How Much Does A House Cost?

Broad enough question for you? What I'm looking for is some rough dollar amounts on what it costs to have a house built per sq. foot. Not including well, elec. hookup etc., I'd want a 9ft. basement so I can have 8 ft. ceilings down there, and a basement ready to be finished. I would do all the interior work, but foundation, framing, siding, windows, and STEEL roof would be hired. I don't know how many square feet my goal might be, but I'm thinking small. This is very hypothetical...just curious. Thanks!

Factory built modulars can be had for around $40 to $50 per square foot, stick built on site $100 and up. These are just ballparks.

What you need to do is figure out exactly what you want, then figure out how to get there. Things that can save are doing a lot of the labor if you have the skills, doing your own subcontracting, etc.

Google R-Control to see the finest products to make it right. JimN

Hmmm...

There are builders that will stick build on your lot for as low as $70 around here. They can do it because they build only a few models; do the same thing day after day so the builders can pretty much build it without plans; and for this reason can prevent waste.
These houses are put together where room sizes; roof lines; ect; match the lumber.

Where the price rise comes in for self drawn houses is when you start adding odd shapes and the fact the builders have to read your plans to get it just like you want it.

I've been home builder-general contractor for 31 years. When someone asks what a house costs per square foot, I tell them do you buy a car by the pound? A larger sq. ft. one has some of the same costs as a smaller one. The furnace, cabinets, baths, land, driveway, basic wiring will be the same for a 1200 sq. ft. as for a 1500. One might have 9ft. ceilings, cathedral ceilings, or flat ones. Windows can vary by the thousands of dollars. The last house I did, I had a bid of $8300 for cabinets that I gave in my proposal. After the homeowners got done visiting the cabinet shop, the cost went to $11,500. Vinyl in the kitchen and dining or hardwood or tile? Granite counter tops or formica? The best thing to do is get a print in your hands of the house you want and get the estimates either from a contractor or go out and find all the subs and be willing to deal with them having to deal directly with the homeowner. I've did more than one that started out as a sketch on a piece of paper and after weeks of back and forth was able to turn it into a buildable house plan.

Google ( modular homes in minnesota ) I'm sure you can find a good manufacturer in your area that will build to whatever stage of completion you would like . Neighbor lady ordered a new home in mid-late May, moved in first week of September, can"t tell it from a stick built and very reasonably priced, compared to stick built.

Comparing modular pricing to stick built construction isn't as simple as it seems. I priced out modulars a few years ago and also talked to a house builder, who said he competes with modulars all the time. When doing your comparisons, you have remember to include the foundation cost and all of your hook ups when pricing a modular. They seem way cheaper at first but after you add all the stuff that isn't covered in the sq. ft. price, they can actually cost more than a stick built house. There are some really nice modulars but modulars do have some restrictions because they have to be able to be moved down the road. Dave

There is a place called Sutherlands that sells house kits.Of course you will have to build your basement at whatever that costs then you can buy a house kit and put it up yourself or hire somebody.Call them and ask them.Just Google Sutherlands they have a lot of stores in the midwest.

Modular is a fancy name for trailer. If it comes on wheels and has a hitch it is a trailer. Look at the wiring how it is done. Most electricians don't want anything to do with going in and hooking up the wiring. We had one come in next to a custom we were doing. Part of the roof was folded down and after the hooked it together they flipped the halves up. It wasn't built square so when they put the 2 sections together it was open 3 inches on the top and tight on the bottom. They just put the vinyl siding over the top and called it good. Then you have to look down the road if you ever want to sell it. Forget it, you are going to loose big time.

You're confusing modular home with a mobile home. A lot of modulars you couldn't tell are modulars unless someone told you. They are built in a large factory in sections that are attached together on site. There are even 2 story modulars. People who have sold mobile homes or live in them will often call them a modular because it sounds better than mobile home. There are some very nice mobile homes though. It's all about status. Modular homes are all wood frame without wheels and are actually built stronger than a stick built home because they have to be moved to the site and mounted on the foundation. Dave

Very simply put. Most people don't know the difference. Modulars are stick built in a controlled environment (factory). There are pro's and con's of stick built on site , and stick built off site. Double wides are trailers (built on a steel frame). And yes , I find a lot of people call there double wides "Modular" , only because , like you said , it sounds better than "Trailer".

sutherlands does sell kits, BUT a person had better be a master carpenter to make it work out right. they do give enough materials, but JUST ENOUGH. no room for error or there won't be enough. i bough a shed kit a long time ago from one in houston, tx and it was a real pain making it work without buying anything else for it. good luck! also some of their lumber quality is not of the best so be careful or some of the lumber might crack into.

