Congratulations! I hope it all works out for you. I know how you feel though. We've been searching for a builder and rearranging our plans since around this time last year, among some other bumps. We're waiting for that same phone call...I pray it comes soon.

I share your joy and tears! I look forward to seeing all of your posts and pics. Good luck!

Wow! That's a huge revision, I'm so happy for you, three years is a long time to wait.
I hope our builder is of the same frame of mind here in Louisiana. We are waiting for our bids to come in too.

Kate,
That is wonderful! So glad to hear your great news and that your patience is paying off! Our plans have been *almost done* for the last 2 months...as soon as we get them we have a builder we really like we want to bid them. Sending good thoughts your way and hoping eventhecatisaboy, emilynewhome, (and us too!)get great bids!

AMEN! good luck to us ALL!

I guess the reduction of $375K is dependent on several factors like the size of the home, the location, the "not many" revisions, the finishes, etc, etc but the first thing that crossed my mind is the old "bait & switch".

What type of contract are you putting in place & are you comfortable that the price he quoted will be the price you pay? And if so is it being done with the same level of finishes as originally specified?

Or did you just get 1 bid & the builder high-balled it by 40% & now is quoting a more realistic price for that build?

the size of the home really didn't change. as i said, we deleted two balconies that i felt i could live without. we're all clear on the finish work and it is all clearly stated in the contract which my attorney husband has gone over with a fine tooth comb. we also fired our original engineer who was planning very difficult (and very unnecessary) placements for our well and septic. the price quoted for the build will be the price we pay but i am responsible for the kitchen cabinets (which i already priced out) and other built-ins, plus light fixtures and tile. i'm not the kind of person who works well with "allowances". the original bid was reflective of the prices being charged by the subcontractors at that time. new home construction has slowed considerably in our area with many newer homes in foreclosure. friends of ours tried for two years to get a finish carpenter to install some crown moulding in their home. no one returned calls to even bid the job. she received a call last week from one carpenter who couldn't be bothered before. all of a sudden, he just crawled out from under the woodwork, pun intended. we are confident we were not high-balled as we had gotten similar bids (some higher) from other builders.

thats awesome, Im so excited for you! Im at the end of my build, and the most important thing I could pass on would be the detail level of the contract. Even if your builder rolls his eyes!!!! Specify exactly the finishes and square footage of different specific items. How many sqare feet of cultured stone? What grade of wood flooring (ienot just species, select red oak, not just red oak) specify important building techniques also. Screwd down sub flooring under tile as opposed to nailed or stapled.

leave your builder no wiggle room or room for interpretaton. If your relationship should deteriorate you want every thing spelled out. If he is including plumbing fixtures have each one specified in writing in the contract.

try and think what would happen if you no longer get along by the end. What areas would he look for an oportunity to choose lower quality materials. Are the doors solid or hollow core ect ect.
PLAN FORE THE WORST CASE SCENAREO and hope for a better alternative. Im not saying it will happen but its best to be protected!!!!

Good deal for you. But just as a curosity, and to get an idea of the size of the project how big will your new home be, and what was his original price. We may be building later this year, or early next year if we don't find new construction that suits us, and I am trying to gage just how hard the GCs and Subs have been hit by the housing situation.

Thanks
Rusty

I was not so much thinking of the house size changing as I was what size/cost it would be to justify the $375K reduction in labor.

Example being if the original quote was $1M for 5,000 sq ft so $200/sq ft. While this rule-of-thumb can change dramatically based on location & several other factors, I usually would break down the split to 40% materials, 40% labor, & 20% GC profit & overhead. This assumes you own the land (which it sounds like you do from your original post)so it is not part of the $1M. A +/- 10% variation from those percentages would cover most the US construction market.

So if those percentages & the starting point of $1M are anywhere close to accurate, that means the original labor would have been $400,000 and to drop that by $375,000 to $25,000 is obviously not realistic. Now if the GC gives up 5% for a 15% profit/overhead & the materials are @ 35% (5% lower than in the original estimate) that means the labor is now getting 50%. Given the build dropped from $1M to $625,000 that gives the labor a price of $312,500. This is a labor $ drop of $87,500 which is much more realistic in a down market.

If this is a $2M build then the labor could certainly absorb more of that $375K drop.

The primary point being I doubt the 2 balconies & the labor costs resulted in the full $375K reduction.

The builder is probably taking a reduction as well but did not want to say so to save a little face & I would still question the finishes.

As housecrazy pointed out more clearly, it would be hard to capture in a contract all the specific details. Select red oak @ $6/sq ft versus $3/sq ft for red oak, a $20 water faucet in the kids bathroom instead $50, nails & staples versus glued down & screwed, $10 door handles versus $45 for interior doors, oak moulding versus pine moulding versus paint grade moulding, $150 double-hung windows versus $400, $0.39 receptacles versus $1.39 ones, 1/2" sheetrock versus 5/8", Advantech flooring versus typical OSB, $6,000 front entry door versus $600, & the list could go on & on. 1000's of items.

That much detail is hard to capture in the contract so hopefully you have covered the ones that will keep the majority of the costs down.

Re: "That much detail is hard to capture in the contract so hopefully you have covered the ones that will keep the majority of the costs down."

I should have said "That much detail is hard to capture in the contract so hopefully you have covered the ones that will keep the majority of the finishes at the level you want them".

Congratulations, kate!! Hope the project moves quickly now, strike while the iron is hot! Keep us posted...

Amy

Since we have no essential information about the proposed home--size, level of finish and original quote--it's impossible to judge how substantial the price reduction is.

I'd suggest that unless the original quote was $3million+, the reduction is cutting into the quality of the build or the original quote was way high and business has slowed down since. Not hard to figure out why. In any case, you're the beneficiary. Enjoy!

thank you everyone for the good advice. i should mention i'm purchasing fixtures (lighting and plumbing) as well as flooring as well. as far as size, we're currently at 6800 sq ft. and while i don't feel at all comfortable discussing actual costs the builder is also taking a reduction. he moved on his price after we told him we were searching for an existing house to movie into. it's a sizable build so the cost is on the high side but we definitely had a comfort zone we wanted to stay within since things tend to go above what was intended. we own the property with very little mortgaged and live in an "updated" colonial in the front section of land. the appliances are all original, circa 1968. it will be my pleasure to tear it down personally. while i'm not so naive as to believe all will go off without a hitch, i am hopeful that with the good advice and guidance from the more experienced people here we'll be better prepared for things to come. i'm leaving this evening for a week so dh will go over everything in the contract again and i have also left further instruction for the architect. it should be a busy week and i hate to leave in the middle but i'll be in paris so i'm thinking i might be entertained enough not to think about it!