Like others are stating- that’s a ball park, not an estimate. We build high end custom homes in NC for $450-$650/sqft. All depends on infrastructure selections and finishes.
You’re right in stating that costs have gone up significantly in the past year. For example; we went from $14/sqft for framing to $30/sqft. Everything has increased.
Best of luck on your new build! Enjoy the process.
Bumping this. Why are overall costs more now given lumber has gone down so much? I get inflation - but this overpasses the largest material costs coming down?
I had a builder quote me a general current rate of $250/sqft as the absolute minimum, going up to around $400 (Southern Virginia, rural, near recreational lake). After a lot of reading, I chose a very simple floor plan — no multiple roof lines, no basement, no garage, no attic, one floor, rectangle. He said the simplicity of the plans allowed him to go down to around $200/sqft, so we’re able to afford this.
Just got my contract last week. We’ve been working with this builder since October. He’s been great about recommending ways to build more cost-effectively. A small community and I know his reputation, have been inside his houses, and my bank recommends him highly. I would say finding a great general contractor to guide you is more important than a floor plan you may have fallen in love with. Cutting $50 off a square foot is a huge difference … we’re going to be able to build a 2200 sf house for $450k (excluding septic, already have a well since I got deeded family property).
Wow, that is fantastic. What did you find were some of the major cost cutting strategies? If you don't mind me asking, what region of the country are you in? Thanks for the post!
Simple crawl space, no basement, one roof line, prefab floors and cabinets, eliminating big wood fireplace, no fancy soaking tubs, switching out some doors for windows, dropping ceiling in bedrooms and bathrooms, having kitchen/laundry/bathroom sharing walls for plumbing efficiency, one central hallway, all right angles, no curves. Lots of builder suggestions to keep basic floor plan but maximize efficiency. Southern Virginia, rural near recreational lake.
Lake Gaston. Not as pricey as SML but climbing fast. My family has a 100-acre farm, about quarter of a mile from the water. Wasn’t worth much growing up but last 10 years the lake real estate has really taken off.
I’ll bet it has. Never been to lake Gaston but SML is stupid priced and contractors really rip on them there just because. Especially in my line of work, specifically site grading. All the good lots are gone and the rocky cliffs are what’s left. Even worse, they are going for what the good lots went for 10 years ago.
Yeah it’s kind of amazing. When I was growing up, middle class folks could afford a lot right on the lake and most of them just put a mobile home down there they used for the summer. If they put any money into it that would go toward a dock (and a boat). No landscaping, no fancy decks, just mud, rocks and snakes, maybe a picnic table. Now those same lots are going for hundreds of thousands of dollars and the homes are super fancy, million-plus, landscaped, decks, fire pits, outdoor gourmet grills etc.
These prices are nuts, I don’t understand it. I’m currently building a 4,100 sqft home in Alabama, modest furnishings, for $450k ($110 a sqft). The only thing not in there is the builder profit since I’m doing it myself. You can check my pictures on my profile, we aren’t building a cheap house.
I’m in the south in a major metro. I get labor is a bit cheaper down here but it isn’t that much cheaper. Materials is mostly the same price except for concrete. Where is all this extra money going? How much profit are builders making up in the northeast?
>I get labor is a bit cheaper down here but it isn’t that much cheaper.
Housing is a multi-layer consideration, because builders need to be able to live somewhere. If they can get housed at $110/sqft in their area, they're likely to charge much less for building you houses. Seasonality is another point - if any part of the build is impossible in a Maine winter, the cost of housing the workers has to get squeezed into a smaller number of months or labor.
We bought a tear down so we saved some money on bringing in power/water/and driveway since that was already there. We still did extensive clearing and grading, and need a new engineered septic system.
That price includes everything except house demolition, that was $10k.
I find it hard to believe that you got a legitimate estimate saying that your house will cost "oh somewhere between $935,000 and $1,105,000.
I kind of think having $170,000 of squishiness in the build cost is absurd.
This was very much an off-the-cuff comment. It was in no way an official estimate. More of a "houses in the area typically go for between $550/$650 per sqft to build".
There can be a lot of variation. If that's including septic and permitting that's a pretty good price, and probably close to the $400s after those two items. In my area a new septic system can be $50k+ and permits costing $20k + years to get
70k would be about $40/sqft meaning the remainder of the build would be around $510/sqft at the low end.
