Building home in Seattle: Cost/Sq.ft?

[Jared]

Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Eigenvector]

Personally I find it hard to believe you found room to build in the "Seattle" area. Last I checked pretty much everything within 20 miles is developed. But so be it I'll figure you meant Seattle in a general sense.

I don't think you could meet that figure, $200 sounds closer but I don't know if you're factoring in labor and utilities costs (permits, sewer hookup, gas hookup, necessary appliances and flooring material). $250 sounds closer to what I would expect - but that's just me shooting in the dark.

[Jared]

Thanks for the response.

Yes, you are right in assuming that I was asking about the Seattle area, the eastside of lake washington to be precise (redmond/kirkland/ sammamish/issaquah). You're low estimate of $200/sq.ft. still sounds high. I mean if I was to build a 2,400 sq.ft. house, it would cost between $480k and $600k to build. If you figure that I'm looking at around $200k for land (including utility hookups), I would be looking at paying between $680k - $800k to build a house. I don't see how that could be the case considering that is much higher than existing houses in the area. Even new houses are selling for less than that.

[Robert]

Is that 2400 feet on one level? Is it on a basement, crawl space or slab?

I'm having a single level built right now on a full basement for $168 a foot. That factors in a 400' well, septic tank, four car garage and utility hook ups. Front in Dryvit and the rest in wood. Labor here in Wyoming averages $17-25 per hour. I think if mine was a two story, the second story would be about $60 extra a foot. - Robert

[Jared]

Thanks Robert,

I was leaning towards a two story colonial style house build on a slab foundation. I'm hoping that choosing a simple colonial style house along with being careful with the materials will help to bring down the cost.

I've heard that larger two story houses are being constructed for around $100/sq.ft. in the more rural seattle area, but it seems that everyone is in disagreement with the "average" cost to build a house.

Really, my budget only allows for about $500k after all is said and done. Here's the cost breakdown that I'm hoping for...

-Land cost: $150k (found some possibilities)

-Utility hookups: $50k (power & water in street)

-House: $300k (hoping to build around a 2,400 sq.ft two-story colonial style house w/ garage, basement optional)

Possible???

[nicksanspam]

How about SIPs, eg Premier from Fife. About $5/ft^2 for 8'x24' well- insulated strong ceiling and floor and wall panels with holes cut for windows and doors and so on. Send them a sketch on the back of an envelope, and they return a CAD drawing. Mark it up, and when you are happy, your house arrives on a flat-bed truck and they screw it together in a day or two. I'd varnish the inside and cover the outside with Dynaglas "solar siding."

Nick