Does this new spec home cost breakdown look realistic?
I have been considering building a spec house. A GC gave me these costs for a house he built last year. They seem low to me, I am concerned he may be jerking my chain. They are for a nice 2,682 SF two story with 950 SF of finished walkout basement and 3 car garage. I am in a typical Midwest city with approx. 500k population.
Costs:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZzDavW-lJVSWt3R1g5OFoyMGc/view?usp=sharing
Pics:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZzDavW-lJVNWFiaHAzT1dfZ0k/view?usp=sharing
its solid developer pricing basically. Your getting a good deal though. it really depends on the market...were higher in Chicago on water service, sewer Etc.
Would depend on your finishes. $91.82 is possible with base grade finishes. For example, he has flooring costs at $4.62 per sf. You can buy flooring at that price, but if you're thinking Exotics or anything above base it's probably not enough. Same thing on cabinets and countertops, $12,785 isn't going to get much.
You don't say if this is a home for you or for resell, so maybe your not looking for anything more than base finishes. The $91.82 isn't unreasonable.
Depends on the area also. You say Midwest, but costs in Chicago vs Oklahoma City can vary greatly, so you do have some unknowns.
As a GC the numbers seem low to me, not my market though.... The first thing to jump out at me is the budget doesn't include any general conditions, ie, supervision, project management, support staff, etc. Sub contractors don't manage themselves.
"The Midwest" covers most of everything from the foothills of the Rockies east to Appalachians. So, it's kind of hard to guess where you are. Most folks are comfortable mentioning a city in a state. We don't get a lot of issues here.
From the pic.'s, it's a fairly upscale house and yes, in this national market, that is a considerable degree of "speculation" (read: gambling).
Unless you know it's a hot up-scale area, I'd opt for something more mainstream which caters to a much larger potential market. You'd need a seriously in-demand site to make that kind of a gamble pay off unless you already have a buyer.
David J Dachtera
"Success is not a destination. Failure is not an event. Success is a process, failure is a choice."
- DJ Benedict
***Edited -
I read the cost at $67sq (including basement)
Relooked - yes his #'s seem low by a few K's on Electical and HVAC. Plumbing looks OK.
His framing #'s are low IMO and only $2500 to sheet the house seems very low but depends on building code maybe plywood and exterior gypson is not required.
Cabinets seems inline. Purely depends on how many cabinets and sq foot of granite. Almost everyone is using shaker white or expresso these days - you can usually do a nice Kitchen and bath vanities with Quartz or Granite at $40 sq for $11-12K
In regards to floor if the bedrooms are carpet the price is also inline.
Bottom line costs are regionalized but its a bit on the low side.
Yes, these do not include GC profit. The plan is for me to fund, him to manage, and we split the net profit after sale.
@Larry Flanagan costs are doable based on my partnerships, now you have a building lot to add to the total of approximately $75k . That puts you all in at $325k. What will it sell for and anticipate 7% in selling expenses.