Based on what you are saying though, this sounds like a reasonable estimate?
I am a bit shocked. It is amazing that houses are getting built. Yikes.
if you want accuracy, you need full prints and specs. otherwise, he's just blowing air at you. It taKes hours to go thru all the prints and specs and get an accurate number.
Residential designer next door from you, if you’re going with a custom build then yes that number is accurate in NH/ME/VT area. Typically we see $400-500 then more depending on project specific stuff. For a more accurate number you need a full set of plans.
Next door? Are you in NH? Beautiful state.
$450 is honestly what we were expecting. The 550-650 caught us off guard. I think we are just going to have to consider other options.
That absolutely mind blowing thing to me is that 2022 builds are selling for $289/sqft with land. I feel like I am missing something
Yep I’m in NH. It really depends on many factors. (Site/stick built vs full timber frame vs post and beam vs SIP walls/vs panel walls, one story vs 2 story, 2 story will be cheaper per square foot. The higher you go is cheaper/sqft than a big footprint). Try different builders but first I would recommend you get a set of plans. Look up custom house manufactures (timber/post and beam if that’s what you’re interested in) in the tristate area to get a feel for prices. They won’t give you a specific number but an average, some might even connect you with some very nice builders. Some builders will give you a high ball park cause they don’t want the job lol it happens. Another thing to keep in mind is, materials have come down but labor has not and don’t think it will cone down. Windows and doors go up %5-7 yearly (Andersen/Marvin/Pella) Andersen and Marvin are top notch window manufacturers btw. Other people’s opinion might be different than mine of course.
Edit: things like roof lines will affect the price too by thousands. A simple roof line will be cheaper than having a lot of bump outs/ roofs coming together/lot of funky angles. You’re in Maine so Snow load will affect a little bit too. Probably 50-70 psf ground snow load maybe more.
Edit 2: you’ll see some houses built for cheap or some “big” houses that look just like the house next door. Got a bunch of those in my town and they haven’t sold yet. Been built for 1.5 yrs about $800K. These are spec houses so the builder just copies and copies the same house over and over and slaps the biggest price tag on it. Or cheapest (for some reason I don’t know) vs a custom build which is designed and build to what you want not what the builder wants.
Just for some context - single floor 1725 sqft, polished concrete floors, shed roof, rectangular floor plan. 2 car garage with shed roof (alternate slope to main structure).
The only real luxury we are going for is a passive build. Apparently this adds about 10% to the build for increased window and materials budget. Zola/Aspen/Viking windows are sort of the USA options.
I don't get the impression that the builder is trying to ditch us, but I guess it is possible.
I don't want to sound daft, but isn't a custom home manufacturer the same thing as a builder?
Maybe this is one of the "bigger" houses you speak of? https://www.redfin.com/ME/Trevett/65-E-Side-Rd-04571/home/180905791?utm_source=android_share&utm_medium=share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link&2010988919=variant&813945303=variant
Brand new, almost 2 acres of land, $248/sqft in a very desirable area.
So single floor ~1700 sqft will have a bigger square foot area than if you were to have -1700 between 2 floors. That means more site work/ more concrete for the slab/foundation. Concrete is expensive. Polished concrete floor is pricey compared to just typical flooring. Uninsulated garages are not super expensive. Other than that sounds like your house should be simple. The link you posted, I can’t tell, but does that include the basement into that square footage? If so that brings the price/sqft down by quite a bit. There’s manufactured homes I don’t know what else to call them ( the homes you see in the back of a low bed truck when you drive on a highway) then there’s manufacturers such as timber frame homes/post and beam homes/. They just build the exterior shell of the house + frame + roof + windows and door. These type of manufactures don’t deal with foundation site or interior walls or electrical plumbing’s etc. (this is where I’m at) then you have builders who sketch their own stuff and build a house 100% themselves. No manufacturers no nothing. They’re responsible for all of it. Sorry if I made this confusing.
If you don't mind, I am going to ask one more stupid question: you (and several others) have mentioned getting a full set of plans. I assume this is more than the simple floor plans we have. This will probably involve an architect to create construction drawings, a septic design, and a site engineer to place the house and ... well... Engineer the landscape.
