floddedgutted,

Ok, I guess I am really confused now. You keep asking how much to build these huge, ornate homes. In one of your previous posts you said you had an uncle that was a GC and now you say "my husbands side is full of contractors, electricians, plumbers, etc." Why don't you talk to these people and show them your ideas?? Not that we can't help you but if you know these people and they are in the business, can't they get a better estimate for you than any of us?? We don't know where you live.....$285,000 can go a long way in say, Arkansas, parts of Texas, etc. But $285,000 isn't going to get you anything in California, east coast, etc. All the plans you have shown are beautiful, so ask these "family members" what it would cost to build in your area with the finishes you desire!!

I apologize if I came across negative, I just couldn't understand if you had so much family in the business how this forum could be of much help when we didn't know where you live? Again, I apologize and as I said, "all the plans you have shown are beautiful". Good Luck!

Ok - the biggest way to cut down on square footage is to watch your square feet, the amount of your foundation, and roofing (building up is cheaper than a ranch). So - if you only have 285,000 - then you can surely have a similar shape of one of those fancy houses your eye tends to go toward....but the reality is that you need to go substantially smaller. If you are basing the estimate from the one you got on the site for the house, you cannot really follow that. There will be permits and so many extra costs. It is always good to have a small amount of extra cash flow to cover mistakes (ones you have made) and for changes you feel you cannot live without. So -let's take your 285,000 down to 260,000 so you have a cushion of $15,000 to fall on (which is not muuch by the way when you are building) - perhaps if each child has a bedroom and share 2 baths, and have one bonus/game room for them to all share, and maybe have a large country kitchen and do not have a formak dining area, and just one great room area - you may be able to get your square footage down to 2500 to 2800. That amount of sqare footage may still take you to the 260,000 mark. Good luck!! I have been on this board for many years and what I like is that folks do not sugar coat things and like to give their honest opinions and feelings. Don't take things personally my Friend...everyone here is super nice!! Good luck!! I know you and your family will love your new home.

I seriously doubt that house as drawn could be built anywhere in the country for $285,000. That's $68 per sq. ft. For your budget, you are going to need to look at plans closer to 2500 sq. ft. If you build 2500 total on two levels with additional finished square footage in the basement, you could probably meet your budget and get close to the 4000 sq. ft. you want.

I don't think anyone was trying to be negative, but this is the third plan you've posted and you have gotten pretty much the same response each time. I don't think you'll find anyone on this board who will tell you what you're wanting to hear. Either your budget needs to change or your requirements need to change.

Good luck in your search!

I am a frequent lurker and sometimes poster here. I have been watching "floddedgutted"'s posts. (I was assuming that her screen name was supposed to be floodedgutted but that she mispelled it, and that she was probably from N.O., LA -- and now I see that I'm correct). I am also from Louisiana. And it sounds like I live pretty close to you. If you are rebuilding in this area, you are going to have to come WAY down on your square footage. I just had a friend rebuild in Lakeview -- a GORGEOUS home with a not too terribly complex footprint or roofline. She paid about $145 per sq ft (NOT including the lot). She does have a number of very nice upgrades.

As another poster just said, if you come here looking for opinions, people are going to give them. I don't think anyone has been rude to you from what I've read, but as someone else said, you have posted things that don't make sense. If you know that many people in the building industry, it would take them 5-10 minutes for them to answer some basic questions and give you guidance about what kind of plans you should be looking at to stay in your budget. I'm sure if the GC is a family member he could talk to you for 10 minutes. It will save you a lot of time and heartache from falling in love with plans out of your price range.

People post for lots of reasons, anonymity being one of them, another being places like this allow you to just toss ideas around when these things may or may not be a reality offline for you. And the fact that family dynamics are not always what they would seem to be. Someone could have a doctor in their family and not feel comfortable asking that person medical questions and come online and ask. I think it would be best if you find someone's posts do not make sense to you, don't reply. How many posts go without remark on these boards? LOTS

Thank you all so so very much for the advise.. I think I have gotten caught up in the online rumors and articles that I have been reading implying that and now building cost are at an all time low.. Yes I am in New Orleans BTW and was considering purchasing a flooded home however after my uncle saw the pics her figured that it would be cheaper to build on a lot.. Looks like its actually cheaper now to buy.. sorry if i annoy anyone on this forum.. I did not come to be a pest but only to gather information to my "stupid" questions.. I was taught that the only dumb questions were thoes unasked.. I am a first time home buyer and finally have the cash to put down on a home and want to make the best decision.. I am very overthe top as far as my taste with everything and now I my see that desires are not realastic..I will now revamp thanks to you all.. Homes in the area that I am looking are going for an all time low per sqft so I am thinking that we would actually come in on the higher end if we decided to build as there is no way we can prob build for $130 per sqft here with land cost included.. I have alot to think about.. Thanks a bunch.. God bless you all..

I've seen some of the plans you've posted and can see why you're drawn to them; they are quite impressive.

Just one look at this Sater home made me think "pricey"! That roof alone... All those roof lines. And clay tile roofs are very expensive and take expertise to install. Also, they're heavy, so the construction has to compensate for that. I'm NO expert, just remember someone talking about it. (A friend of DH's who has a roof like that... but he spent $2M on the lot alone, so let's just assume he's out of the normal price point for most people!)

Try some googling and reading, and as others have mentioned, ask people in the business.

I would recommend speaking with your local town hall (or whomever is in charge of permits and zoning) and ask questions about things like set backs and other restrictions. Then set up a meeting with a local architect or design/build firm. The first meeting should be free. Bring your plat of survey, tell him or her your budget and some of your essentials (# of bedrooms), and ask for some general ideas of the types of homes you might be able to build. I'd hope they could give you some general guidelines.

Here is a link that might be useful: clay tile roof cost

It will be much MUCH less to buy than build in most instances. Yes, building costs are low, but foreclosures and a weak housing market means that house prices are even lower. You can't figure cost to build based on the cost of an existing home. It will almost always be more. I would guess the house you posted would be in the 150 per square foot range. More if you do the clay roof (a clay tile roof on our house of slightly larger size was 100k estimate). To compare, an asphalt architectural shingle is around 18k.

Hi floddedgutted,

I don't know if you're still reading this thread, but I took another look at the plan linked above and it strikes me as very impractical for a family with children.

For example, there is no front hall closet and most important no mudroom. When kids come inside from the back yard, it looks like they would go straight into the living/dining room. And there's lots of wasted space on the 2nd floor (that big gaping hole, and a sun porch off the laundry room?)

I don't mean to pick apart this plan and you might have moved on anyway. But when you look at house plans (or existing homes) I would urge you to think about how you live your every day life...

What's the path you'd have to take to get from the car to the kitchen with bags of groceries? What's the path from the front door to the kitchen (where guests always congregate)? Where do kids dump their shoes, jackets, and backpacks when they come in the door? After working in the yard, where will you come and take off your dirty shoes, etc?

Maybe I'm biased, but with 2 kids my entire remodel was based on the fact that I wanted a mudroom and was tired of all the shoes, sports gear and backpacks landing in the front hall or the kitchen. I think in a previous post you mentioned you have 4 kids, so you'll have twice as much stuff!

We built a Sater home, the Ferretti and tweaked it. We absolutely love our home. I would highly recommend a Sater plan. Sater puts a lot of detail in his plans and they are very functional.

To Iwittman

I am drooling over the Sater Ferretti plan, please let me know if you could give me a rough idea of how much you spent on the construction and how long did the contractor take

Thanks a lot

V

We really like this plan as well. Did you receive any information of the price and timeframe?