I just want to know what this will cost me to build.
Duane C. Barney
I help builders scale their businesses and make more money while working less. Need a speaker for your event? Let's talk.
It is a question every homeowner wants , so they call a contractor and guess what, unless you have a full set of drawings and specifications the contractor has no idea either. Say what??? Nope, if you have not told them what to price, they must guess, and their guess will be wrong, they have no idea what tile you are going to select.
Keep in mind, every project is custom, one of a kind, never been build before. Your builder may have built hundreds of homes but not on this piece of land, this plan, with your selections. That is what makes it yours and unique to you which is what makes it great and the reason you are doing it.
Well, what will it cost per foot? A builder can only accurately price what they can see, or they may know that in this area, based on the sales price, homes are built for about____. This is worth to you virtually nothing. Personally, my construction costs can run from $100/SF to $1,000/SF and it has nothing to do with me. This is the design and finishes desired by the owner, so it was priced accordingly. The cost is what the cost if it is too high a then make different selections. The cost of the project is up to you, not your builder. This is your home, you make the decisions, so the choice is yours. People will say, “don’t hire him he is expensive, so and so, just built a house and it cost them XX/SF”. Well, he is the guy you probably want to hire, if you can get on his schedule, he is working with demanding clients with expensive taste and he gets the job done. You can select lesser expensive items for your home, but you will still get the quality and management skill he brings to “so and so”
With that now understood maybe management, integrity and quality should be the deciding factors in your selection. There is no pricing magic, and if price your deciding factor, good luck. You know the saying, you get what you pay for.
A builder may be a great carpenter, but a great carpenter does not make a great builder. A great builder hires and manages great teams of subcontractor’s carpenters included.
CEO, Guzzo Architects
6 年Let’s hope we can convince all our clients that a detailed, good set of drawings and a excellent contractor leads to a successful project. That’s always the case we work together with you Lou.
Construction Professional
6 年Just because a home has a lot of square footage doesn't mean it comes standard with anything. i used to tell my Buyers, "the caliber of your home is determined by the circumference of your wallet." It's about communicating from the very start down to the last detail.
Account Manager/Co-Owner
6 年Very well said. The other expectrum of this problem, are those contractors that possess the "magic eye" and price things without the need of these essential drawings. When can never compete against these fools because their prices are usually much lower than ours . Sadly, at the end it ends up costing the home owners a lot more with endless extras or with a job so badly performed they need to hire a qualified contractor.