Most people have preconcieved ideas about modular AND mobile homes without knowing much about either. Education goes a long way.

I built in 1999. It cost me roughly $70/sq. foot to build it. I did most of the work myself except concrete footing and block work, rough framing, roof and HVAC and rough plumbing. I did all painting, woodwork, finish plumbing, hd wood flooring, window install, door install. If you plan it correctly I think $60/sq. foot is still a nice house.

Yup,,,

Buddy of mine tells people he has a modular home because it don't have axels and tires under it. Of course it don't, the ones that came with it are under my 16' flat bed trailer. I don't correct him, he may want them back!!!

Dave

Well, I borrowed $57,000 and had $40,000 cash. I did EVERYTHING except well, septic, foundation walls, HVAC, and carpet. Have a walkout basement that is copletely livable and 1300 sqft. So for about $100,000 I have 2600 sqft and a 24'x26' garage and an outside boiler and a bit of landscaping and all the appliances plus mostly new furniture. All totaled out that comes to about $40 per sqft.

Sounds alot like my house. $26000 bucks is what cost to build it, in 1974. This house now would be up in the 90000 - 125000 range depending on where it was built. But lets face it, building has come along way since then. Several people around here have built their own house, over time, and as money allowed. Theres 2 brother over next to me that did this, helping each other as they could. They both have hosues well over 2500 sq ft, counting the attached garages. One told me he had a little under 30000 grand in it. But again, they did 80% of the work.

Here in east central IA, carpenter's get $120.00 square foot. Doing it yourself can easily be 1/2 that. Average basement hole dug is $700.00. Concrete for basement is $100.00 per yard. A year ago I thought about building. A 28'x52' basement- dug, footings, poured 8' walls, tile inside and out, water proofed, and back filled was a little over $15,000.00.

For what it is worth, most appraisals are allowed to add up to 7% onto the appraisal of a home if they are modular. Meaning the modular home is better built.

As far as the mention of doing the wiring in a modular home. Not sure what electrician you talked to that refused to wire a modular home. They come pre-wired and the cables from one section to another plug together, sort of like extension cords. No real need of a licensed electrician.

Go buy a modular home. Have them come set it on your basement.

Then you have a finished home. Doing stuff yourself will drag the thing out for years and take up all your free time that you could better use hunting, drinking beer and working on old tractors!!!


Gene

A lot of variables in your description. If you use $75/sqft you"ll be safe. Doing stuff on your own will decrease the cost but the steel roof and deep ready to finish basement are some good up charges so it should wash.

I'll say this much, I DON'T miss living in a mobile home, trailer home, what ever you want to call it. I had a Skyline and it had to be about the flimsiest thing out there. When I think about it, it's like living in a large camper. Things like fixtures, door knobs, outlets all were just like what's in my 5th wheel.

Hello MSD.
My friend told me that the last mobil home was built in 1976.
Now they call them modular or manufatured housing.
All are 2 by 6 construction and meet HUD specification. They can be put in any of the fifty States and meet all the codes. Insulated very well, floor included, energy efficient Eglass windows. He talks my hears off about his house! My friend loves his!
Guido.

Not sure about those modular homes. There is a big place that sells 'em nearby, but I think I'm prejudice. Wouldn't it be really expensive to have them set the house pieces on top of a basement? Big cranes and such?

You raise some good points Gene, but it's always been my dream to finish out my own house, that way I can be extra proud of it and now exactly what went it to it, all while saving money.

You raise some good points Gene, but it's always been my dream to finish out my own house, that way I can be extra proud of it and know exactly what went it to it, all while saving money.

Whew. That's a few bananas.

Thanks guru. Good to know.

