Building a new house

[Gumby]

Looking to move into a bigger place, and it's hard finding a place with a layout that works for us. So I'm starting to think about custom-building a house. A few questions:

1) How much does it cost to build a typical 3-storey (including basement) house in Vancouver East?
2) How long would it take?
3) Is there a "library" of floor plans we can get ideas from?

Thanks!

[MindBomber]

1.) Vancouver average would be $175-225 per square foot for a well finished home. It's very easy to go above that price range, but very difficult to go below it.

2.) 8-14 months roughly. Dealing with the sheer volume of decisions to be made during a custom home build is a common challenge for home owners, so delays in decision making often add to the time line. There are lots of factors that affect the time frame aside from decision making of course, weather, permits, inspections, the time of year you acquire the property, annoying neighbors, trades schedules.

3.) You can purchase books filled with home plans, I've seen internet sites dedicated to home plans as well.

[PornMaster]

East Indian pricing $120 per sq ft I believe

[MindBomber]

Originally Posted by PornMaster

East Indian pricing $120 per sq ft I believe

I swear, I've seen you post the exact same statement in other threads. I don't know if you're suggesting people hire sketchy contractors or just throwing the information out there, I don't get it.

Sketchy builders offer construction at $120 a square foot by cutting corners, believe me, they aren't just operating with thinner profit margins.

Examples of that include doing things like hiring unskilled labour to do the work of trades people, I was called in to repair mold growing in a home that wasn't even finished construction due to improperly installed vapor barrier that allowed water to collect. They cut corners where you won't see it, a favourite trick of these guys is to under blow or completely skip sections of attic insulation that are out of the inspectors sight. They use cheap, low grade materials, sometimes even used materials, the building inspector who on the final inspection found mice droppings and dirt in the attic fiberglass of a new home wasn't to amused. They build to the most minimum code standards possible, if that, where good builders will build above code when necessary (mold in finished basements is a common code issue that results from poorly structured code requirements). I could give more examples, ones outside my trade as well. I don't know what point you're trying to make, but it's not a good one.

[Sky_High]

What's the rough estimate cost to take down an old house?

I know it will really vary in a lot of factors and size...but just a rough estimate?

[frost91]

10k

based on the questions your asking, i don't recommend you tackling a house build.

the trades are going to take you for a ride

[MindBomber]

These are pretty standard initial questions.

I don't know what trades you've worked with, but I assure you, I've worked with homeowners to clueless to even ask these questions and none of the trades took them for a ride. A home owner shouldn't even really be dealing with trades much anyway, the GC does almost all of it.

[Sky_High]

Originally Posted by frost91

10k

based on the questions your asking, i don't recommend you tackling a house build.

the trades are going to take you for a ride

Not planning to build a house any time soon, nor do I even have the capital to

Just that I been always curious what's the cost of building one yourself...vs. one off the street.
Especially now a days, where you see so many older houses / bigger lot getting take down, and try to squeeze in a duplex. I been always curious what the rough contribution margin is

[Gt-R R34]

The rough profit per house is usually between 20-40% depending on how cheap you get the land for and what type of house you build.

Houses are usually as someone said above, pretty much set in around that mark for SQ Foot.

As for anyone interested in building a house, make sure you find a builder that you trust, a GC that is viable.

Consider this: Lien's can possible be placed on your house if your unluckily have builders that are shady. With material being used/delievered but GC's not paying for the materials.

There are a lot of considerations, building your first home is a lot of work.

Mindbomber sounds knowledgeable in that field, while i don't build any houses. I do a lot of financing for homes and bigger projects.

As a financier, i would recommend people to you that I find honest if you don't know anyone OR if you find someone and after talking to him, I find him shady as fuck. I will look for a general surveyor to follow the project ( outta your pocket, just cuz i recommended someone but you decided to go with someone cheaper. LOL)

[PornMaster]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

I swear, I've seen you post the exact same statement in other threads. I don't know if you're suggesting people hire sketchy contractors or just throwing the information out there, I don't get it.

Sketchy builders offer construction at $120 a square foot by cutting corners, believe me, they aren't just operating with thinner profit margins.

Examples of that include doing things like hiring unskilled labour to do the work of trades people, I was called in to repair mold growing in a home that wasn't even finished construction due to improperly installed vapor barrier that allowed water to collect. They cut corners where you won't see it, a favourite trick of these guys is to under blow or completely skip sections of attic insulation that are out of the inspectors sight. They use cheap, low grade materials, sometimes even used materials, the building inspector who on the final inspection found mice droppings and dirt in the attic fiberglass of a new home wasn't to amused. They build to the most minimum code standards possible, if that, where good builders will build above code when necessary (mold in finished basements is a common code issue that results from poorly structured code requirements). I could give more examples, ones outside my trade as well. I don't know what point you're trying to make, but it's not a good one.

I am not suggesting people hire them, I am just throwing the information out there.
Most of the time amount of $ = quality of work.

