# Cost to build a house



## Adirondackgal (Aug 8, 2013)

We just met with a GC at out property where we plan to build. He quoted us $150.00 a square foot. I guess we are going to have to do things differently or build a smaller house. I guess it is the going rate for where we live.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Been about 8 years now, but the last two I built were $40-45/sqft. That was me doing all the labor, including lay the brick and build the kitchen cabinets. I have no doubt I could do it again for well under 60.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

Rural property building costs before building has many
other costs to consider besides 'per sq ft'.
For one is building permits. Recently a couple owning
property nearby thought they could start construction.
The township presented them with a $14,000 fee for a
building permit before starting any building.
Then there is possible site improvements and associated
permits like well drilling, septic system and water work .
Few of these have exact cost estimates. Then there might
be the highway dept. considerations about your entrance
or culvert permission etc.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Adirondackgal said:


> We just met with a GC at our property where we plan to build. He quoted us $150.00 a square foot. I guess we are going to have to do things differently or build a smaller house. I guess it is the going rate for where we live.


 In most cases the cost per sq ft decreases as the total sqft increases.
Check with different Contractors


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

po boy said:


> In most cases the cost per sq ft decreases as the total sqft increases.
> Check with different Contractors


In that case i'll take one big enough it is free eep:


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## gladetop (May 10, 2005)

1/3 materials, 1/3 labor and 1/3 goes to the GC. Be your own GC and save that much right off the top. Do what labor you can and you start to chip away at that 1/3. Shop for the discount wholesale builder supply stores and your start dropping the price on that 1/3.


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## Convoy (Dec 2, 2012)

Honestly without knowing what level of finishing , square footage, special additions it's hard to tell if it's fair. My sister built a house last year and for 1/2 mill it's 3000 sq/ft including full basement but could have been a lot higher if they went with higher end finishing (hardwood instead of laminate, low-E windows etc). Also if your building in the country make sure the contractors know they have to work a full day - otherwise you'll run into the same problem my sister had until she 'corrected it' - they would commute 1hr each way work 2 hrs and charge for 4hrs and gas.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

The GC not only gets 1/4 to 1/3, he charges you retail for all the materials and keeps the margin. If you have an architect it will cost another 10% or more. See if the bank will allow you to be your own GC , if you need a mortgage. We found that if we paid the subs cash we got a much better deal. Several of the subs lived in our area and charged us less because they didn't have to commute.


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## nebo (Dec 16, 2013)

It should be around 55 buck a SF. If you figure in the cost of your land then things go up. That is if you are the GC and this will vary from the area you live.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

GC's do not get 1/3. They may make 10 to 20% with a high of 25. If they make more than you have not done your homework. 

GC's charge materials plus a percentage. Usually cost plus 10 to 15 percent. That covers their profit and warranty. They do not charge retail plus mark-up unless they are paying retail. They usually get a discount. Not as huge as you think. If you are paying more than again you failed when getting bids and signing a contract.

Labor is the biggest way to save on building a house. If you have the skills and the will you can do it yourself. The other way is to build the size of house you want but scale back the finishes and do them yourself later.

As other have said there are a lot of costs that just can not be cut from utilities to building permits, insurance etc. The time it takes to build is where you can save on interest. Mortgage extensions also cost money.

I have built two of my own homes, providing 80 percent of the labor. I run the corporate office for a building contractor who also owns two lumber companies. A good builder will take the time to tell you where he can cut the costs without giving you a substandard home.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Last building I built was a small cafe' / coffee shop.
Obviously not the same as building a house, but I can give you an idea.
Monolithic slab, 2 x4 walls, 40 foot 4/12 pitch roof trusses. Electric baseboard heating, electric water heater. Only 4 Windows, 2- 60x48 and 2- 30x48.
Blow in insulation in the ceiling, batting in the walls. Two half baths ( coffee shop, not house, so no tub). 
No kitchen cabinets, no carpeting. T1-11 siding, steel roof, 1700 sqft.
I hired out the cement work. I leveled the ground, ran the plumbing, and built the forms, the cement guy poured and finished the cement.

Once done, we had just under $36,000 into the building, not including the commercial kitchen appliances.


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## Jluck (Jul 26, 2014)

Out west we have companies like Hi-line and Adair homes. I had a Hi-line built for about 56-57.00 a square foot. You have to do some of the finish work but was well worth it for us. You might have similar in your neck of the woods.


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## Adirondackgal (Aug 8, 2013)

We will not have a mortgage on the home. Will paying cash get us a break on some things?


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Big breaks, and you don't need a GC if you can do the job yourself. We got huge discounts from almost everyone, including the concrete people.


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## supernovae (Jul 14, 2014)

Adirondackgal said:


> We will not have a mortgage on the home. Will paying cash get us a break on some things?


well, typically, even if you have a new construction mortgage you're paying with cash out of your account  (unless you have a general contractor doing everything for you)

Here in Texas the only cash discount i see are people who go "under the table" and I don't have much interest in their services being that i'll be living in what they don't want to do legally. It's one thing if its my electrician buddy i'll trade services with or buy a case of beer for, but if its the foundation dude.. nah


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

gladetop said:


> 1/3 materials, 1/3 labor and 1/3 goes to the GC. Be your own GC and save that much right off the top. Do what labor you can and you start to chip away at that 1/3. Shop for the discount wholesale builder supply stores and your start dropping the price on that 1/3.


 What a wonderful world this would be, LOL. As a recently retired builder, I can only dream. In reality, new construction in this area is currently starting at mid- $90s a foot, and total costs are in the low to mid-$70s range. Gross mark-up tends to run about 20% That 20% is the money that keeps the company going, pays all the soft costs of insurance, vehicles, licensing, office expenses, sales commissions, etc..... As a sole proprietor, I then gave 40% of whatever was left to various government hands, and ended up with 12-13% in my pocket, in the end. 

That said, all these figures, and any other post on $/sq.ft are meaningless to the OP. Building costs are extremely regional, and can vary by several hundred percent in the states. I see retail numbers from TX, TN and AR. that are well below hard costs here. I have a friend who builds in northern CA. where he gets 4X what I do. I have relatives in Hawaii who pay even more. 

Finally the claim of big mark-ups, or even retail, pricing on contractor supplied material is a gem. A successful builder works hard to get the most competitive pricing possible from suppliers, end of story. The market determines the going rate for the finished product, and suppliers in a competitive market move building materials for a very, very tight margin. The whole system is run at very low margins, and there is little opportunity to mark anything up when you are dealing with bottom line cost per sq. ft pricing. Custom homes, high end finishes, and renovation/addition work are a totally different story. 

To put all this in perspective, currently in this market, area, there is so little money in the new home construction business that maintaining a legitimate presence and keeping the doors open for the year, means that 8-15 homes need to be sold and completed before the owner has any hope of making a living. Tight smaller operations can keep the balls in the air with 6-8 a year, big outfits with a model home, sales force and office staff have been dropping like flies once they drop below the 15 per year level. 

As for extremely low cost, total DIY construction, my experience has been that at least four out of ever five of these adventures that I have seen remain incomplete after years, or even decades. Building your own home is 
a complex, difficult, time sucking, expensive undertaking. I have done it to start my career, and I have a deep respect for members here, who have succeeded. But the fact is that most folks fail at this.


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## DAVID In Wisconsin (Dec 3, 2002)

gladetop said:


> 1/3 materials, 1/3 labor and 1/3 goes to the GC. Be your own GC and save that much right off the top. Do what labor you can and you start to chip away at that 1/3. Shop for the discount wholesale builder supply stores and your start dropping the price on that 1/3.


I have been in construction all of my life and I am not sure if I know anyone who gets a profit close to 1/3. If I got that I would have retired to some sunny island many years ago.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Not much you can't do yourself.... as long as you practice first....


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## bryant (Aug 8, 2014)

First, I would recommend that you always get a minimum of three estimates from general contractors. There are always a few people that think they are worth more than they really are, and you don't want to use them since they will probably not be around if you need to use the warranty. 

Cost is relative; where you live, type of construction, level of finish materials (oak flooring is cheaper than walnut flooring, ceramic tile is cheaper than marble or granite tile, formica/ corian type counter tops are cheaper than granite or marble, etc.). 

Yes you should see reductions in costs to you by paying cash. 

Doing the work you feel comfortable doing will save you money in labor costs, but only if you have the skill set to perform these tasks. 

Many folks that make the decision to "Do it all Myself", make this decision with out the necessary skill sets to actually accomplish the tasks. Others find that they want to do other things once they get started and the work progress ceases or slows tremendously, resulting in "never get finished" projects. Hint, a house of 3000 sq. ft. will take approximately 7,680 man hours of labor, start to finish. (this includes everything from the foundation to the final stroke of paint going on). If you are doing it all yourself (1 person working) that equates to 960 days of 8 hour days to complete the structure. (That's 2.75 years of 7 days a week, 8 hours a day, for one person working) 

When I had my construction company, I usually took 6 months from the breaking of ground for the foundation to handing the keys to the client. Some days I would have 8 to ten people working on one site, others there would only be 4, but we had deadlines to abide by. In the days when I first got started in construction, I worked on a framing crew, there were four of us and we were fast, knew each other's abilities and communicated very well. We did one house build, across the street from a competitor of our company, they had 8 framers and their boss made a bet with our boss about length of time to "in the dry". Both crews started the same day, from a new foundation. Three weeks later our 4 man crew had the building in the dry, ready for the finishing crews to start. The 8 men across the street were only half way done, this was a house similar in building features and square footage. The 8 man crew's price was about 5k more than our price for the same work. I think the reason for that was because they took so much more time to complete. The kicker about this is that 6 months after we had our little "competition" that other company was out of business, we were still going strong and had builds lined up for two years down the road, these were builds with paid deposits.


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## bronc (Jul 17, 2013)

Here's real world numbers from OK... in Sept. 2012 I built our 2200 SF house for $180,000. This included roughing in the future upstairs (another 1100 SF). I was a commercial GC so I got good deals from the subs, otherwise, it would have cost another $20,000 or more. Could have done it cheaper but wife wanted a few "luxuries" that added almost 10 percent to the cost. From dirtwork to closing took 5 months. Hope that helps, good luck and enjoy the process!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I'm wondering where people are finding anyone who cares if they pay via cash much less gives a discount. Our house has been entirely built via cash and I have yet to get a discount on anything. :shrug:

Time: Yep, DIY will take a lot of it. We're up to almost 4 _years_. However, we're in the home stretch--Plumbing, wiring and cabinetry&#8230; (The time has actually been a blessing, btw, as it allowed us to pay as we go)
Cost: DIY will _definitely_ save you money, but unless you can bankroll it yourself, you might have trouble getting funding. Banks don't like to lend on DIYers. (See above about time). Our 2000 sq', story and a half over a full, walk-out basement is going to be finished for around $50K and NO MORTGAGE.


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## bryant (Aug 8, 2014)

Did you ask for a reduced price or if there was one?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

It was a lot of weekends (7 years worth) but I built our 1 1/2 story 1800 sq ft log home for a bit over $20k. I did hire some help, but did a lot of the work myself, shopped around for good deals and we have been living here for several years now.


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## Adirondackgal (Aug 8, 2013)

Yvonne's hubby-Do you have any pictures of your house? What a great job to do most of the work yourself and save all that money. Good for you!!!!


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## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> It was a lot of weekends (7 years worth) but I built our 1 1/2 story 1800 sq ft log home for a bit over $20k. I did hire some help, but did a lot of the work myself, shopped around for good deals and we have been living here for several years now.


Wow my concrete footings, basement walls and slab cost more than your house. 
Did you mill the logs from trees at the building site? Or are kits super cheap in your region?

I was given quotes of per square foot for my new build. I thought they were outrageous and being my own GC I got 3 quotes on every last thing. Saved a bit. 
Yet in reality that was close to the final price so unless you are using all your labour and scrap for materials, and maybe not having to worry about building codes expect a big number. 
But I also splurged on certain finishing items (some t&g pine on ceilings, electric heated slate flooring in bath/kitchen and wide plank flooring) and it all adds up. 
And guess what... I wouldn't be as happy without. It's still my dream house, you have to live there, I'd prefer it this way than always thinking how one day I'm going to upgrade something. I get to enjoy it this time round.


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## BadFordRanger (Apr 26, 2014)

I have built five houses over the years and it would have been many more than that but I was never large enough for the banks to deal with. It's been ten years or so since I built the last one but from the small jobs I have done the last couple of years I know the cost of materials have went through the roof compared to the last house. 
I do know that even back then, I'd have loved to earned what the materials cost. No, the contractor doesn't make 1/3 of what the house cost. 
As has been said, your cost will go directly in hand with where you live. 
My niece and her husband just moved to West Virginia and they built them a house. He is a small contractor himself and she runs the office so they both know the ropes and they both worked on the house full time but still hired out parts of the labor, but they built an 1,800 sq. ft. house for $53,000 that would sell for $250,000 here and was completely moved in nine days short of five months. 
They bought 12 acres of land and they just broke ground to build my sister and BIL a house on the property too, and they have their house up for sale here. They'll have a lot nicer house and still have 10 to 15K left over from the sell of their home. 
You haven't said anything about where you are building at, or I missed it if you have, but that has everything to do with the cost. 
If you live in New York city you'd be lucky to get a dog house built for 150 per square foot, but I could build you a 4' x 4' dog house here for that and put a heat lamp in it to boot, LOL. 

Godspeed

Ranger


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## Adirondackgal (Aug 8, 2013)

I do not live anywhere near New York City. I am in upstate New York near the Adirondacks.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Aren't the Adirondacks only a couple hundred miles from NYC?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Adirondackgal said:


> Yvonne's hubby-Do you have any pictures of your house? What a great job to do most of the work yourself and save all that money. Good for you!!!!


I have lots of pics of the construction, here is some of the finished product.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

fireweed farm said:


> Wow my concrete footings, basement walls and slab cost more than your house.
> Did you mill the logs from trees at the building site? Or are kits super cheap in your region?
> 
> I was given quotes of per square foot for my new build. I thought they were outrageous and being my own GC I got 3 quotes on every last thing. Saved a bit.
> ...


I used less than a yard of concrete in my foundation... I just holes about 4' square where the cabin corners were going to be, dug down to bedrock, stacked up rocks scavenged from old limestone fireplaces and poured a little concrete around them up to grade. I bought whole logs from a local sawmill, had the hauled to the farm and milled lumber off the sides, leaving 6 inch thick logs. I then notched and stacked the logs, till I got to the top, moved my rig over and built another one just like it, ten feet away, built a roof over the whole thing and went to work finishing the rest. It was just about the time I had the roof on that work sorta halted for quite a while... I had gotten mixed up with a woman (my Yvonne) that takes a lot outta ya, driving back and forth to Lville, hundred miles one way! And then was diagnosed with cancer... which really knocked the wind out of my sails. But... we are living here now and its all good.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Tell us about what you want.
How is your tolerance for time and results?
You can mix and match contactor work with DIY.
For instance You can have the Foundation poured and build the framing yourself. Have the drywall work done then paint it yourself.
Another thing to keep in mind Is a contractor cant make the deals you can. He has to buy the color carpet you said you wanted when he needs it. You can walk through Home Depot and say Wow that carpet on clearance is close enough AND BETTER QUALITY! Buy it and store it till you need it or do without till you find the sale.
Buy a 100 year old antique sink at habitat for humanity for $5 OR NOT.
Its not all about going cheaper Ive bought 3/4 plywood when it was cheaper than 5/8, Got thicker wire when it was cheaper than thin and paid $5 a gallon for the best pain in the store.


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