Price to build a 2500 Sq ft drive under home in coastal SC

8 years ago

Our house plans are complete & we'll soon have real bids to consider. Because my husband and I have such differing opinions of what the build should coast, my stomach is in knots. The location is in a small coastal town approx 20 miles outside Charleston, SC. The home is a drive under with 2500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, open concept plan. There's 2 levels above the ground floor garage. The home has a large amount of windows to take advantage of the amazing water views. A local builder told me in a casual conversation the cost would be minimum $760K. Another prominent local builder told me "about $250 per Sq ft." My husband has a written quote(written on the builders letterhead)from a builder for $150 per Sq ft. I call bull $@!# on that. That price is taken from the lowest level quality materials available for the area. I'd love to hear from pros and homeowners who've built in the area.

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zippity1

8 years ago

i have nothing to really base my comment on, but i having built a home in coastal texas within the last two years, the costs will be more than 150 psf everything depends on the plan itself and the detailing you put on the interior... i would say 250 would be more realistic

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keekee9
Original Author
8 years ago
Zippity, Thank you very much for your input. I completely agree with your assessment. I think if I wanted to I could probably spend $760K constructing the home. $250 a sf works out to about $625K which is where I figured we'd end up. Now I just need to figure out how to squeeze a small-ish swimming pool out of the deal. We own the property outright and feel fortunate to have found it with a dock already in place. Big savings there I think! Thanks again!
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Wow, am I envious! I live in the Tampa Bay area and we are hoping to come in somewhere about $110-120/ft. Average prices are between $175-300/ft. The main thing to consider is that our building codes are probably some of the strictest in the country due to the hurricanes. The home is built to withstand 130mph winds. It is built from concrete block which definitely increases our cost substantially. As we are the GC, we did hire a manager to over see the entire project (he also did the slab/block/frame). But the money we are paying him to manage is definetly worth the peace of mind! He is very reputable in our area and has many many contacts so we are able to get his pricing. In the end, his management fee will probably wash with the savings. We are also going pretty high end with everything else from windows to appliances to flooring and so forth. In the end, it will all be worth it. However, our cost to build does not include what we paid for the lot. Land is NOT abundant here and you pay for it - ALOT. Our lot had a home which we initially wanted to add on to. But after talking with our architect and engineer, the cost was more to do that (by going up a floor) than it was to demo and start over. We went that route since then we are not limited to the footprint and could then have exactly what we wanted. Our new home is 4000 sq ft living/8900 sq ft under roof incl 1500 sq ft covered lanai/3 car garage/semi-detached 4 car garage. So, with all of this, in the end we should be about $450K (not including pool). For Florida, this is not bad at all.
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Yes, we angled our house to the east, and put the garage on the west side to block the heat. A/C is definitely a bigger factor here than heat. The front of our house faces roughly southeast, and we have a deep porch on the front. We have a lot of trees still, so we are shaded in the AM and PM. Don't be too quick to go all scorched earth before considering the value trees have, and how long it takes to grow them. We use our front porch year-round, including winter when it's nice (like today). I'm not sure if you're familiar with my entire saga (I talk to lots of people!), but we bought our property in 2006, I quit my job in 2011, and started building. I built the barn first, and lived there while I built the house. Proved handy, as we sold our old house in FL before the new one was done. We loaded up a rental truck, and hauled all of our stuff up here, and stored it in the barn. Our house is mostly DIY, and it was quite a job for one old man with no formal construction training. The house is ICF, and we're very happy with the performance. I can give you links if you want to wade through the entire 4+ year process.
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It's simple.. if someone else can build your house on your lot for 350K would you not choose them rather than someone who is going to charge you 400K. You didn't say there was someone else who would build your house for 350k. If you got a bid for 350k then why did you post the question in the first place? If you haven't got a bid for 350k then why are you assuming that someone will do it for 350k, if you are making up numbers why make up 350k? Why don't we just say 27 bucks? I mean 27 dollars for a brand new house would be a great deal so let's just use that imaginary number. Also, it's not always more expensive to build on your own lot. If you are smart enough, you would do some research before making generalizations like this one. I admit that I am kind of a dummy. Every single day I wonder why people pay me for my advice. Although. in this particular matter I am speaking from experience and I tell you unequivocally, that building a one off house on a lot developed by an owner IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN BUILDING THE SAME HOUSE IN A MULTI-LOT MULTI-BUILD SITUATION. This is true every single time so long as the lots are similar. Now there are certain situations where that expense may not be passed on to the buyer. So if you are planning on sleeping with the developer you might get a better price.
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Thanks for all the comments. I agree about needing solid numbers to make a decision...I am a CPA also and so I would want estimates from an architect or builder on how much money this could save. This is the crux of the matter. I have asked this question but have not got an answer. It would be so much easier to make an informed decision if I had information. As I understand it, I would be removing length from the house and the roof line should not change. But again I can't confirm that. I understand the number stated in the title could be totally wrong. I have decided to move forward with revised plans for the smaller house. After they are completed I will have a better idea as to whether there are substantial savings in the smaller house. I hate to pay for a revised set that I may not use but I don't have any other options. I think the smaller house may work for me. I have college age kids; one is away at school but the other still lives at home and works full time.
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chispa
8 years ago
If staying in budget is important, then I would pick all the finishes ahead if time and have them priced into your bid, so there are no surprises or overages.

We built a guest house and went $9k over from the builders basic electrical allowance. Budget wasn't an issue in this case, but it shows you the wide difference between a basic electrical allowance and a complete lighting plan with everything in it.
keekee9 thanked chispa
keekee9
Original Author
8 years ago
Chispa, Thank you very much for responding to my "plea". Your idea of figuring allowances prior to is spot on. I recently found a great interior designer to work with and that's one of her mantras. We have planned two to three days of appointments with kitchen, bath, lighting & flooring vendors over 3 days the week of Monday, Nov 9 which is the first full day I'll be in town. The plans have already been sent out for bids with a side note about the likelihood of allowance "upgrades". I wanted to wait until we had those numbers to send out with our request for bids but my husband told me to push thru due to the fact we're "locked" in on a construction mortgage loan. Locked in unless and until interest rates rise which is what my husband thinks is going to happen soon.
chispa
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
keikee, just watch out for how the interior designer plans to make money off of you. The designer I used a few years ago was not a good fit and did nothing to save me money ... I think we were her cash cow for the year we worked with her! I even found out later that she was keeping a larger percentage on some purchases, compared to the contract we had signed. Make sure you understand her contract and billing. You want detailed and itemized bills, which mine did not include, so lots of "smoke and mirrors" with her billing.

Recently I have used a designer who is the complete opposite and it has been a much better experience.
keekee9 thanked chispa
User
8 years ago
What happens when the bids come in over your bank allowed loan before you add in any of the upgrades? I just think you're setting yourself up for heartbreak to think you can do a water build for that little money without it being a very basic build.
keekee9
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello GreenDesign, thank you for your thoughts. I never said we had a "bank ALLOWED loan". The bank loan was NEVER meant to completely cover the cost of building the home. We plan to make up the difference between the loan and the cost to build with cash. After much research, I'm thinking this house can be built for somewhere in the realm of $625-$650K total budget for the house alone. We paid cash for the property 2 years ago. I WOULD be setting myself up for disaster if it was the bank dictating how much they COULD loan us verses how much we CHOSE to borrow. I'd just love to know what the pros might say, what civilians have experienced & whether $625K-650K will build the house I've described. In general. Thanks again.

Price to build a 2500 Sq ft drive under home in coastal SC

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Price to build a 2500 Sq ft drive under home in coastal SC

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