Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

"Jared" wrote in message
ps.com...
Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!


Personally I find it hard to believe you found room to build in the
"Seattle" area. Last I checked pretty much everything within 20 miles is
developed. But so be it I'll figure you meant Seattle in a general sense.

I don't think you could meet that figure, $200 sounds closer but I don't
know if you're factoring in labor and utilities costs (permits, sewer
hookup, gas hookup, necessary appliances and flooring material). $250
sounds closer to what I would expect - but that's just me shooting in the
dark.

On Jun 14, 9:32 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
"Jared" wrote in message

ps.com...

Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Personally I find it hard to believe you found room to build in the
"Seattle" area. Last I checked pretty much everything within 20 miles is
developed. But so be it I'll figure you meant Seattle in a general sense.

I don't think you could meet that figure, $200 sounds closer but I don't
know if you're factoring in labor and utilities costs (permits, sewer
hookup, gas hookup, necessary appliances and flooring material). $250
sounds closer to what I would expect - but that's just me shooting in the
dark.

Thanks for the response.

Yes, you are right in assuming that I was asking about the Seattle
area, the eastside of lake washington to be precise (redmond/kirkland/
sammamish/issaquah). You're low estimate of $200/sq.ft. still sounds
high. I mean if I was to build a 2,400 sq.ft. house, it would cost
between $480k and $600k to build. If you figure that I'm looking at
around $200k for land (including utility hookups), I would be looking
at paying between $680k - $800k to build a house. I don't see how that
could be the case considering that is much higher than existing houses
in the area. Even new houses are selling for less than that.

On Jun 14, 11:08 pm, Jared wrote:
On Jun 14, 9:32 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:





"Jared" wrote in message

ups.com...

Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Personally I find it hard to believe you found room to build in the
"Seattle" area. Last I checked pretty much everything within 20 miles is
developed. But so be it I'll figure you meant Seattle in a general sense.

I don't think you could meet that figure, $200 sounds closer but I don't
know if you're factoring in labor and utilities costs (permits, sewer
hookup, gas hookup, necessary appliances and flooring material). $250
sounds closer to what I would expect - but that's just me shooting in the
dark.

Thanks for the response.

Yes, you are right in assuming that I was asking about the Seattle
area, the eastside of lake washington to be precise (redmond/kirkland/
sammamish/issaquah). You're low estimate of $200/sq.ft. still sounds
high. I mean if I was to build a 2,400 sq.ft. house, it would cost
between $480k and $600k to build. If you figure that I'm looking at
around $200k for land (including utility hookups), I would be looking
at paying between $680k - $800k to build a house. I don't see how that
could be the case considering that is much higher than existing houses
in the area. Even new houses are selling for less than that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Is that 2400 feet on one level? Is it on a basement, crawl space or
slab?

I'm having a single level built right now on a full basement for $168
a foot. That factors in a 400' well, septic tank, four car garage and
utility hook ups. Front in Dryvit and the rest in wood. Labor here
in Wyoming averages $17-25 per hour. I think if mine was a two story,
the second story would be about $60 extra a foot. - Robert

On Jun 14, 10:27 pm, Robert wrote:
On Jun 14, 11:08 pm, Jared wrote:



On Jun 14, 9:32 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:

"Jared" wrote in message

ups.com...

Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Personally I find it hard to believe you found room to build in the
"Seattle" area. Last I checked pretty much everything within 20 miles is
developed. But so be it I'll figure you meant Seattle in a general sense.

I don't think you could meet that figure, $200 sounds closer but I don't
know if you're factoring in labor and utilities costs (permits, sewer
hookup, gas hookup, necessary appliances and flooring material). $250
sounds closer to what I would expect - but that's just me shooting in the
dark.

Thanks for the response.

