Is $75 a square foot with base granite countertops, tile, etc... a good price in south Texas? Builder has some nice homes in the area. He used to charge 65$ a sq ft 2 years ago but has since upped the price since then. Trying to build a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1340 sq ft small home with one entire wall of glass to see out over my hill from kitchen/living room. I will pay for upgrades as he goes so this is just for base, but I have no idea if that is fair or not.

Not possible.

You serious... If so that's a crazy good deal.

My brother is building a house on his land and received quotes between $140-$180sqft in Brazoria county.

Seems really low. Would think more like the 100-110 range for builder grade. So yes it's a fair deal if it can actually be done at that cost.

I was quoted 110 for base and 160 for custom from 3 different builders last January in Matagorda county.

So low alarms go off.

130/sq ft would be a fair deal now a days in my opinion. I've been seeing people charge ~$180/sq ft recently. I'm referring to an average home. Nothing trashy but nothing top of the line.

I'd have to agree with coyote, but I also don't understand how he was able to build them for $65/ft a couple of years ago so what do I know. That wall of glass is gonna be pretty pricey if it's done right.

Maybe a shell and no finish out?

No full house. He did my friends house for $65 a sq foot 3 years ago. Came out real nice.

I assume I will pay about 15k in upgrades though.

I built a huge 3000 sq foot barn with all the bells and whistles, electricity, plumbing, concrete and all for 40k so it's just different prices around these parts I think.

That's cheap but not impossible my buddy just built one in Hunt county TX for $76 a sqft granted he his brother and dad did some of the work, with his cousin doing the dirt work (at a discounted rate). No concrete drive and landscaped by them.

Great price. Just be sure your house is going to be comparable or better than what you have seen of his other projects. Check insulation values, check slab design and steel in the slab, no aluminum windows. If you are financing through bank, they may have an independent inspector...or hire one of your own and make sure the builder knows you are going to have an inspector.

Thanks guys. Guess the price is fine. Just need to make sure he does a good job is what it seems like. I will finance about 80k from the bank and pay 20% down to keep my payments around 800 a month for 10 years. That's the plan at least.

What he may be doing is using a supplier that sells seconds. That can be okay with somethings, but detrimental in a few years with others. Heard of a roofing contractor doing that. 3-5 years later, all of his clients had roof leaks.

Going to guess the wall of glass won't fit in that price/sqft. Windows - big spans of window - don't come cheap.

Seems too good to be true

Is it $75 sq ft heated or $75 sq ft x total square ft ?

1340x75


10% of that cost is going to be HVAC and ductwork

It's $75 a sq ft for 1340 sq ft. So 100k for a finished house. I have the option of stucco, brick or cinder block with stucco for the frame with granite kitchen/island and restrooms plus a/c and roof. I will be getting my allowances here soon to see what I'm going to upgrade as they were for basic stuff the last time I talked to him years ago but it was enough to get cheaper brick, tile and granite back then. South Texas on the border, it's just cheaper to build.

He said the windows will be included unless I want them flush than I would have to order those myself which I'm planning to do.

If I were doing this I'd apply at a few local banks for financing. They will competitive on price but much more importantly, they know the builders in that area. Make sure you have a discussion with a rep that is experienced locally and get a good quality/reputation check on this guy.

The banks will know.

A 2,500 sq footer would run you $187.5K. That's track neighborhood pricing. If you can verify his work... take the deal and run.

Yes he's well known in my county, he works with the local town bank to secure the loans for his customers. We are about to start working on that once the plans are down to our liking.

ontherocks said:

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It's $75 a sq ft for 1340 sq ft. So 100k for a finished house. I have the option of stucco, brick or cinder block with stucco for the frame with granite kitchen/island and restrooms plus a/c and roof. I will be getting my allowances here soon to see what I'm going to upgrade as they were for basic stuff the last time I talked to him years ago but it was enough to get cheaper brick, tile and granite back then. South Texas on the border, it's just cheaper to build.

