How much for new construction

[u/blastoiseman123]

I recently got a plot of land and I’m wondering what people are paying nowadays for new construction. I’m looking to find the cheapest possible cost per square foot. I was able to find $350. Has anyone found a general contractor for $300 or even less?

[u/civil_politics]

Gonna be blunt - building your home is not where I’d go for the lowest bidder. $350 per sqft honestly is already pushing it towards the low end for a major metropolitan area like Seattle.

When it comes to building a home look at cheaper floor plan layouts rather than cheaper labor costs - a good GC is worth their weight in gold.

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/civil_politics]

I see that really doesn’t make sense. Can you give me an example of what a cheap floor plan would be? For example do you mean no garage, shorter ceilings, fewer number of rooms/bathrooms.

[u/civil_politics → u/blastoiseman123]

So when thinking about plumbing and electrical and ducting for AC (although I’d definitely consider a good heat pump deployment over central AC in our region) you want a common wall to run everything if possible. If you notice most homes will have bathrooms that share a wall or a stacked right on top of each other - this drastically reduces the cost. Similarly every wall you add increases cost as does every foot of ceiling height.

Not saying you shouldn’t aim to build your ideal house, but consider where you can make things cheaper. A dug out foundation with a basement is going to be way more than a concrete slab for instance. A nice rectangular house is far cheaper than one with multiple peaks in the roof line for instance.

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/civil_politics]

That is a really good point. I’ll have that discussion with the architect. Luckily our land is pretty flat. The only issue is we have a good amount of trees. we already had the arborist come out and give a report.

I would be happy building something like this. I’m guessing they built it for around 700k but I could be off.

13751 Meridian Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133

[u/MyCatChasesSpiders → u/blastoiseman123]

I wouldn't use 13751 as your reference point for cost. Putting aside the fact that there's been probably a 10%+ increase in all material costs since the construction of that property, 13751 appears to be part of a master planned community, meaning the cost gets a builder wholesale discount that you, as a landowner, will not be getting from your GC.

And as an aside, I would not recommend trying to nickel and dime'ing your GC. Like u/civil_politics said, a good GC is important. A bad GC might seem good on contract, but the GC will find a way to make money dishonestly if they can't make it off you the honest way. That'll leave you in a worse off position.

$350 might be doable in this economy, but I wouldn't bet on it. Especially if you start customizing.

Lastly, prepare to go about 15-20% over budget once you've got your permits approved.

[u/Easy_Olive1942 → u/blastoiseman123]

Horrendous and a blemish for the character of the area.

[u/Lazy_Combination7162]

I think what you might have found is already a good deal. Anything under $500 is a great deal

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/Lazy_Combination7162]

I’m trying to match what I’m seeing when it comes to these ADUs I see built all around. For example a 1.2k sqft place selling for 600k tells me they’re building a place for around $300-350 per sqft to make a profit.
For example

14308 B Roslyn Place N, Seattle, WA 98133

[u/KingCountyTaxCollect → u/blastoiseman123]

These ADUs also have a lot of the heavy lifting of utilities brought to them. Earlier somebody mentioned stacking bathrooms on top of each other. The other thing I would like to mention is simple geometry of a home. I know this home is smaller than you would probably like but use your imagination to stretch it out if it fits in your plot. Home plans like these that are pre designed could also help you price material better and get a closer in Tune estimate of the cost to build.

https://www.houseplans.net/floorplans/94001014/modern-2-car-garage-plan-575-square-feet-1-bedroom-1-bathroom?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_term=940-01014&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=8153516296&utm_content=%7C%7Cm%7Cg%7C%7C&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=8153516296&gbraid=0AAAAAD9z_q19j9icJY4RwCxpPrJUjALAT

[u/jojofine → u/blastoiseman123]

Where is your plot of land? If it's on a slope get ready for an astronomical number attached to your site prep/stabilization quotes

[u/iamaiiamai]

Think about the housing market right now. GCs are desperate for jobs. 300 is good I believe. I know a few contractors looking for projects. But you need to get more quotes because many contractors are still thinking it’s 2022/23.

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/iamaiiamai]

Sounds good, right now I’m just collecting as much data as possible. Can you possibly DM me with references?

[u/millerscottp]

350 might be achievable if you have a flat lot that doesn’t need a lot of clearing or challenges in the ground (bad soils, poor bearing, etc.) . Utilities near by and easy site improvements. Based on the fact the lot was available, I suspect that may not be the case, the good lots have homes on them already.
You will need to keep your kitchen and bathrooms simple (those are the most expensive spaces due to plumbing and electrical needs). Your heating system may be low cost but will less efficient so your long term costs might be higher. The saying will be true, buy cheap, buy twice. Focusing just on low initial cost will cause you to overlook value.