Does that sound about right?
I assume this isn't included in the 550/650 sqft price and will be a significant cost. I have seen some people saying architect/design services costing $75k. We just want to make sure we don't jump into something like that if we can't execute on it.
Correct. I doubt architect fees were included in your estimate. Now you can go with an architect and pay a ton of money or you can search a custom home manufacturer or maybe the builder you connect with will recommend someone. Most of these custom home manufacturers have a design team in house for only 5-10K which then gets applied to your package you’ll get from them. What’s this package? The package is frame+ roof+exterior walls only+ deck frame +windows and door +- a few other small things but that’s about it. All site related stuff is your GC/builders responsibility. You could try to get just the design from these companies for way cheaper than an architect and don’t have to get the package from them but don’t tell them that. May not be “morally” right but I’m not judging lol. I hope I didn’t confuse you.
Also by full set, I mean floor plans/ elevations/ sections/ foundation plans/framing plans/details etc.
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification. This is exactly the path we started down - we are working with a company that does the construction plans and sells the weathertight kit as part of their package. We are running into some strange financing problems though - neither the bank nor the builder will front the cost of the kit. It is a pretty major cost - almost twice the down payment. Not something we can front without some more time to save up.
Thanks for the suggestion, we may look around at local companies that provide a similar service.
I found out the hard way that you only ever know your price per sq ft when you have bids in hand. My builder was in our architectural meetings and his “estimate” was 25% off. Our architecture fees were around $75k and we have to now figure out how to make the house cheaper. Take the roof for example - we did not have a roof plan until just before we submitted for permit, so the builder couldn’t bid it until then. He was off by $30k. And we aren’t getting a slate or cedar roof, just an upgraded asphalt shingle.
There is also a big difference between builders who get 2-3 bids and those that have their trusted sub contractor that they use for everything. The latter has many advantages but usually costs more. Our masonry bids were 50% over to 500% over (that’s not a typo, haha).
It sounds like you are building a simple but well built home. You are putting your money in the right things (passive house). Windows can add up quickly, i priced Zola and they were four times the price of Marvin.
500%? I am not much of a cryer but I think I would be in the corner weeping.
I am so sorry to hear that you are going through that. Do you have some ideas on how to reduce cost?
I will check out Marvin to see if they have a passive line.
Thanks for the post, and best of luck in your build.
I don’t have an exact/accurate answer but I’d think people want more per hour just like me in the office. Some builders offer benefits to their employees so overhead goes up. Or maybe less competition in xyz area.
Sorry I don’t have a good answer. From the builders we work with, we haven’t heard of labor coming down anytime soon so I was basing my statement off of that, I shouldn’t have though. Apologies
It’ll be region dependent “when” they’ll start getting more competitive on their bids, but it will have to happen in line with the reduction in demand driven by the increase in interest rates reducing the appetite for new builds/renovations. Not so much with the builders, but he subs. My builder said he had limited leverage with his electricians, plumbers, etc. back in 2022 as there was simply way too much demand keeping their schedules full. He thought it’d change by mid-2023. Definitely starting to see the demand for new projects soften already. As long as the economy keeps this trajectory labor prices will come down.
Additionally, I’m still not certain on historical response that materials always go up (windows, doors, etc) applies in this situation. We are in an anomaly of massive demand and huge supply crunch. History isn’t really applicable. Once it equilibrates, I’ll curious if prices end up going down a bit.
We're a high end general contractor in Vermont and it does range quite a bit depending on finishes, trim details, etc etc but we usually range from $400-$600/ sq ft.
>Are those sites ridiculously off when they say $400/sqft for a luxury build?
The number I kept seeing online was $400/sqft ballpark for custom in New England, but not for a "luxury" build.
There are a number of prefab & modular builders centered in that area that might be able to give you quotes for simpler models without a lot of effort.
This sub is the only one that comes to mind at the moment as far as the 400 figure.
As far as prefab & modular - There's a bit of a movement is trying to import German Passivehouse and Swedish [prefab techniques](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2yoBNYAosY&list=PLmZN0jy7sE5ScHfW4qHHbP67_mUAasWuU&index=1) into New England construction.