Thanks for replying MSD. I definitely understand about the variables. Thing is, I'm probably years away from planning a house, if that should happen. You gave me some good things to think about though.

It's kind of hard to figure what my house cost. I have an old farm house that that I tore half of it off, had a full basement poured behind it, jacked it up and then rolled it back on to the foundation.

The part I tour off I rebuilt to the same dimensions, so half of my house is new construction and half is old but it's all been gutted and brought up to date.

Most of the framing was hired out, all the cement work, plumbing, and roofing (steel) was as well. We did all the wiring and finish work.

I figure it came out to be about $60 per square foot BUT this s the ultimate example in how many variables there are in a house. Yes I started you part of a house already framed but I had a lot more in the foundation/jacking/moving then a strictly new built house.

K

Nothing wrong with a new house as long as you know what you're getting into. But, the way things are today - I'd never do it - except for one reason. If the new house had a new technology that made living in it a lot cheaper, then maybe.

I helped build several new houses over the years as a contractor. I've got solid experience as a plumber, framer, finish carpenter and electrician. With all the houses we built, we did all the extra work that other's subbed-out including the septic. Only parts we didn't do is well drilling and blasting, if needed. That being said, with the ever-changing requirements of the International Building Codes - it's turned into a big mess with new houses.

I'm in a situation now. I'd like to move to Northern Michigan and I have several properties there. My initial plan was to build a new house. But, my father-in-law recently built a brand new structural panel house in Alpena County - a semi-rural area. After seeing what he went through - with many stupid requirements, engineering plans ad nauseum - I'd never do it. He can't even drink his own well water due to regs. A 100 feet he had great water - but local code required him to go deeper. Now, the water is at 270 feet and is undrinkable without all kinds of treatment.

I finally decided to buy an old home on forecloseure, retrofit it and not have to deal with the many new code requirements. This way, many things are grandfathered in and exempt from new codes. I did so - got a pretty nice ranch house on 5 acres for $32K, and can now update as I see fit an avoid most of the legal stuff. Also has an existing 90' well with great water.

As a side-note, I'm in the middle of a code-enforcement battle right now. I'm building a small cabin in the remote Adirondack Mountains. Off-grid, hand-pumped well water, etc. I was originally given a building permit for my plans - a year later given a "stop work" order. Since then, I've been told to get - stamped structural engineering plans, stamped water/hydro engineering plans for a septic system, plans from a architect to show proper natural lighting, a full time automatic heating system, elec. code requires hard-wired smoke alarms even though this is off-grid with NO power, etc. This is absolutely nuts. Also, the legal system is actually on my side - but it will cost me time and money to prove it. I spoke to the electrical inspector and he agreed with me that some of this stuff is crazy. But, he has no control over it.

There are some good things about modern code, but also many useless things that just makes money for other people.

Good luck, no matter what you do. Just check into it closely, first.

If you want a price per foot, just check a current price of an installed modular of similar size. The companies that sell and install them usually price them exactly the same as a custom, stick-built home built on-site.

When considering costs, you really need to sit down and define what you want in a home, from pre-conception to finished product.

Make up a floor plan, each level, start doingt quantity take offs, the more line items in your estimate, the more accurate your estimate will be.

Specifics from the foundation, framing, exterior, finishes, mechanical, electric, plumbing can be arrived at if you put some time into the thought/design process.

A residential home is not all that complicated to estimate, though floor plans and the general layout can get more complex when you design something that has unique features.

Make a quantity take off sheet, line items on the left, quantify each, then plug in prices. This is material only, labor is obviously separate.

You can systematically tally up everything you will need, also make sure to include 15%-20% waste on some materials.


My friend had his foundation built in the spring, his business is seasonal, so he started framing in his off months, mid October to mid to late March, by new years it was entirely framed out, roof on and windows ready to go in, by May, he could live there, it was 2500 sq ft +, design from a book, which he tweaked to his liking. 85% of the work he did himself, yeah he worked his hands to rough split callouses that winter, no easy task, but it was livable in 6 months or so. No doubt as to what one can accomplish if you stay focused on it, this was '99-'00, now 8 years later, long driveway is paved, stone walls, landscaping, out building in the back, place looks awesome, worth some $$ too.