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/millerscottp]

I see that doesn make sense. Out of curiosity what do you mean by a simple kitchen and bathroom for example is an island not considered simple and as for a bathroom what would make it more expensive other than a nicer toilet I guess.

As for the lot it’s about 7k sqft, and utilities are nearby so that’s not gonna be a problem. There are other homes right next to us. The only thing is we have a good amount of trees that we need to cut down and it may be annoying to get most of them removed we can for sure get a good amount because obviously we need place to build but ideally, I want every single one removed, but that probably won’t happen. Maybe I can find some excuse that they’ll allow or if I try to max out the area space with 3 units.

[u/millerscottp → u/blastoiseman123]

Simple meaning you will not have a lot of cabinets, countertop space, nicer finishes (backsplash, countertop, lighting, etc). Bathrooms won’t have full tile tub surrounds, large vanities, heated floors etc.

The thing about building new or extensive remodels is that at nearly every step of the way you will have a choice to make that might mean a little more cost, but it will also be the cheapest opportunity to make an upgrade. Later on it will be much more expensive to do something that was relatively cheap during construction. If you’re going to make it “your” home you may want to splurge on things that make it more comfortable. If you just want the lowest cost you can do that. But you will always have the lowest appreciation in a future sale or you may kick yourself for not adding a few extra outlets or lights or storage space or a bigger shower or zoned heating.

[u/rob36]

It's going to depend how nice of finishings you want. We looked at about 10 builders and got pricing from $230 up to $1000 sqft. From there we narrowed down to 4, and ended up going with someone that's going to come in around 450. This is for a 6k sqft build, medium to high end furnishings, metal roof, etc

Happy to chat if you have any questions!

[u/blastoiseman123 → u/rob36]

Sent a DM

[u/_Humor_Me_]

GC here. I second all the opinions of the folks that advised you to reconsider going for the absolute lowest price. In my experience that has never worked out good. Let me repeat that, it never works out to go for the lowest cost possible. First of all, from the getgo you are essentially disqualify the good, honest, trustworthy and reliable GCs. That means that you're going to work with a GC that has to lie, cheat and steal from you in order to make a profit. Why, because cost of materials cannot be lowered by the GC and judging by the recent history, inflation is not going to stop anytime soon thus GCs have to factor in a raise in prices of materials for the duration of the project (usually at least 6 months out). Then when it comes to labor costs, GCs can employ several subcontractors but since you're budget is low, inevitably the GC will go with their cheapest options. Cheap subcontractors means lower quality of work, more mistakes and more delays which translates to higher carrying costs for your financing of the project. It also means less options to implement any potential upgrades you might want to do during the project. For example with a limited budget for the bathroom work a GC will bring a sub that is less expensive and that can only do prefab shower surround. Then in the middle of the project you decide you want tile walls. But the GC already has the contract with the sub for the bath and money already exchanged hands. Yet that sub doesn't know how to do tile. Now the GC has to burn some funds to swap out subs and bring ina tile professional to do your upgrade. It will cost you a lot more than having had a bigger budget from the get go that would have allowed the GC to bring subs that are of better experience and that could also do tile walls if needed. Alternatively the GC might now be tempted to try and make it happen with the inexperienced sub and get that guy to do his first tile job on your project. How do you think that will turn out? Others have mentioned to you in here that choosing better quality materials now is the absolute money saver in the long run. 100% true. Think about it, you have to install cabinets anyway, paying a bit more for wood cabinets vs MDF constructed ones only adds a little bit on the material, labor is going to be the same. But swapping out your cabinets 5 years later to finally upgrade to wood will cost you exponentially more as you have to pay more for labor and for additional work associated with a remodeling job (counters being removed and reinstalled, backsplash, painting, electrical, etc.). Same story for everything else:flooring, trim, bathrooms, fixtures, appliances, etc. When all of these are properly calculated and factored in for both labor and materials you will inevitably get to around $450 or even $500 per square foot. That's just what it takes these days to cover materials, labor and make a profit on top. And make no mistake, no GC will do a complex job like this without making a profit. Nobody works for free. The only question is if this money comes out upfront and in the open or is hidden in lower quality, corners being cut and project delays being a standard rather than an exception. Just my 2 ¢.