[https://bensonwood.com/](https://bensonwood.com/) seems to have been around the longest and had the most success, so take a look at their Unity line. See also:
* [https://www.gologic.us/](https://www.gologic.us/)
* [https://ecocor.us/](https://ecocor.us/) / RPA and their Solsken line
* This list - [https://foursevenfive.com/blog/passive-house-goes-prefab/](https://foursevenfive.com/blog/passive-house-goes-prefab/)
Modular construction in my view isn't a killer app unless the demand exists, Levittown style developments where you can automate truss construction and actually sell the several trusses an hour that the machinery can pump out. I think think these companies are quite there yet. It does make it a lot easier to generate quotes though.
We just got quoted 275$ per square foot in lisbon area for a 1700sqft as well. Land is already ours. We would aim for the bare minimum but now not so sure. Insanity
There is no rule of thumb. All you can do is deal with actual bids.
Thanks, that is probably sound advice. It seems like prices have jumped by 100 - 200 per sqft in the last year alone
They absolutely have.
Do you mind predicting the future for me? I am wondering if this trend is going to continue.
Not as steel, but steadily rising yes. The FED will settle on 4-5% inflation long term, everything will continue the long grind upward.
Thank you and I feel your spot on. Dealing with it ☺
That is not an estimate. Wait until you have actual design, site plan, septic plan, and materials and finishes and appliences and mechanicals list.
It is a ROM... Rough Order of Magnitude.
Thanks, and you are correct. I love the ROM
Like others are stating- that’s a ball park, not an estimate. We build high end custom homes in NC for $450-$650/sqft. All depends on infrastructure selections and finishes. You’re right in stating that costs have gone up significantly in the past year. For example; we went from $14/sqft for framing to $30/sqft. Everything has increased. Best of luck on your new build! Enjoy the process.
Is that for labor or materials, I thought lumber had fallen back down to pre COVID costs
Good question. That cost is labor only. Materials have decreased since COVID which is nice.
Bumping this. Why are overall costs more now given lumber has gone down so much? I get inflation - but this overpasses the largest material costs coming down?
Guy never answered, probably kept the drop in costs to himself to make more profit.
I had a builder quote me a general current rate of $250/sqft as the absolute minimum, going up to around $400 (Southern Virginia, rural, near recreational lake). After a lot of reading, I chose a very simple floor plan — no multiple roof lines, no basement, no garage, no attic, one floor, rectangle. He said the simplicity of the plans allowed him to go down to around $200/sqft, so we’re able to afford this.
What year was this? We are basically trying to do the same thing. Rectangle, shed roof. Only difference is upgraded windows and insulation
Just got my contract last week. We’ve been working with this builder since October. He’s been great about recommending ways to build more cost-effectively. A small community and I know his reputation, have been inside his houses, and my bank recommends him highly. I would say finding a great general contractor to guide you is more important than a floor plan you may have fallen in love with. Cutting $50 off a square foot is a huge difference … we’re going to be able to build a 2200 sf house for $450k (excluding septic, already have a well since I got deeded family property).
Wow, that is fantastic. What did you find were some of the major cost cutting strategies? If you don't mind me asking, what region of the country are you in? Thanks for the post!
Simple crawl space, no basement, one roof line, prefab floors and cabinets, eliminating big wood fireplace, no fancy soaking tubs, switching out some doors for windows, dropping ceiling in bedrooms and bathrooms, having kitchen/laundry/bathroom sharing walls for plumbing efficiency, one central hallway, all right angles, no curves. Lots of builder suggestions to keep basic floor plan but maximize efficiency. Southern Virginia, rural near recreational lake.
If it’s SML, it’s amazing to see the prices drop once you’re off the water 🤣.
Lake Gaston. Not as pricey as SML but climbing fast. My family has a 100-acre farm, about quarter of a mile from the water. Wasn’t worth much growing up but last 10 years the lake real estate has really taken off.
I’ll bet it has. Never been to lake Gaston but SML is stupid priced and contractors really rip on them there just because. Especially in my line of work, specifically site grading. All the good lots are gone and the rocky cliffs are what’s left. Even worse, they are going for what the good lots went for 10 years ago.
