constructing new home

[W. Wells]

I need to get some cost info about building a new home. What would be a newsgroup to get this info?

[Steve B]

This one here, although most of the information gathered thusly would be useless.

All costs, whether material or labor vary geographically. What it costs to hang 5,000 sf of sheetrock in Los Angeles is different than in Hays, Kansas. The cost of bricks is lower in Houston than it is in an area where they don't produce bricks. And so on.

Labor costs are all over the map depending on who you use.

All you can do is shop where you live. Get several bids on every facet, and take the one you think will do the best job. Notice I DID NOT say take the lowest bid, unless you think that person will DO THE BEST JOB.

This newsgroup, or any other is of very little value in setting costs. It can give you parameters, but when you tally up the final bill, you will find wild variations. About all we, or any other newsgroup, can do is tell you that $8 per sf to hang drywall is too high, or that $400 per yard is too much to pour and finish concrete, but other than that, no one can tell you exact costs even if they live in your town. Each sub is different, and each job has about ten million variables that change every moment that decide the final cost. Things such as cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, carpeting, hvac systems, types of windows, high R value insulation, and a dozen other things can really spike the cost.

There are some guidelines that you can go by in your area. Call up the comparables in the real estate market. Let's say a NEW 2,000 sf house is selling for $400,000. That is $200 per sf. Now, does that include exterior landscaping? If not, you have to throw that in.

Your question is complex. If you are considering building a home, you need to do your homework so that you can manage the cash flow and the costs. And that's if you contract it. If you have someone else contract it, you want to know enough to keep from getting ripped off by that person.

You have a lot of work to do. Not impossible, and well worth the effort. I know, I built two houses, and have remodeled several.

Steve

[tonysi21]

Try this website, while it cost $7.95 and is used for insurance purposes, it should work for what you need.

[Ben Phlat]

I mostly built my own house, here's a basic breakdown.

Purchased the land (10 acres @ 10k per) 100k Designed house (3500sf 2 story) Ordered panelized house from plans 100k Permits, fees etc 35k (that one hurt) Septic, well, electrical from street 15k Interior fixtures, doors plumbing, appliances, heat/air, everthing else needed to complete 50k My labor to put it all together 0k

Total: $300k

Was it a lot of work? Yes, every night, day off and weekend for a year and a half. Was it worth it? Yes, 5 years later it's now worth a cool million. Would I do it again? It's a once in a lifetime experience.

--Ben

[ahole]

300k for a modular home wow they really saw you coming

15k for a well,septic and electrical from street yaahh..................right!

and 100k for 10 acres of land must be swamp land in a trailer park....................hope it came with a boat.

and what no designers fees for the plans or concrete to put the POS modular on.

this is a bullshit story if I ever heard one a modular home worth $1 mil................hahahahahahahahaha!

3500 sq ft would aprox.cost $800,000 if it were a real framed house (give or take $100k for demographic purposes)

[bphlat]

It's not modular, it's panelized, look it up.

Here's a pic of the house sitting on my 10 acres aint no swamp land, nice fertile irrigated.

The prices I listed are what I paid in 2000 to build it. Deals can be had if you know what your doing.

--Ben

ahole wrote: