How much per sq feet can you build a new house for? UPDATED 7/2/18

[Realtor]

Did you build or did you have the builder building the neighborhood build? 2 different things. A builder building a neighborhood buys in bulk because he is doing many similar floorplans and gets a price break. If you are hiring a contractor to do 1 house it'll cost you between 120-150 a sqft. And extra for nice touches. And you will have to pay cash for the land and then finance the house unless you are paying for the whole thing in cash.

i did build through a neighborhood builder - so i guess that is why i got a good deal.....

i planned on paying cash for the land and financing the house but i did not want to spend over $200,000 total for the land and the house..

nice lots inside city limit of Cartersville will probably be about $50,000

i guess i could jack the sqFt down a good bit....

how much does one single guy need to live comfortably you think?

120-150 a sqft sounds a little high - i am in the process of getting my realtor license and everyone i talk to in the business seems to say around 100$ / Sq Ft

thanks everyone for all of your insight

 

[jeep78]

i am many things but handy is not even near one of them... i would love to do the work myself but the job would be slop

- very cool you built a house for 24$ a SQFT - impressive

Sourcing the materials became my passion. And material prices swing wildly depending on time of year. But the biggest cost in building is labor.

My steel roof was a great "savings" as I never want to get on a roof again. Shingles are a temporary roof, at best.

 

[Realtor]

Sourcing the materials became my passion. And material prices swing wildly depending on time of year. But the biggest cost in building is labor.

My steel roof was a great "savings" as I never want to get on a roof again. Shingles are a temporary roof, at best.

do you think you could share a pic? very intrigued to see what that house would look like... if not i understand

 

[DirtySouth]

It was $100 or so back 10 years ago. Having a couple of guys at work going through this now on their own land, and they are in that $150 a square foot range, with nice touches.

Before you get too crazy, check and see what the minimum sf you can build. I believe it is 1500 sf in the Bartow County, but the city may have their own requirements.

We were looking to buy a second home not long ago, and houses in subdivisions were averaging $120 a sf. I would be surprised you would get anything built for $90 a sf. When the housing market died, material prices didn't.

 

[jeep78]

do you think you could share a pic? very intrigued to see what that house would look like... if not i understand

I bought my plans from barnplans.com. There are better pics there to show the construction than anything I have. The plans are all just variations on a theme. You build the shell, then design your own floorplan and room layout.

The plans are written for the owner/builder to be able to do it all themselves, if they want.

I worked as a licensed, residential contractor for a number of years, so it was not foreign to me. And I had a very good idea of what kind of house was typically being built at the lower price points.

It isn't rocket science, and there are many engineered products available that save time and money over older construction methods.

 

[Realtor]

It was $100 or so back 10 years ago. Having a couple of guys at work going through this now on their own land, and they are in that $150 a square foot range, with nice touches.

Before you get too crazy, check and see what the minimum sf you can build. I believe it is 1500 sf in the Bartow County, but the city may have their own requirements.

We were looking to buy a second home not long ago, and houses in subdivisions were averaging $120 a sf. I would be surprised you would get anything built for $90 a sf. When the housing market died, material prices didn't.

damn - thanks for the heads up..

 

[Plinker66]

I have an aunt on the west coast who built her own house so cheap that she used exhaust piping for her banister.

 

[Dirty J]

Yeah. I think the question should be "how much should you pay" not "how much can you pay".

Lesser quality square feet is what I'd be looking for, but that's exactly the opposite of what most builders offer these days.

We've got a highly competitive market to thank for that.

 

[barnfly]

If you can afford the difference, I recommend brick/stone on the exterior. It will cost the least long term. As mentioned above, steel roofing too. With those items, exterior maintenance on the structure is minimal. If needed, cut corners on the interior in such a manor that you can improve later. i.e. vinyl flooring. It should last 10-12 years +/-, then upgrade to wood or tile as you can afford it. Don't go cheap on the electrical system. Make sure to run all copper wiring, no aluminum.

 

[Realtor]

If you can afford the difference, I recommend brick/stone on the exterior. It will cost the least long term. As mentioned above, steel roofing too. With those items, exterior maintenance on the structure is minimal. If needed, cut corners on the interior in such a manor that you can improve later. i.e. vinyl flooring. It should last 10-12 years +/-, then upgrade to wood or tile as you can afford it. Don't go cheap on the electrical system. Make sure to run all copper wiring, no aluminum.

+1 for vinyl for sure.