Construction costs

Shiggins37

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I know, I know….. everything is inflated right now but that also means that the sale price of my home is high as well. There is a 1 acre lot in the area I would love to build on. Any idea of residential construction cost per square foot if lot is paid for? It would be in 92508 (riverside county) . And on that note…. Any contractors want to build a home for me? What do you say fellas?

 
I'm in the market for land myself in San Bernardino county. I've even submitted an offer that was laughed at. Anyway, I have seen construction costs between $250 and $500 a square foot. Good luck on anyone taking your money though unless you are building a mansion. Anyone that can swing a hammer (Boy, that dates me) has more work than they can do in a month of Sundays. They are cherry picking the most lucrative jobs. I was planning on a modular or manufactured home. Prices on those have nearly doubled in the last year. When looking at land, keep in mind your construction costs. The land I bid on was asking $399K. I offered $100K which I thought was fairly close to market value. It sold in 4 months for $299K. Running the numbers, $299K plus the low of $250 per sqft construction cost gives a final cost of $800K for a 2000sqft house before any landscaping, concrete work, etc. The completed house wouldn't be worth that much where I am looking. At the high figure of $500 per sqft, the final value would be $1.3 million. The numbers just don't work unless the land is closer to market value. I have a feeling that the people who bought the land I bid on haven't thought that far ahead and will sit on or take a loss on the land. 

 
^this sounds like an accurate assessment. 1.5 yrs ago was looking seriously at a master suite addition in San Diego. $250/sqft was what they seemed to want for an unfinished shell, just the framing exterior and roofing. No drywall no electrical and only the sewer drain in the slab.

My mom lives in the Bay Area and can’t get anybody to the house to bid on anything. It’s been this way for at least a few years. Construction folks who want to work are just cherry picking the lucrative jobs, and I don’t blame them, why wouldn’t they?

 
geez and i thought 125.00 sf here was stupid at one point lol.

 
Yep! I was gonna say... it's at least $375/sf last I checked and months out with deposit. Crazy times!

 
im currently building a cabin in big bear.... 2000 sq. ft. plus garage. Its costing about $400 per sq. ft.

Not including land, and SOLAR which is now mandatory, or any permits and retaining walls..

cabin.jpe

 
Oh man, bought my place (built in '64) in the SFV in '08- 350k.  Sold last year for $745k.  ~1.5 sqft on 8k lot.  

Came to TN.  Bought an 10-yr place, ~5k sqft on nearly 2 acres with 2 separate garages and a guest apartment.  One garage has room for 4 dually trucks.  Paid $795k.  Today, I get unsolicited offers for $1.2m+.  

Get out of CA.

 
Unfortunately with my job and the security it has , it’s hard to justify leaving behind what I have here as crazy as that sounds. We could sell here and pay cash out of state but my income would be severely cut and it wouldn’t be made up by the cheaper cost of living. Things would have to get way worse for it to make sense…. I know, I know…. It’s going to get worse

 
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IT's too late all over us that are left are screwed... I am  just going to mortgage the crap out of the house and wait till the come to kick me out... then go squat on a place in TN,  know a p lace that has 2 separate garages... the house is so big they'll never know were there... one of the garages even has an apartment. 

 
IT's too late all over us that are left are screwed... I am  just going to mortgage the crap out of the house and wait till the come to kick me out... then go squat on a place in TN,  know a p lace that has 2 separate garages... the house is so big they'll never know were there... one of the garages even has an apartment. 
y0re welcome my man!  Mi Casa is j00r Casa!

 
im currently building a cabin in big bear.... 2000 sq. ft. plus garage. Its costing about $400 per sq. ft.

Not including land, and SOLAR which is now mandatory, or any permits and retaining walls..

View attachment 28218
May I pick your brain on this a bit? $800K can turn into a cool million after the infrastructure is in. Plus the land. Is there potential for this 2000 sqft cabin to sell for a profit after that? I know Big Bear is higher to buy used per sqft and land is a great part of that but the numbers don't make sense to me. 

 
I build new custom homes, big remodels, and commercial projects in North Orange County/ South LA area. Granted, Riverside prices should be a little less than where I build, but I couldn't build much anything for less than $1,000,000

 
I build new custom homes, big remodels, and commercial projects in North Orange County/ South LA area. Granted, Riverside prices should be a little less than where I build, but I couldn't build much anything for less than $1,000,000
Yikes! I would love to be able to keep it under that. Our current house in riverside is around a million and we bought it for just over half that in 2016, fixed it up and added a pool. We have a half acre right now but it’s in an HOA and across the street from an elementary school. Not even allowed to park my trailer on it due to the HOA.  There’s a lot in the county area close to us that’s an acre and they’re asking 325 . Mind you they bought it in 2019 for 150… and did nothing to it. If build cost is that high, I’d be way over the $1m mark. Hard to justify when we are at 2.625 and I’m comfortable with the payment. 

 
May I pick your brain on this a bit? $800K can turn into a cool million after the infrastructure is in. Plus the land. Is there potential for this 2000 sqft cabin to sell for a profit after that? I know Big Bear is higher to buy used per sqft and land is a great part of that but the numbers don't make sense to me. 
No problem...  

you are CORRECT!!! unfortunately im living by the Motto "happy wife, happy life"  

We are not building with an eye on resale... after owning a small place up there for 7 years, we looked and looked, couldnt find the perfect place!! so found the lot at a reasonable price, before things went crazy!! 

Also youd be surprised what a cabin like this resells for Currently!! (i use the term currently, as all prices are ridiculous and bound to correct). Never the less, not building in hopes of resale... hoping to pass down to kids when the time comes.

 
No problem...  

you are CORRECT!!! unfortunately im living by the Motto "happy wife, happy life"  
You're at that spectacular time in your life when you are able to live as you would like and not as you can afford to. You're doing something right that's for sure! While I'd assume there are more builders/buyers like you, I hope you all are a small percentage and get it out of your system so us small time guys can get in on a home at some point.  :classic_biggrin:

 
Yikes! I would love to be able to keep it under that. Our current house in riverside is around a million and we bought it for just over half that in 2016, fixed it up and added a pool. We have a half acre right now but it’s in an HOA and across the street from an elementary school. Not even allowed to park my trailer on it due to the HOA.  There’s a lot in the county area close to us that’s an acre and they’re asking 325 . Mind you they bought it in 2019 for 150… and did nothing to it. If build cost is that high, I’d be way over the $1m mark. Hard to justify when we are at 2.625 and I’m comfortable with the payment. 
 Yeah I am amazed how quickly costs add up. Here's a spreadsheet I did for a house I built last year. 2900sq' new house on the water. Other than a elevator, not a lot of bells and whistles. I worked out a cash deal and lowered my rate. This will give a lot of you guys some idea how it all adds up.

20220316_152632.jpg

20220316_152642.jpg

 
Looks about right, you missed a few things but it gives everybody an idea of what goes into single-family home construction. 

 
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