Building a house (square foot, appraisal, agents, sale)

[glass_of_merlot]

We are considering to build a house. How much more expensive is it then just buying a house already built.

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

I know nothing about this process or where to even start.

You start with the architect.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

We are considering to build a house. How much more expensive is it then just buying a house already built.

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

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 and custom. 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!

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

The bottom and go up.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

We are considering to build a house. How much more expensive is it then just buying a house already built.

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

$$$$. Know your cash and/or your credit limits and willingness.


1. General location you want.

2. Can you get a lot or a teardown?

3. Qualify the lot. Is it a nice lot, or a dog lot?

4. City Services, or rural?

5. Will you find a location that will accommodate a house you like, have good orientation, access?

6. Coming to fruition, in order of typical costs. flexibility, and general quality:
>Cookie cutter builder who will build you a house from their standard plans, usually on a lot in a neighborhood where they own all the land.
>Semi-custom builder who will tweak a plan. May have a lot, or will build on yours. If your lot, have the builder help qualify the lot and potential before purchase.
>Custom builder who will work with a plan you bring to them, tweak, expand, move walls, etc, etc. May have a lot, or will build on yours. If yours, have the builder help qualify the lot and potential before purchase.
>Architect, or Design-build company, or an Architect who works closely with a design-build company. Assume you will bring the lot to the transaction, but I would have the architect and builder help qualify the lot and potential before purchase.

[Okey Dokie]

If you’re thinking of a one-of-a-kind, truly custom build, then I’d start with an architect. If you’re looking for a tried and true design, with maybe some tweaking here and there, but with finishes you pick out yourself, try a builder and see what they have in their portfolio of plans.

Edit: I see as I was writing my reply, Mr. Jaquish was saying the same thing but much better.

[lunetunelover]

We bought our house in November...but we actually signed with the builder in April.

We visited all the builders in the area and asked what they had. Many already have lots and we bought what is commonly known as a "spec house". The disadvantage to this is you can't customize much, if anything. The advantage is, we got a brand new home for about the same price (and maybe even a little less) than an existing home.

Find out who the builders are in your area and make an appointment to meet with representatives for each one. That's where I would start.

[Sand&Salt]

It was the most fun and biggest challenge of our lives. But we were in our 30s---big difference and tolerance to hard work.

It's a whole other story doing all the work yourselves, with your own money, on your own schedule.

We started with a book of house plans and picked one. Found a sloped lot in a golf course community with a forever view to the Front Range. The house plan company put our finished house on the cover since almost no one actually completes a house from a plans book (according to the publisher, lol).

Got lots of funny looks having no crew and showing up when we felt like it. (every day, but not at the crack of dawn, as we were not early risers)

It was great bonding for us, but I hear it causes a lot of divorces too.

Ah the smell of new cement and raw lumber....

[MichiganGreg]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

We are considering to build a house. How much more expensive is it then just buying a house already built.

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

Best way for a decent guess is to look around at houses for sale in the area that you want to live in. Note the prices of houses that are already for sale, and of the same size you are thinking about building, and use that as a starting point. Then add about $50K to $100K for site prep/utilities/excavation on top of the existing price. These are hidden costs that are not used in appraisals, and will be out of pocket expenses, tacked on to the cost. Then add a year of time for the build.

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

We are considering to build a house. How much more expensive is it then just buying a house already built.

I know nothing about this process or where to eve start.

Your last sentence is more relevant than your penultimate one.

If you have neither bought an existing home nor built a home in the past, I suggest that you buy an existing one since you know nothing.

The price differentials are as large as your desires.