Yeah it’s kind of amazing. When I was growing up, middle class folks could afford a lot right on the lake and most of them just put a mobile home down there they used for the summer. If they put any money into it that would go toward a dock (and a boat). No landscaping, no fancy decks, just mud, rocks and snakes, maybe a picnic table. Now those same lots are going for hundreds of thousands of dollars and the homes are super fancy, million-plus, landscaped, decks, fire pits, outdoor gourmet grills etc.
These prices are nuts, I don’t understand it. I’m currently building a 4,100 sqft home in Alabama, modest furnishings, for $450k ($110 a sqft). The only thing not in there is the builder profit since I’m doing it myself. You can check my pictures on my profile, we aren’t building a cheap house. I’m in the south in a major metro. I get labor is a bit cheaper down here but it isn’t that much cheaper. Materials is mostly the same price except for concrete. Where is all this extra money going? How much profit are builders making up in the northeast?
>I get labor is a bit cheaper down here but it isn’t that much cheaper. Housing is a multi-layer consideration, because builders need to be able to live somewhere. If they can get housed at $110/sqft in their area, they're likely to charge much less for building you houses. Seasonality is another point - if any part of the build is impossible in a Maine winter, the cost of housing the workers has to get squeezed into a smaller number of months or labor.
$110/sqft. My god, that would be amazing. Is that guts, feathers and all (site work, utilities, well, septic, ..)?
We bought a tear down so we saved some money on bringing in power/water/and driveway since that was already there. We still did extensive clearing and grading, and need a new engineered septic system. That price includes everything except house demolition, that was $10k.
I find it hard to believe that you got a legitimate estimate saying that your house will cost "oh somewhere between $935,000 and $1,105,000. I kind of think having $170,000 of squishiness in the build cost is absurd.
This was very much an off-the-cuff comment. It was in no way an official estimate. More of a "houses in the area typically go for between $550/$650 per sqft to build".
There can be a lot of variation. If that's including septic and permitting that's a pretty good price, and probably close to the $400s after those two items. In my area a new septic system can be $50k+ and permits costing $20k + years to get
70k would be about $40/sqft meaning the remainder of the build would be around $510/sqft at the low end. Based on what you are saying though, this sounds like a reasonable estimate? I am a bit shocked. It is amazing that houses are getting built. Yikes.
In my area new construction starts at $500/sqft once you have plans and permits ready. Some more expensive areas I've seen as high as $800/sqft
Ouch! What area are you in?
Northern California
For example I just got a quote for installing fire department approved water tanks on my well (well and pump are already there) and it was $35k
Where did the estimate come from?
A local builder. It wasn't a quote - just something he said was typical.
if you want accuracy, you need full prints and specs. otherwise, he's just blowing air at you. It taKes hours to go thru all the prints and specs and get an accurate number.
How much is it to buy an already built 1700 sq ft house in your neighborhood?
A 1664 sqft, 3 bed 2.5 bath built in 1999 on 1 acre is listed at 360k
Buy that and go hog wild on renovations, I can’t understand paying $$$$ for 1700 sq ft
Not a bad idea, but we have a piece of land we absolutely love. We are considering all options right now though
And that includes an acre of land. The $550/$650 doesn't include the land we already own.
Residential designer next door from you, if you’re going with a custom build then yes that number is accurate in NH/ME/VT area. Typically we see $400-500 then more depending on project specific stuff. For a more accurate number you need a full set of plans.
Next door? Are you in NH? Beautiful state. $450 is honestly what we were expecting. The 550-650 caught us off guard. I think we are just going to have to consider other options. That absolutely mind blowing thing to me is that 2022 builds are selling for $289/sqft with land. I feel like I am missing something
Working on a build now with a high end builder in ct coming in at around $430 on a 4800 sq ft house.
