Hidden Costs of buiding a house?

[crisi]

Two that I didn't notice mentioned.

Deck - it isn't uncommon here for houses to not include the deck, but include the sliding glass door to where the deck would be.

Concrete work - our builder includes some necessary (the front stoop) exterior concrete work, but again, there was a sliding glass door leading to mud.

Make sure to budget for these things without stretching yourselves too much or your dream house could become a burden - we were obligated by code to have landscaping and a deck on within 12 months from completion - between the two it was an expensive proposition. For landscaping, keep in mind any retaining wall needs - dirt is expensive and keeping it in place isn't cheap either.

Watch for surprises in covenants in nice neighborhoods. Neighbors of ours got a surprise when they were REQUIRED to put on a three car garage they didn't want or budget for. Up the street in the nicer neighborhood, seamless siding must be used (or stucco or brick). An in ground sprinkler system is required in a subdivision in the next 'burb over. These can, as you can probably tell, be really weird requirements.

 

[mickey7607]

I bought a new construction 2 years ago. The main thing to remember is that basically everything you see in the model home is an upgrade, and it adds up. There were things like electrical work that I wasn't going to not get because we are not handy, but things like towel bars are easy to replace yourself when you move in.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Thank you all.

The builder is being more stubborn than we thought, so we are not entering in a contract yet. I amgoing to keep working on them - as long as that lot isn't sold, there is a chance! LOL

But such good points you all brought up - I'll have a good list to take with me!

And, yes, I do have a GREAT situation here. We're still in shock that my dad is willing and able to help us out like this!

 

[pigletto]

Our biggest expenses were driveway (putting that in this Spring after 5 years of stones) and lawn/shrubs/plants/trees. Sometimes a garage door opener, or central vac will be extra too.
You can really play with your budget as well. For example I wanted hardwood in the open LR/DR, stairs, and hallway. So to make that work in the budget, I went with end of the roll for the bedrooms. I still love those carpets and they were excellent quality. Just cheaper because they were leftover pieces more than big enough to do the bedrooms. We chose ceramics for the kitchen and bathroom that were on super sale and still love them.
For lighting, I went to Home Depot and chose myself. The pieces aren't an exact match, but they are all the same finish with the same coloured glass and look like a set. That saved us quite a bit.
Go with choices and finishes that are easy to clean. While I LOVE my hardwood, it is very dark and shows everything. The result is that it has to be cleaned very often and that is a giant pain.
We splurged on window treatments and blinds. The result is they are in fabulous shape and will last us many years.
Get an idea of the budgets and go out and look to see what you can find. Don't go cheap on items that will be hard to replace. We upgraded all the cabinets and I'm pleased with that, because if I were sick of them already it would be a huge expense.
And lastly, I would urge you to go with classic decor instead of ultra modern. Ultra modern looks fabulous until it isn't ultra modern anymore and then everything is horribly outdated and would be a huge expense to replace.

ETA) One thing that I just thought of is that I was disappointed at first that I didn't get cathedral ceilings like some of the other new builds on our street. Now all of the neighbours complain about their heating bills because it's so hard to heat those huge open rooms. Also, the builder switched the type of central air unit he was using and while ours is great, the people next door can never get their house cool enough and pay twice as much as us on their bill. So check the reviews on the units they are putting in.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Our home came in under budget. I asked my contractor if that was common - he said we were his first. He cited changes as the biggest "underestimation" on most builds. As the house goes up, the owners decide on a little better flooring, a little better light fixtures, a little better insulation, etc, etc, etc. Cumulatively, it can add up to thousands & thousands of dollars.

I even see it in commercial development. I work for a company that supplies light fixtures to large apartments under construction. Some customers always end up right at the contract amount. Others are always 10-20% higher than the contract due to all the changes made along the way (ceiling fans not originally in all the bedrooms is a real common change). I can only imagine the cost overruns if they're doing the same with plumbing, flooring, cabinets, doors, etc

 

[shaylahc1]

Definitely be clear on what's included in the price of the home. Some builders offer cheap prices initially, and then nickle and dime you to death on everything.