Modulars are also well worth looking into, here is a high end manufacturer, I've met their people and have looked at some of their homes now occupied, pretty good product with a lot of versatility, you just have to finalize everything you want up front, tolerances are excellent, you can't tell these are modulars unless you know what to look for or someone tells you.
Westchester Modular Homes

Tell me how they can build a modular stronger than a stick built. We bolt a sill plate to the foundation and attach the house to it. How does a modular attach to the foundation? A stick built has the attached garage built into the whole framing system. A modular has it stuck onto the part moved in. Stick built doesn't use plug in wiring, it is all one line from panel to outlet. There are some complete homes that are factory built that are just like a regular stick built home in that they are all one piece and regular house mover moves them from the enclosed factory to the lot. Nothing wrong with them but I would definitely bypass a modular.

Personally I would by a home built in the 50s, they have 2x6 tongue an groove flooring real rafters and no partical board. Get one that you can rebuild and make it like you want. there nothing like an older home that was built to last forever over one of these pieces of junk built today that will rot or fall apart in 10 to 20 years.
I know people around here who are replacing the siding because its all rotted on 10 year old homes.
On two different home i watch them hang the upper floor joist on little pieces of sheet metal tacked on with 1 in. nails. I wonder who will be the 1st person to fall though.
Walt

PS my house was built in 1871.

I tend to agree. And . . . my house was built in 1820. To be accurate though, most of the late 1700s/early 1800s houses in my area of NY started small with a cellar, and additions got added mid-to-late 1800s - usually just sitting on rocks. So, technically 1/3 my house was built 1820, another 1/3 around 1870, and another 1/3 just a few years ago by me.

In-deep
I'm thinking you probably want to build on miss Minnesota's property to be on the farm.That's what we did in 2005.But if that's not the case, in today's economy you would be much further ahead to buy a house then build.With all the foreclosures and people selling you could buy twice the house that you could build.Trust me I know.I wanted to build on one of the farms and I'm paying for it.Could have bought equal house for half the money here in depressed Michigan.
Mark
PS Number 1 rule,keep the woman happy.

Two years ago my brother bought a prefab home from Wardcraft in Clay Center Kansas. These are not glorified trailer houses but a "regular" single family home that looks like it was stick built without all the high end do dads. 1500 square foot with walkout basement, slab for the walkout, lagoon, power and water hookups he had about $119,000 in the whole set up to add a house to 20 year abandoned farm site (barn, windbreak and a couple sheds).

He couldn't even begin to get a stick builder to look at it for less than 150K.

http://www.wardcraft.com/Plans/Ranches2/Cheyenne-III/

A true modular has to be built stronger so it stays straight while being moved. Double or triple beams under the floor where the sections go together is just of of the areas they are stronger. The walls where they go together are thicker as well. Often times a modular is winched onto the foundation with the trucks that deliver them. Garages for modulars are often built on site but I think the walls and other parts may be pre built. They probably mount to the foundation a similar way to a stick built. I'm not sure if you've ever been to a modular factory. I have been to several and seen them being built in various stages. Nothing wrong with strength or the way they're built. They are usually ready to move into a lot sooner than a stick built. Some stick built homes are very poorly built. You'd have to compare a higher end stick built with a modular. The mass produced stick builts are often just slapped together. Dave

Up here it's $120 a sq ft at the lowest. That's for everything though. All finished. For just the framing and the roof and everything you suggest you want done it would likely come to $60 a sq ft up here. Either way it's expensive

Had to to stick my nose in here after all the mobie home comments. I designed my house after going through many model homes and picking this and that from each of them. A buddie of mine did the basement, my father in law is a contractor so he and his crew framed it. I did the rest with a lot of help from friends and family. We worked on it every weekend and most evenings after work for about a year and a half. As to the mobile home we lived in a 14 by 70 while we were designing and building. We now have walk in closets the size of alot of peoples bedrooms, if you've ever lived in an older mobile home you will understand why. Good luck, Mike

Hi In-Too-Deep, we built out home about 5 years ago, at a cost of $90 a square foot, but that included everything but the land. Plus, we did a ton of work ourselves.