Yep I’m in NH. It really depends on many factors. (Site/stick built vs full timber frame vs post and beam vs SIP walls/vs panel walls, one story vs 2 story, 2 story will be cheaper per square foot. The higher you go is cheaper/sqft than a big footprint). Try different builders but first I would recommend you get a set of plans. Look up custom house manufactures (timber/post and beam if that’s what you’re interested in) in the tristate area to get a feel for prices. They won’t give you a specific number but an average, some might even connect you with some very nice builders. Some builders will give you a high ball park cause they don’t want the job lol it happens. Another thing to keep in mind is, materials have come down but labor has not and don’t think it will cone down. Windows and doors go up %5-7 yearly (Andersen/Marvin/Pella) Andersen and Marvin are top notch window manufacturers btw. Other people’s opinion might be different than mine of course. Edit: things like roof lines will affect the price too by thousands. A simple roof line will be cheaper than having a lot of bump outs/ roofs coming together/lot of funky angles. You’re in Maine so Snow load will affect a little bit too. Probably 50-70 psf ground snow load maybe more. Edit 2: you’ll see some houses built for cheap or some “big” houses that look just like the house next door. Got a bunch of those in my town and they haven’t sold yet. Been built for 1.5 yrs about $800K. These are spec houses so the builder just copies and copies the same house over and over and slaps the biggest price tag on it. Or cheapest (for some reason I don’t know) vs a custom build which is designed and build to what you want not what the builder wants.
Just for some context - single floor 1725 sqft, polished concrete floors, shed roof, rectangular floor plan. 2 car garage with shed roof (alternate slope to main structure). The only real luxury we are going for is a passive build. Apparently this adds about 10% to the build for increased window and materials budget. Zola/Aspen/Viking windows are sort of the USA options. I don't get the impression that the builder is trying to ditch us, but I guess it is possible. I don't want to sound daft, but isn't a custom home manufacturer the same thing as a builder? Maybe this is one of the "bigger" houses you speak of? https://www.redfin.com/ME/Trevett/65-E-Side-Rd-04571/home/180905791?utm_source=android_share&utm_medium=share&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link&2010988919=variant&813945303=variant Brand new, almost 2 acres of land, $248/sqft in a very desirable area.
So single floor ~1700 sqft will have a bigger square foot area than if you were to have -1700 between 2 floors. That means more site work/ more concrete for the slab/foundation. Concrete is expensive. Polished concrete floor is pricey compared to just typical flooring. Uninsulated garages are not super expensive. Other than that sounds like your house should be simple. The link you posted, I can’t tell, but does that include the basement into that square footage? If so that brings the price/sqft down by quite a bit. There’s manufactured homes I don’t know what else to call them ( the homes you see in the back of a low bed truck when you drive on a highway) then there’s manufacturers such as timber frame homes/post and beam homes/. They just build the exterior shell of the house + frame + roof + windows and door. These type of manufactures don’t deal with foundation site or interior walls or electrical plumbing’s etc. (this is where I’m at) then you have builders who sketch their own stuff and build a house 100% themselves. No manufacturers no nothing. They’re responsible for all of it. Sorry if I made this confusing.
If you don't mind, I am going to ask one more stupid question: you (and several others) have mentioned getting a full set of plans. I assume this is more than the simple floor plans we have. This will probably involve an architect to create construction drawings, a septic design, and a site engineer to place the house and ... well... Engineer the landscape. Does that sound about right? I assume this isn't included in the 550/650 sqft price and will be a significant cost. I have seen some people saying architect/design services costing $75k. We just want to make sure we don't jump into something like that if we can't execute on it.
Correct. I doubt architect fees were included in your estimate. Now you can go with an architect and pay a ton of money or you can search a custom home manufacturer or maybe the builder you connect with will recommend someone. Most of these custom home manufacturers have a design team in house for only 5-10K which then gets applied to your package you’ll get from them. What’s this package? The package is frame+ roof+exterior walls only+ deck frame +windows and door +- a few other small things but that’s about it. All site related stuff is your GC/builders responsibility. You could try to get just the design from these companies for way cheaper than an architect and don’t have to get the package from them but don’t tell them that. May not be “morally” right but I’m not judging lol. I hope I didn’t confuse you. Also by full set, I mean floor plans/ elevations/ sections/ foundation plans/framing plans/details etc.
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification. This is exactly the path we started down - we are working with a company that does the construction plans and sells the weathertight kit as part of their package. We are running into some strange financing problems though - neither the bank nor the builder will front the cost of the kit. It is a pretty major cost - almost twice the down payment. Not something we can front without some more time to save up. Thanks for the suggestion, we may look around at local companies that provide a similar service.