We spent about $10K in the first 6 months after we closed on our home. This was for smaller things like landscaping, window treatments, light fixtures, paint, small pieces of furniture, bedding and decor, etc. It adds up FAST.

 

[Darcy03231]

DH is in the construction business (commercial, not residential) and says you should always plan on going at least 10% over budget (and most people go 15-20% over). We had a large remodel done (he wasn't interested in doing it himself) and I figured with what he knew we'd come in right on budget. Nope, we went over. Almost exactly 10%.

 

[minnierocks]

One thing that we never regretted was putting ceiling fans in every bedroom and the family room. The builder has to install an electrical box and it is much easier done during the build. When we built, we changed the things that we couldn't later. An 8 foot garage door instead of 7...some SUVs/trucks are really tall, a cathedral ceiling in the family room, a sliding glass door and an extra course in the basement in case we ever wanted to finish it.
Look to see where your outdoor spigots are located...you might want to add another one. We didn't have enough outdoor lighting so we added one at each corner of the house for security. Will you need an outbuilding such as a shed or garage?
Think of the functionality of your house room by room. Do you have enough counter space in the kitchen? Do you have a pantry? Are there enough outlets? Do you really need a formal living room or would that be better utilized as a den/office? If so then add a door to the room, so that it can be a private space. Do you have a mud room or is the laundry room right off the entry door from the garage? Is the half bath that will be used by guests right in the middle of foot traffic or is it tucked down a hallway for a little more privacy.
If I had to build again...I would definitely consider room by room the home that I was building. I would consider how we currently use the space in our home and decide if the floor plan that I was choosing fit into how we use our space. Congratulations on building...we are really glad that we went this route. We love our home and I love the fact that we watched it being built and that we are the only family that has ever lived here.

 

[seashoreCM]

For jobs where you are engaging the contractor and paying as the construction progresses, a hidden cost is your having to watchdog the contractor.

 

[North of Mouse]

Thank you all.

The builder is being more stubborn than we thought, so we are not entering in a contract yet. I amgoing to keep working on them - as long as that lot isn't sold, there is a chance! LOL

But such good points you all brought up - I'll have a good list to take with me!

And, yes, I do have a GREAT situation here. We're still in shock that my dad is willing and able to help us out like this!

The best advice I could give you is to go around to unfinished homes, look at the builder's work, his sub-contractors - their relationship with the builder.etc. We looked for awhile before we settled on our builder. We would go to one of his houses "just looking" and get feed back on whoever was working that day. The builder we settled on was one that was "highly recommended" if you ever want to build, etc. - lots of good unsolicited praise from them. We looked at his quality as different homes were built from the ground up. We finally met with him, contracted with him, was easy to work with, and we have no regrets (yes, living in homes you tend to say, "I'd do this or that different now"), but that's to be expected (not a builder's issue). We had lots of extra costs that we didn't think about, but we're so happy now we upgraded a lot of things - especially flooring (we upgraded to nearly top of the line and it still looks brand new 11 years later). One thing we would not do (from past experience) was build in a subdivision with a HOA. We have "protective covenants" and that's all we want - no dues, no, you can't plant anything 4ft.from the foundation without HOA approval (that actually was a rule in MD). We are very happy. We would never build without the Master B'room being downstairs also - that was a terrible inconvenience as far as we were concerned in our other homes. Just think it out, don't be too hasty (you don't seem to have to be - that's great) and have a few thousand cushion - because you will need it. Also, check out the depth of the garage - our plan barely let a full size car in, so we added 5 ft. to the whole end of the house - no regrets there either and wasn't terribly expensive at the time to change it - would be impossible later. Congratulations on your planning and building - it's not stressful working with a good builder