Yes, you are right in assuming that I was asking about the Seattle
area, the eastside of lake washington to be precise (redmond/kirkland/
sammamish/issaquah). You're low estimate of $200/sq.ft. still sounds
high. I mean if I was to build a 2,400 sq.ft. house, it would cost
between $480k and $600k to build. If you figure that I'm looking at
around $200k for land (including utility hookups), I would be looking
at paying between $680k - $800k to build a house. I don't see how that
could be the case considering that is much higher than existing houses
in the area. Even new houses are selling for less than that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Is that 2400 feet on one level? Is it on a basement, crawl space or
slab?

I'm having a single level built right now on a full basement for $168
a foot. That factors in a 400' well, septic tank, four car garage and
utility hook ups. Front in Dryvit and the rest in wood. Labor here
in Wyoming averages $17-25 per hour. I think if mine was a two story,
the second story would be about $60 extra a foot. - Robert

Thanks Robert,

I was leaning towards a two story colonial style house build on a slab
foundation. I'm hoping that choosing a simple colonial style house
along with being careful with the materials will help to bring down
the cost.

I've heard that larger two story houses are being constructed for
around $100/sq.ft. in the more rural seattle area, but it seems that
everyone is in disagreement with the "average" cost to build a house.

Really, my budget only allows for about $500k after all is said and
done.
Here's the cost breakdown that I'm hoping for...
-Land cost: $150k (found some possibilities)
-Utility hookups: $50k (power & water in street)
-House: $300k (hoping to build around a 2,400 sq.ft two-story colonial
style house w/ garage, basement optional)

Possible???

In article om,
Jared wrote:

Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

There are several excellent building cost estimators online. DAGS.

On Jun 14, 11:12 pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article om,

Jared wrote:
Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

There are several excellent building cost estimators online. DAGS.

I used one of the free ones (nothing sophisticated) out there and it
placed the figure at under $100/sq.ft. Really, I was just trying to
figure if I was in the right ballpark with my estimates or if I was
crazy. :-)

Jared wrote:

Yes, you are right in assuming that I was asking about the Seattle
area, the eastside of lake washington to be precise (redmond/kirkland/
sammamish/issaquah). You're low estimate of $200/sq.ft. still sounds
high. I mean if I was to build a 2,400 sq.ft. house, it would cost
between $480k and $600k to build...

How about SIPs, eg Premier from Fife. About $5/ft^2 for 8'x24' well-
insulated strong ceiling and floor and wall panels with holes cut for
windows and doors and so on. Send them a sketch on the back of an envelope,
and they return a CAD drawing. Mark it up, and when you are happy,
your house arrives on a flat-bed truck and they screw it together
in a day or two. I'd varnish the inside and cover the outside with
Dynaglas "solar siding."

Nick

In article .com,
Jared wrote:

On Jun 14, 11:12 pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article om,

Jared wrote:
Greetings,

I know that the cost per square foot for building a house gets tossed
around way too much. I'm more interested in getting a general feel for
what it costs to build in my area.

I'm looking to build an average quality home around 2500 sq.ft. Can I
get away with building a house between $100-$125 per sq.ft? Of course
I'd be willing to cut corners on materials in order to meet that
budget.

Any figures, personal experiences, or general advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance!

There are several excellent building cost estimators online. DAGS.

I used one of the free ones (nothing sophisticated) out there and it
placed the figure at under $100/sq.ft. Really, I was just trying to
figure if I was in the right ballpark with my estimates or if I was
crazy. :-)

If this wasn't the one you tried, use it for comparison:

http://www.building-cost.net/

Seems pretty thorough to me for a starting point. 100 sounds low these
days, but obviously there are a hell of a lot of variables. I think
you'll get a better house for the same money if you buy a used one,
though. Also look at prefab, they're pretty damn nice for the money.

In article -
media.com, says...

If this wasn't the one you tried, use it for comparison:

http://www.building-cost.net/

Seems pretty thorough to me for a starting point. 100 sounds low these
days, but obviously there are a hell of a lot of variables.

It seems low to me, I put in all the details for my 2-story Dutch
Colonial south of Seattle and it came out around $107/foot.

My architect's estimate was over $200/square foot if I wanted to replace
it instead of renovating the old house, and that was three years ago.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html