Replies

1. 
   poundcake | Mar 01, 2002 04:38pm | #1

   *
   I try not to answer that question in such definite terms. Rather, I try to ask as many questions as I can about their project and explain all of the different variables that can have an impact on the cost. It has been my experience that people never seem to forget the number they like the best. Then when the price of their project is more than the SqFt price you told them, no matter what the circumstances are, they feel as though you misled them. Custom homes are just that "Custom" everyone is different and so are the costs.

1. 
   Rich_Beckman | Mar 01, 2002 04:47pm | #2

   *> $125 a foot for new and $75 to $80 for additionsI have no idea, but after three (four?) years of reading this board, I was under the impression that remodeling/additions tended to cost more per sq.ft. than building new.Am I mistaken?Rich Beckman

1. 
   Bucksnort_Billy | Mar 02, 2002 02:55am | #3

   *I find those numbers pretty hard to believe also...last I heard the national spec average was around $125/'. I work for a builder in NC who gets $175/' for customs, remodeling is sometime twice that...

1. 
   RonTeti | Mar 02, 2002 04:03am | #4

   *Steve, I asked a guy the same question. Im over in O.C. He told me additions run about 80 bucks sqft. But to tell you the truth, Id reply to the guy who is asking you to let you know when hes ready and you'll give him a bid because there is a lot of varibles.

1. 
   Terry_Smiley | Mar 02, 2002 04:15am | #5

   *SteveMy answer to your question is similar to Poundcake's, but I find people are offended if you can't give them a ballpark #. My approach is to bid way to high, if the going rate is $150 I tell them $250. These conversations have always led to big trouble! They will remember $150, then they do the math excluding the garage, the swimming pool, the boathouse, the granite foyer and slate roof, and try and hold you to it. You end up squirming and looking like an incompetent boob. Scare them away, they're fishing for a sucker. Serious clients will want a more professional approach.Fool me once, shame on you.Terry

2. 
   Tamara_Rousseau | Mar 02, 2002 04:37am | #6

   *Bucksnort Billy what part of NC are you in. We are in Western NC. Just wondering if you are in a "big city".Tamara

3. 
   dj_brown | Mar 02, 2002 06:14am | #7

   *We work 30 miles out in the Atlantic on Nantucket doing ultra high end second homes.$200 a foot is for the basic house(working guy like you or I)moving all the way to $600-$700 a foot.So the market can get crazy if I were to use those prices in N.C. or Fla it all depends on so much but it really comes down to what the market will bear.

4. 
   d_j_k | Mar 02, 2002 07:17am | #8

   *Like the other dj said...It can't be one number. It has to be a range.House #1.... bottom of the range 2x4 walls , 8'cieling, linolium and carpet, laminate countertops, minimaloutlets , low cost plumbing fixture, low cost light fixtures, 85% efficient furnace, just enough windows to pass code , 15- year shingles, vinyl siding , warehouse cabinets, etc , etc.House #2.....top of the range2x6 walls / with brick veneers everywhere, 9' cielings and some 10' ceiling and some 12' ceilings,imported granite for the floor/countertops, wired to the max , data outlet and video everywhere , 99% efficient furnace, 100 - year slate shingles, Plumbing fixtures imported from Germany, expensive light fixtures (heck the bedroom closet fixture cost $400), windows everywhere, custom cabinets made from some spieces of wood just discovered in the rainforest, vertical grain cedar siding, etc, etc.dj

5. 
   rich_lisi | Mar 03, 2002 03:40am | #9

   *just today i spoke with my architect and we wondered. is there a less than a $100,000.00 renovation any more w/ all the must haves ( ganite,walk-ins, sub-z etc.)? at least there isn't on long island n.y. anyway.

6. 
   SHGLaw | Mar 03, 2002 05:02pm | #10

   *On LI, you're lucky to get a contractor to come see you for $100G. They don't want those small jobs.SHG

7. 
   Jim_Walters | Mar 03, 2002 05:42pm | #11

   *around here 125 a square will get you a very nice house....Additions? how can you ballpark an addition without seeing the prints?.....too many variables.

8. 
   Jim.B | Mar 03, 2002 06:39pm | #12

   *For us additions usually come in at near twice the cost of new, due to tying in and working around and mathcing exixting, even having to redo some of the adjoining existing componentsJim B

9. 
   Snort | Mar 28, 2002 02:16am | #13

   Tamara, First time I've been here since the reformat, whoa, am I confused. I'm in the metropolis of White Cross, population 45, but I'm right outside Chapel Hill. My oldest went to App, in Boone, you anywhere near there?

10. 
    Mongo | Mar 28, 2002 03:57am | #14

    CT:

    Heated, $215 and up...and up...and up...

    Unheated, $75-85

    Additions? Depends...to many variables.

11. 
    roucru | Mar 28, 2002 06:23am | #17

    We are about an hour and 15 min. south. We are on the Tennessee/North Carolina border in WNC.  In a town called Bakersville.

