had? Have you ever prepared and read a real estate or builder's contract? Have you had experience with risks and liabilities associated with building or buying a house? Do you know how to remediate a contractual deficiency? Did you know that "time is of the essence" should be in the contracts? Are you familiar with performance standards and penalties for failure to perform?
Almost always, everything goes well. But if it doesn't and there's a problem, wouldn't you like to have a professional there to avert a potential disaster?
Is this or is this not the largest financial transaction you have ever had? Have you ever prepared and read a real estate or builder's contract? Have you had experience with risks and liabilities associated with building or buying a house? Do you know how to remediate a contractual deficiency? Did you know that "time is of the essence" should be in the contracts? Are you familiar with performance standards and penalties for failure to perform?
Almost always, everything goes well. But if it doesn't and there's a problem, wouldn't you like to have a professional there to avert a potential disaster?
I bought a house before without an attorney. So do most people hire attorneys when they build a house?
I bought a house before without an attorney. So do most people hire attorneys when they build a house?
The answers vary greatly.
You can expect a proprietary contract from the builder, so you might like an attorney to review it and note any red flags or vagaries.
You may be able to negotiate some details, but builders who have been around and successful track record know what they want in the contracts in terms of time, payments, and risks.
If you end up with a Big National Builder, you can expect 50+ pages, much of which are banal disclaimers about wind and rain and natural flaws in wood and stone finishes, but after that the devil gets buried in the details. You may want some legal advice on that. You will also find that your choices with Big National Builders include the following options:
1. Sign it as it is and get the house.
2. Decide to negotiate and not sign it as it is presented, and don't get the house.
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