Any home builders out there?

[KAYLI'S DAD]

Im trying to find the cheapest way to build a house and I cant get a straight answer out of anybody. So has anyone done this?

Is it cheaper to build a house and you setup the contractors or is it better to hire a builder to do it all for you?

How do you know how much the overall cost of everything will be if you hire all the contractors, buy the land, buy the building supplies, pour foundation and such?

My realtor is a friend of mine and he tells me that it is cheaper to buy a house that is already built rather than build right now due to the economy. But I thought that was the benefit of building so you get it cheaper.

 

[mward73]

Have you thought about buying the land and getting a pre-built house? We have some land (we've had it for years) and are thinking about a pre-made house.

We got an addition put on our house a few years ago - would've been cheaper to just buy a bigger house when we were looking to begin with. DH wanted THIS house, knowing we'd have to expand because it was cheaper than the others (and the stupid garage, but that's another story). After paying for the addition, he finally admitted it would've been cheaper to buy the bigger house to begin with. Now, if we'd lined the contractors up ourselves, the cost would've been less, but it would've been more of a pain than hiring a contractor to do everything from the plans to the finishing touches.

 

[Mixie]

We built our house - granted it was years ago - and lemme tell ya - it's a pain in the butt unless you know what you are doing.

My father is a retired realtor and he agrees - buying right now would be way cheaper, not to mention quicker.

Just be sure you get a good home inspector - someone who really knows what they are doing.

 

[-Hope-]

The point of building your own home isn't necessarily that it costs less but that you get a custom home that is exactly what you want. If expense is your main concern then it is definately a buyer's market for existing homes. Since not as many people are building lumber and supplies are more expensive right now so the lumber yards can continue to make a profit.

As for being your own contractor- this isn't something I recommend unless you really know what your doing. You may be able to save a little bit of money but you may also end up with sub-par work, building delays due to scheduling conflicts and a great big headache. My dh has worked in the consruction industry for over 20 years and keeping everything straight was a challenge even for him when we were building our house.

Whatever you decide, good luck and enjoy your new home!

 

[rock_doctor]

The cheapest is to buy the land and buy a modular house. It comes in sections the size of a mobile home and they assemble it box by box. Typically the company that builds the house also has contractors that do the assembly. You can pick from several floor plans and even make changes in the rooms (move a wall or window locations). The up side once the boxes arrive on site (after the foundation is done) they will assemble the thing in about two weeks. We went with Superior homes out of Northern PA and they have houses as small as 1400sqft and as big as 3600sqft. The second up side since they boxes have to be trucked to the lot they have to meet road regulations so everything is extremely over build. The one we have is in Coastal New Jersey and is certified for 136mph winds... Do a search for modular homes and make sure the one you are looking at are not mobile homes that they bolt the two sides together and take the wheels off... This is very different.

http://www.superiorbuilders.com/

If you go with custom stick built then hire a general contractor. It seems like it is something you can do yourself but it isn't. You need to know all of the codes and need to know how to properly schedule each trade. Some must overlap and some must not... It just isn't worth the 10 grand in savings. Let them assume all responsibility and i will absolutely guarantee you...if you do not know the proper way to do each "thing" the trades will cut corners and since you are the GC you are responsible for fixing it and making sure it passes inspection.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

It really depends.

For us, my husband was the builder. So since he had the connections, he could build our house for almost 1/2 of what we would have bought it for. He knew the specs, he knew how much he needed of this or that. So if you have that ability, then you can go that route.

If you don't have the connections, then you'll be better off going to a builder who can. You will still get say in details like colors, trim package, placement, etc. But you don't have to determine if you need this much or that much of something.

However, in most cases, you friend is right. Unfortunately you can buy an already built house for the same price, if not less, than what you could build it for. This would be why my husband no longer has a job building houses.

 

[libinatorsmom]

There are tons of factors on this... more then what info you are giving here.... one major factor is what price range are you looking at 50,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 there is a huge difference... Also being your own GC is a lot of work and planning and NOT for the faint of heart - before you jump into being your own GC I would make sure you have knowlege of building, codes, etc... its not as simple as just "oh lets go build a house" - right now it probably is cheeper for most people to buy a already built ready to move in house...

My husband and I are building our own house - and I mean BUILDING it... we are doing all the work ourselves with the help of friends and co-workers and a few sub contractors here and there... We are going to save a ton of money but there is with us doing the work - pounding almost ever nail, etc... however my husband has been in the construction feild for 20+ years he used to build custom residential homes and works now as Project Manager for Commercial Contruction - so the knoweldge is there

 

[KJF]

The cheapest is to buy the land and buy a modular house. It comes in sections the size of a mobile home and they assemble it box by box. Typically the company that builds the house also has contractors that do the assembly. You can pick from several floor plans and even make changes in the rooms (move a wall or window locations). The up side once the boxes arrive on site (after the foundation is done) they will assemble the thing in about two weeks. We went with Superior homes out of Northern PA and they have houses as small as 1400sqft and as big as 3600sqft. The second up side since they boxes have to be trucked to the lot they have to meet road regulations so everything is extremely over build. The one we have is in Coastal New Jersey and is certified for 136mph winds... Do a search for modular homes and make sure the one you are looking at are not mobile homes that they bolt the two sides together and take the wheels off... This is very different.

http://www.superiorbuilders.com/

I was checking out this site before, but I'm curious - do you know what a price range would be for a 2-story, 4 bed, 2 1/2 bath would be? I'm curious if that's better than putting on an addition to our house.

 

[rock_doctor]

I was checking out this site before, but I'm curious - do you know what a price range would be for a 2-story, 4 bed, 2 1/2 bath would be? I'm curious if that's better than putting on an addition to our house.

I doubt it. I would jump on their site and see if there is a dealer in your area. The one we bought back in 2004 is 4 br 2.5 bath about 2200sq ft and it was relatively stock for $128k. That was great back then but i don't know what that is in todays dollars. I would imaging you are probably in the $150k-$200k range. If your addition is not too huge consider hiring a builder to do the foundation, framing, roof and so on. Just the shell and you do the insulation, finish trim, wiring, mechanicals (plumbing and HVAC) and drywall. The wiring and mechanicals takes some knowledge but the rest is just physical labor. Let him pull the permits for his portion so he will be responsible to meet all codes that pertain to what he is doing.

 

[tms295psu]

Buy your land and hire a reputable General Contractor.

DH is an excavator (clears trees from lot, digs for foundations, installs septic, driveways, etc). There is a ton of logistics in new home construction. Just being an excavator he deals with scheduling conflicts with electricians (hooking up pumps for septics) concrete/masions (digging and back filling foundations, framers (exterior decks, lumber deliveries).

Beyond knowing and being able to schedule everything... your financing plays a part. At least here, banks release loan draws on a schedule of what is complete and not complete. They don't just give you a lump check to build. So the General Contractor fronts money to start the process... Most of the time the first draw is not released until after the foundation is in and back filled. Most subs (your excavator and masons) will usually want at least 1/2 up front since they've never done business with you.