[Selanne_200]

Currently doing it myself as the owner-builder so I can chime in from experience.
We're currently looking at about 180-185/sq foot and the quality is fairly good for what we're putting in. (all plywood sheathing, no finger-joint studs, all granite/quartz counter-top, high efficiency boiler, cedar sidings along with stucco finish etc). We have been building it since july of last year but mind you, I think we're a lil slow compared to others, we're looking at about another 1.5 month before finish. From experience, if you're willing to put in the time to hunt for all the finishing materials yourself, the more value you're going to get out of your money. If you hire a GC, like what others have suggested, beware of shady GC where sub-trades are owed money and they place liens on your house. I think a general rule of thumb is, you get what you pay for ( for the most part).
I hope this helped you out a lil

[alex.w *//]

if you want a high quality custom home builder

i recommend these guys

http://www.homesbyvalentino.com/fp1.html

they do really good quality work

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Selanne_200

Currently doing it myself as the owner-builder so I can chime in from experience.
We're currently looking at about 180-185/sq foot and the quality is fairly good for what we're putting in. (all plywood sheathing, no finger-joint studs, all granite/quartz counter-top, high efficiency boiler, cedar sidings along with stucco finish etc). We have been building it since july of last year but mind you, I think we're a lil slow compared to others, we're looking at about another 1.5 month before finish. From experience, if you're willing to put in the time to hunt for all the finishing materials yourself, the more value you're going to get out of your money. If you hire a GC, like what others have suggested, beware of shady GC where sub-trades are owed money and they place liens on your house. I think a general rule of thumb is, you get what you pay for ( for the most part).
I hope this helped you out a lil

I don't know about residential but in commercial construction GC's these days are trying to get away with doing almost nothing at all. As a sub they want us to take so much under our scope it's almost comical. All kinds of items that they traditionally have taken care of for as long as I can remember. It's almost at the point where you think what the fuck do we need you for you don't do anything except collect our money, make there points off all the subs and try and make it as difficult as possible to collect our draws so they can collect interest off our money.

I have no love generals.

If building, like anything do your homework. Hire reputable companies with lots of experience who have been around for a lengthy time. Not always, but generally speaking if someone has been around for 15-20 years plus they are doing something right.

[Selanne_200]

^ I'm sure GC in residential isn't much better at all. I've been to open houses in the west side and I've seen some pretty bad workmanship even on houses that's asking for 3 million+. Another reason why I just said fuck it with the GC and doing quite a bit of the running around myself. Also, with no GC to make money off the sub-trades, once again, I think you get more value for your money

[MindBomber]

General contractors don't make a fortune off booking sub-trades, they only make a bit, a part of that being directly recouped by the home owner through the GCs relationship with the trade. I, like almost every sub, would charge a contractor who reliably gave me work less than an owner builder. I also give contractors who I work with routinely priority when booking the job, that keeps the build moving faster and time is money.

I've worked with a few owner builders, some do alright, some do very poorly. It's important to do your homework and not underestimate the time requirements, because a lot of contractors will not want to take on a job midway through the project if you can't handle it with a day job.

You're not building a better home by not using FJ studs, the fact that they're less expensive doesn't mean they're higher quality. They're a hell of a lot straighter than even the best standard stud and have the same compressional strength.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

General contractors don't make a fortune off booking sub-trades.

Unless the GC is hiring family.

[Gumby]

Thanks for all the input guys... a standard lot (33x122) in the area I'm interested in is around $1.1M, and my absolute max budget is $1.5M. So it looks like I won't get much of a house (with basement/mortgage helper) given my current financial situation!

[Selanne_200]

1.1m for a standard lot, I'm going to assume it's in the west side? If your absolute max budget is 1.5M, I honestly don't think you're going to have enough money even to finish it, especially if you plan on having a 3 level house.

[BMW M5]

standard 33x122 lots in the kits area going for around 1.4-1.6M these days and in point grey area going for around 1.5-1.8M. You wont be able to build anything without 550-600K.

[Death2Theft]

Was told Trassolini and Chetner are doing 20 homes and had to turn down 4 already on the west side. Wonder if it's just them or are other west side builders crazy busy also?

[BMW M5]

Originally Posted by Death2Theft

Was told Trassolini and Chetner are doing 20 homes and had to turn down 4 already on the west side. Wonder if it's just them or are other west side builders crazy busy also?

They are a pretty well established builder on the west side mostly doing high end homes well above $200 per sq/ft.

Lots are being sold within a week of listing and 2 of my clients having a hard time fighting for these lots even with full asking price and no subject offers.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

General contractors don't make a fortune off booking sub-trades.

In commercial they do, they make more then anyone and it's not even close. I know it's not all easy for them but don't kid yourself there making shit loads and beating up subs to make even more every chance they get. As a sub most of our profit is in extras, I go at it hard every chance I get. It's almost like a game, how much can I get out of them without them calling my bluff.

That said the way jobs are going right now we're pricing with very little markup. I bid a job on Thursday at cost, no markup at all. I obviously have another motive and that's give myself an edge to land the 110 unit they have coming up next month next door but there are no guarantees.

It's a really fucked up commercial market now.