What’s the going rate nowadays? I’m talking to a builder who I have seen a handful of their houses and love the way they look inside and out. Basically the builder says that they can do stick build which would probably run around $180 ft2, or they can take the same plan and build it as a modular for $150 ft2. Do these prices seem reasonable? My understanding is that this does not include the foundation costs. This would be a house that is built up off of the flood level where the ground level is garage with steps up to the 1 rst floor.
I know nothing about building, so trying to figure out the best way to handle negotiations, get a fair price, etc.
skinneej, I was going to build a modular and went with a stick built and am glad I did. What you are going to get with a modular is the basic building blocks. Kind of like the blocks you played with as a kid. You will have to sub contract out everything else. The modular company will give you the specs for the foundation and set it in place. You will wind up being the General Contractor doing everything else. If you look at a modular contract, it will say Built By Others. That means porches, steps, foundation electrical lines, poles, waterlines, wells, heating and cooling etc! I got away cheaper with a stick built and if something was wrong, I only had to yell at 1 person!
That seems high, but with building up like that on stilts over a garage maybe not. Most builders I talked to are in the 90-100 a sq.ft. But then again I’m not talking anything fancy or around the coast.
skinneej, I was going to build a modular and went with a stick built and am glad I did. What you are going to get with a modular is the basic building blocks. Kind of like the blocks you played with as a kid. You will have to sub contract out everything else. The modular company will give you the specs for the foundation and set it in place. You will wind up being the General Contractor doing everything else. If you look at a modular contract, it will say Built By Others. That means porches, steps, foundation electrical lines, poles, waterlines, wells, heating and cooling etc! I got away cheaper with a stick built and if something was wrong, I only had to yell at 1 person!
For sure. I'm not planning on building it myself. My understanding is that the builder designs the house, sends the specs in to get the modular units built, and put their own touches on it (porches, etc). They deliver to me turn key.
Those prices were what the builder quoted me for the builder to do either approach with the same plan.
A modular typically has 20% more wood in it, to stiffen it for transport by truck! You can be assured that it is square also, because it is built in a jig!
That’s not unreasonable if you are looking at a high level of finishes and top end products such as impact glass, commercial grade appliances/fixtures etc. the foundation portion gives pause though, I’d have that nailed down and firm in the price I was getting, you could lose your ass on that part.
Is he taking Modular or panelized? Two completely different products.
Mark
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Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
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Skinnee
we are going through a similar process?..modular vs. stick built.
We’ve gotten quotes for both from two companies. The modular was local the stick built was a national, franchised builder. Both elevated to meet flood zone requirements. Both for similar sized homes (~1800 sq ft), different floor plans. The modular quote did not include any of the site work (clearing, septic, well) the stick built did. The modular promised quicker time to certificate of occupancy. Estimated prices?.modular was 228,000; stick built 257,000. That’s about $126-140/sq ft. Your 150/sq ft for modular seems high as does the $180 for stick built. But, that could be the result of finishes.
Good luck!!! It’s a crazy process, lots of permits and surveys and paperwork!!!
Whatever you do, don’t let them put cheap factory cabinets in there, make sure they are good custom ones. There are some good factory-made ones out there that are a good custom grade, but not many builders seem to use them if that same builder does modular.
There are a handful of really good cabinet shops around here. I work at one myself, so obviously I’m biased, but I’d rather see them come from even one of our competitors than to see you spend nearly the same amount of money for inferior cabinets.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
I’d personally stray away from modular homes. There not terrible, but sub par quality compared to a stick built home by a quality builder.
Unfortunately right now prices are high and the $150-200 sq range. Buy once cry once, if you go the cheap modular route you will regret it. I’ve inspected many modular homes and have never been impressed.
It really depends on finishes (everything from what type of wood floors, stone, quality of paint, siding choices, doors, windows, appliances, molding, etc.). We’ve built several houses and the prices can really vary. We built a house years ago for $115/ft in Mount Pleasant. Several years later, we built the exact same house on a different lot with much higher end finishes throughout for $165/ft. The bones were the same, but all the finishes were much nicer. That is the biggest cost driver and why you must compare apples to apples when getting prices from builders. If they don’t price out exactly the same finishes throughout the house, you end up comparing apples to oranges and will get surprised/disappointed down the road. We built our last house in 2010 when prices were very low due to the market downturn. Prices are way back up from those levels. Good luck!