    Lars went to Appalachian in Boone in the 80's. Graduated from there. I will have to look up where you live on the map. I have only been here three years. Grew up in Knoxville, Tn. and still trying to find my way around here in NC!Tamara

2. 
   Qtrmeg | Mar 28, 2002 04:05am | #15

   "Im talking the # you use to start a conversation, at a party someone asks, ..."

   Answer; all you have, plus 50%.

   The funny thing about numbers is that the person may only have a number or two as a reference to enter battle with the evil contractors, and you will make it or break it when you play their game based on the number you throw out. As others have mentioned, if your kneejerk number increases by the time you are looking for a sig, you have already lost some trust. I don't ballpark or sq ft, and I only quote when I am sure my costs are covered.

   I have yet to meet a client that knows what they want, or has a clue what things really look like when all is said and done; if you want to enter a competitive bidding war knowing that, you will have your butt handed to you by the first clown to come along with a pie-in-the-sky bid. We all get about the same money, sell them their dreams, create the dreams with your skill.

   You wanted to know the differences around the country, but the differences are also from contractor to contractor. We are like snowflakes.

1. 
   blue_eyed_de | Mar 28, 2002 04:24am | #16

   Instead of ballparking, I make a reference to a past job. It might sound like this: "I just finished roufhing in a house over there in Regency Hills for $19,500. It had blah, blah, blah."

   I'm just trying to expose them to my experience. Quite often they are attempting to get a general idea of how much things cost. For instance, do you know how much a gall bladder removal is? If you were paying, wouldn't you want to know  general idea?

   blue

3. 
   andybuildz | Mar 28, 2002 11:51am | #18

   On Long Island in New York here...I tell folks that insist on asking that question that the rate varies from $150 to $250 a sq ft but not to count on that as a given either due to all the what ifs. If I have to tie into an existing structure its more. If its new (say a garage) its less. If I'm continuing oak or tile flooring into the new work....its more. One thing it DOES save on in a lot of instances is "my time". What I really hate is someone asking me to figure the job out that they might not even do....hence, the Sonny Lykos solution. "Charge for estimates"!!! A sq ft price is good for someone just pondering the work I spose. Not accurate but something to go with.

   It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   BossHog | Mar 28, 2002 09:20pm | #19

   I think a rough guess is O.K. to use as a guide, not as an estimate.

   for instance - My neighbor asked me the other day how much it would cost to put a roof on her house. I don't think she has any intention of really doing it. And I know that her 90 year old house needs a lot more than just shingles. It needs some repair, plywood, new sofit and fascia, and new gutters. I told her she might as well figure on $5,000. Hard to know when to quit when you get into an old house that hasn't been taken care of. That ended the conversation real quick.

   I figured that she thought she could hire me cheap to do the work on the side for a few hundred. No sense wasting time on bidding something she's not going to follow through on.

   If I had any inkling that she might be serious about it, I'd work on putting an estimate together. But there's no sense wasting time on something I know someone won't do.

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Mar 28, 2002 11:01pm | #20

   my architect friends tell me they are doing $200-$600 for teh big ones...

   me.. i never give SF ballparks anymore... they bear no relation to the finished project..

   instead i do what blue described... "well, we just finished an addition for $150K...

    or we're starting a 2-bedroom , 1 bath and enclosed porch for $140K...

   examples that a real customer can relate to.. they have no idea what's included in a sf cost.... AND   

   after reading builder/ architectural mags and listening to others for 30 years, i defy anyone else to tell what is and what isn't included in a SF price....it's all BS..

   you want a ballpark?  first tell me if it's Fenway or mcCoy stadium ....

   but hey, whadda i no ?Mike Smith

   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

4. 
   Deconst | Mar 29, 2002 04:43am | #21

   The next time you get a question like that from some smart guy, (usually, an engineer) about the cost of an addition to his home,  here's a few suggestions.

   Tell him to estimate the value of his home, or what he'd like to get for it ( in this case, the higher the better), and divide by the existing square footage. 

   Another idea is to ask him when was the last time he purchased a new car by the square foot?

    That should put things in more of a perspective and, as a bonus, prevent him from asking any more stupid questions.

1. 
   brownbagg | Mar 29, 2002 05:04am | #22

   around here brand new with land and all the trimming is about $65 sq ft. a 1200 sq ft house for $150,000 would never sell. Here a 1200 sells for $75,000 and that is high

1. 
   SonnyLykos | Mar 29, 2002 05:33am | #23

   When someone used to ask me how much to remodel the kitchen or how much a sq. ft. for an additon, if it was a woman, I looked her straight in the face and asked: "How much is a house?" If it was a man, I asked him: "How much is a car?"

   After they realized the folly of their question, we got into the nitty gritty - intelligently.

1. 
   blue_eyed_de | Mar 29, 2002 06:01am | #25

   Great replies Sonny! Short and to the point.

   blue

2. 
   Piffin | Mar 29, 2002 05:51am | #24

   Another idea is to ask him when was the last time he purchased a new car by the square foot?

   LOL

   or by the pound!

   Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   CloudHidden | Mar 29, 2002 07:30am | #26

   >Another idea is to ask him when was the last time he purchased a new car by the square foot?

   Thanks, I'm gonna use that one A LOT!