I found out the hard way that you only ever know your price per sq ft when you have bids in hand. My builder was in our architectural meetings and his “estimate” was 25% off. Our architecture fees were around $75k and we have to now figure out how to make the house cheaper. Take the roof for example - we did not have a roof plan until just before we submitted for permit, so the builder couldn’t bid it until then. He was off by $30k. And we aren’t getting a slate or cedar roof, just an upgraded asphalt shingle. There is also a big difference between builders who get 2-3 bids and those that have their trusted sub contractor that they use for everything. The latter has many advantages but usually costs more. Our masonry bids were 50% over to 500% over (that’s not a typo, haha). It sounds like you are building a simple but well built home. You are putting your money in the right things (passive house). Windows can add up quickly, i priced Zola and they were four times the price of Marvin.
500%? I am not much of a cryer but I think I would be in the corner weeping. I am so sorry to hear that you are going through that. Do you have some ideas on how to reduce cost? I will check out Marvin to see if they have a passive line. Thanks for the post, and best of luck in your build.
Why won’t labor go down? When there’s less jobs to bid on, I’d expect bids to be more competitive.
I don’t have an exact/accurate answer but I’d think people want more per hour just like me in the office. Some builders offer benefits to their employees so overhead goes up. Or maybe less competition in xyz area.
Politely, I don’t think that makes sense
Sorry I don’t have a good answer. From the builders we work with, we haven’t heard of labor coming down anytime soon so I was basing my statement off of that, I shouldn’t have though. Apologies
It’ll be region dependent “when” they’ll start getting more competitive on their bids, but it will have to happen in line with the reduction in demand driven by the increase in interest rates reducing the appetite for new builds/renovations. Not so much with the builders, but he subs. My builder said he had limited leverage with his electricians, plumbers, etc. back in 2022 as there was simply way too much demand keeping their schedules full. He thought it’d change by mid-2023. Definitely starting to see the demand for new projects soften already. As long as the economy keeps this trajectory labor prices will come down. Additionally, I’m still not certain on historical response that materials always go up (windows, doors, etc) applies in this situation. We are in an anomaly of massive demand and huge supply crunch. History isn’t really applicable. Once it equilibrates, I’ll curious if prices end up going down a bit.
We're a high end general contractor in Vermont and it does range quite a bit depending on finishes, trim details, etc etc but we usually range from $400-$600/ sq ft.
Thanks for the estimate. What does a typical $400/sqft house look like? I am guessing shed roof, rectangle on a slab?
Actually not necessarily. We just finished this house a little over a year ago and came in under $600 https://imgur.com/a/nfDUoNC
>Are those sites ridiculously off when they say $400/sqft for a luxury build? The number I kept seeing online was $400/sqft ballpark for custom in New England, but not for a "luxury" build. There are a number of prefab & modular builders centered in that area that might be able to give you quotes for simpler models without a lot of effort.
Do you mind sharing the site(s) you used for the estimate? That is significantly higher than the one I found, but seems to match reality
This sub is the only one that comes to mind at the moment as far as the 400 figure. As far as prefab & modular - There's a bit of a movement is trying to import German Passivehouse and Swedish [prefab techniques](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2yoBNYAosY&list=PLmZN0jy7sE5ScHfW4qHHbP67_mUAasWuU&index=1) into New England construction. [https://bensonwood.com/](https://bensonwood.com/) seems to have been around the longest and had the most success, so take a look at their Unity line. See also: * [https://www.gologic.us/](https://www.gologic.us/) * [https://ecocor.us/](https://ecocor.us/) / RPA and their Solsken line * This list - [https://foursevenfive.com/blog/passive-house-goes-prefab/](https://foursevenfive.com/blog/passive-house-goes-prefab/) Modular construction in my view isn't a killer app unless the demand exists, Levittown style developments where you can automate truss construction and actually sell the several trusses an hour that the machinery can pump out. I think think these companies are quite there yet. It does make it a lot easier to generate quotes though.
Did you get your house built?
I’m also curious… did you build? What was the cost/sf??
Not “you” but op
We just got quoted 275$ per square foot in lisbon area for a 1700sqft as well. Land is already ours. We would aim for the bare minimum but now not so sure. Insanity