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Septic ?
Water supply ?

I can see the labor being cheaper close to the border but I wouldn't think materials would be that much cheaper.

Cheapest isn't always the best. You don't build a house ever year so make sure you check everything and talk to others and see his work.

My parents went with the cheaper bid and they regret it everyday.

That price is really low for a custom builder.

Just built one last year in east tx. Subbed it out myself and cut a few costs along the way. Few upgrades. 1460 sq ft. slab, nicer shingle, hardi ext. 92k. so about $63 per sq ft.

Would be tough for me to see a contractor going that cheap.

In south central kansas, we are looking at 85 - 95 / sqft for a 6 bedroom 4,000 sqft house. This is for the house alone, no septic and no driveway, except for a slab in front of the garage.

That sounds about right. Mine doesn't come with septic, or yard, patio, nothing. Just the square foundation and the house with an AC. For those asking about the electric and water I ran it a mile from the highway and got the city to take over my line once it was complete. That was a nightmare in and of itself but worth it now that I look back.

You get that house done for that price, and I want to contact him for a fish camp cabin in Seadrift, that has little or no concrete work.

More info is telling. You ran utilities to the site on your dime?

Yes. Ran city water a mile between multiple properties, created an easement for electric and water along my outer perimeter fence. Got contracts signed with neighbor to pay half, went to city council meetings of a town of 3000 people to allow them to annex my line. Got quotes from 75k down to 19k. Paid 9k for materials and 10k for labor. 6' deep, 3" pipe with city specs. Now I have a meter on city water. Electric made contract with neighbor and went half and half on electric with 17 polls. Was a pain, but not all that much when split. Cheaper than a well and solar quotes by a large margin. The guy that ran my water hit blue rock the whole way, I felt bad for him, he thought he would be done with his backhoe in a few days ended up taking him weeks and I know he lost money. I look for deals and buy materials myself when I can so I just got charged labor. For my water line I ordered from out of town to get rock bottom prices from the manufacturer themselves delivered to my place in a trailer. I learned a lot to say the least.

You will be fine. I'd still talk to a couple of local bankers. Not in his funnel of deals

$75/sf is probably market for 2500-3000sf home with above-average features, not including your lot. Everyone is all over the place on their idea of what it should cost because that quote is likely just for the actual house construction plus his profit. Production builders direct costs for a home (i.e the sticks & bricks) is probably $45-60 depending on size and feature level. This does not include the lot or any margin. Most local custom (aka "pick-up truck") builders try to charge cost plus 15%. Where it gets difficult is determining the stick & brick costs in an apples to apple comparison. Some builders include permits, site prep, sewer/utility connections, bank interest, insurance, sod/irrigation and some sort of nebulous admin fee, but others will make these additional inclusions or buyers obligations. It's hard to know where they put these additional costs in the equation.

Check with others who used, him, go with your gut on if you trust him, but from what you described, it sounds market.

Just know, the process sucks, at some point you will want to fire him, your wife will cry many times and you will just "want the damn thing finished"...but once you move in, you will love the new home, and hopefully want to recommend your builder to others

Those are some hoops to jump for city water. Why that process over drilling ground water well?

1340 sq ft is going to be a simple roof....could be a 6:12 pitch, both money savers. The slab for 1340 should also be fairly simple, once again saving money. Could be stock birch cabinets, maybe no crown molding. More money savers.

Because to own a ranch with city water is pretty cool in my opinion. But more so because I didn't want to pay even more 40k+ to get a well 4-600' down and not be guaranteed there was goood water as it is usually salty and sulphuric in my area. Plus im on The biggest hill for about 50 miles and It's all caliche deposit from when there was an ocean I presume holding the thing up so it would probably be on the deeper end though that is not always the case. Also I didn't want to deal with pumps and have them breaking, I wanted to open my tap and have city water that's verified to at least meet basic standards of cleanliness.