Thread: Need help on construction costs

For those in the construction field I'd like to get a little advice. Bare with me as this is an area in which I have very little experience but do need some directions.

I am considering a vacant land in SoCal and am interested in building a home for my family. The lot is 15K sq ft (sloped at 45%, with decent soil conclusion), and would allow a home of 5100 sq ft (garage included).

The area is predominately full of Mediterranean and Tuscan designs, but also has a couple of (90's) Modern design. Right now I think I am divided on these styles as I can go either way. I've seen both well done traditional homes and certainly seen awesome Modern.

But my question is, what can one expect from spending $250/sq ft vs. $300/sq ft vs.$400/sq ft? I've done some research but could not really get a real grasp of understanding the final product between these different price points.

For those in the field, are there any visuals or links that can be provided to illustrate the differences? Perhaps examples both under a modern and traditional design?

Thank you.

I'm not sure how pricing goes in SoCal. I own a residential construction management company in The Hamptons, NY. Here prices vary greatly from $150 sq. ft. (which are few and far between) to $1,000 sq. ft. Prices also vary greatly on the same project between different construction companies. For example, I just submitted a bid for a 9,000 sq ft. luxury green home and the range of prices from 5 different companies was $2.4m - $5m all from the same set of plans with the same specs. But a couple of companies including mine all came in about the same at approx. $333 a sq ft. That number really surprised me, I expected the home to be anywhere from $400-500 when I first saw the renderings and some specs. But due the intelligent design by the architect it's a fairly simple house to build and it's coming in at a very good price for what it offers. Some features include; 20kw solar, geothermal, radiant heat, polished concrete floors, FSC certified wood, custom cabinetry, 14' ceilings, green roof, 20'x60' pool with spa, pool house, garage, finished basement, spray foam insulation, imported windows and doors from Austria, and many more things. All very high end stuff.

I've seen since the recession a greater spread in prices as well. Many smaller companies that started in the past 15 years during the construction boom, never really learned how to price correctly. There was an abundance of work and not enough workers so prices were crazy and people were paying. But now since it has slowed many companies are just learning how to price a project correctly. Some are figuring it out, and some have no idea.

We are also currently building a green modular home that will receive a LEED silver rating. This home is coming in at $205 sq ft.
Green Modular Build

My suggestion - decided the style of house you like, then set a sq ft price you are comfortable with and design to meet those criteria. It's not as simple as saying you will get X for $300 a square foot. There are so many variables that come into play.

I also suggest choosing your contractor carefully. Many do not do any cost vs. benefits analysis. This is one of the first things we do for our clients. Quite often we can knock 10% off the original price with only minor changes that don't affect design, or quality of the home. Many contractors skip this step. You need to find a company that is knowledgeable with all the different technologies out there. We always make suggestions to our clients where they can save money, or if the product they originally specified isn't worth it's value.

Are you asking for a cost excluding your groundwork or groundwork included? The ground work itself in socal can be 1/3+ of the house (on slopes) depending on the house itself.

Also, are hook-ups there for you (I assume they are with a lot like this)?

Thanks J08M3. I appreciate the insight.

$333/sqft I'm assuming is just the hard cost? (The hard cost I am told include the land, and land prep, and the construction of the house. On top of that there is the soft correct? Which include the architects work?)

Also is this home you are bidding on of a Modern style? I'm told as a general rule, modern homes cost more to build.

Here's an example of a modern home design (or type of design) that I am considering: Michael Lee Architects

I'm told that this home was done 2 years ago at $400/sqft, but that had it been built in today's dollar, it would be closer to $350. I'm wondering if this type of home can be done with $300 or less (possible $250)?


PASSMORE, the way the architects have answered that question is that the cost of the structure may include some of the land prep, depending on how the home is built. I guess he was saying that beyond the cost of the land itself + site prep, there may be some prep work cost averaged into the cost of the build of the home itself. I hope that makes sense. Personally I would rather break it down to just the cost of the prep work (calculated seperately from all else) so that I can get a sense of just how much the land will cost.

As an example, this lot is (say) $500K, but if it costs another $500K to do excavation, ground work and retaining walls (this is neccessary for this lot), then it will cost $1M before you even put up the structure. If that is so, then this particular lot is no longer a good deal. By the time you errect the home, it'll be priced in the top 5% of the neighborhood.

The $333 number does not include land price. The land for this particular house was another $2m. It does however include the land prep costs i.e. excavation, backfill, dry well, final rough grade, and driveway.

The house is fairly modern (if that makes sense?) It's basically two square boxes with flat roofs connected by a glass structure. I'll post renderings once I have permission. Only because it's such a simple design we came in so cheap for price. That home you have pictured above, from a quick guess is easily $400 a sq. ft. The glass and steel driving the price up. There's a lot of variables though that can change the price. Finished basement? Type of mechanicals? Appliances? Floors? Wall finishes? lighting choices? Cabinetry, those look like custom kitchen cabinets? Tile, and stone choices? hardware? doors and windows? Without changing the look of that house, you can drastically change the cost per sq ft. Can you hit $300 or less..... Where I live, you'd be pushing it. You'd start sacrificing quality of products used (i.e. cheaper windows, cabinets). You might also end up with a construction company that is smaller (less overhead so lower costs) which may be less professional, take longer to build the home, and not have the expertise to produce the level of quality you want.