I can’t imaging trying to build a house today at 150-200 sq-ft and remain right side up with market value upon completion unless it was on a premium piece of property.
There is nothing wrong with either one. It is like everything else, go with a cheap builder, get a cheap built house. Go with a lower end modular manufacturer, get a cheap built house.
This thing about being the General Cont if you go modular, may be the case when just hire “electors”, but if go modular, find a builder with experience with modulars. He will give you a price to get your CO, including the foundation. If you go stick built, find the builder that is experienced in stick built. In my years of supplying the structural drawings for houses and the foundations for elevated houses, both modular and stick built, I have not run across a builder that was strong in both! Just my personal experience.
As stated earlier, both types can be great. You will not be able to tell a well built modular from a stick built once done, except for the wider door jam at a connection point. Modulars have a higher quality control when built and from what I have seen are very well built. Mainly from having to be transported as said by an earlier poster.
Unfortunately, it is like everything else in that you have to do the research and interview the builders. Don’t ask them what they do or will provide. Ask them what they have done, ask them for references to call and call them! TELL them what YOU want and have them include everything in the fee until you have a CO (certificate of occupany) in hand. Thoroughly read the contract to make sure everything YOU wanted is in there. Be careful just asking two different builders things in conversation. They often have very different methods and the cheaper ones cost will increase once you get to the details of the contract. I have seen many clients change builders 2-3 times before they actually got started building.
I would be happy to help you out with any questions, foundation design, or just sharing what I have seen. Just PM me and I will send you my number if interested.
Get ready to have some serious patience or be very frustrated at times!
I built a modular 3000 sq. ft. raised low country style house about eight years ago. I went with a high end modular factory/plant. I used 2by6s throughout as a min requirement, top of the line windows,and such. I purchased or contracted all the cabinets,hardwood,tile,plumbing,porches(South American hardwoods). Etc,etc,etc. I like this house a lot and my builder and inspector friends have been impressed with the construction and finishes.
I would do modular again. There are many stick built home builders that do a great job. Building is starting to pick up.
$180/sf without the cost of the foundation is a very high price. An elevated foundation is going to be one of the larger pieces of the pie. If you plan on using the space for anything other than parking I would suggest solid cmu as opposed to piers and end filled break away wood walls. I have about 700 sf that is climate controlled in our garage in an elevated house. Makes for great storage and man cave.
Basically the best way to maximize your price per sq/ft is to maximize the heated square footage under roof and over foundation. A 1 story ranch is more expensive than a 2 story with the same sq ft. Another factor as Comp Time said is finishes. Its really like asking how much a car costs?
I have built hundreds of homes in the last 20 years and I can promise the pricing you were given had alot of profit in it for the builder. Building and labor prices are much higher than they were a couple years ago but you can build a really nice house for $135/sf with the correct GC. I am finishing up a monster of a house, just under 8000sf, with all the bells and whistles and are at around $150/sf. House has 107 windows and 10 doors and were done using Anderson 400 series and Eagle series and custom mahogany. Finishes thru out are top notch, custom cabinets, custom mosaic tile patterns, quartz and high end granite tops in the kitchen and 8 bathrooms, Wolf 48" range, 48" sub zero, custom built bunk beds, complete house automation, custom security with fiber optic cameras (if you set foot on the property, I know about it and have live and recorded HD video from an array of cameras…sweet!!!), back up diesel generator, etc. etc.
“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson
$180/sf without the cost of the foundation is a very high price. An elevated foundation is going to be one of the larger pieces of the pie. If you plan on using the space for anything other than parking I would suggest solid cmu as opposed to piers and end filled break away wood walls. I have about 700 sf that is climate controlled in our garage in an elevated house. Makes for great storage and man cave.
Basically the best way to maximize your price per sq/ft is to maximize the heated square footage under roof and over foundation. A 1 story ranch is more expensive than a 2 story with the same sq ft. Another factor as Comp Time said is finishes. Its really like asking how much a car costs?
I have built hundreds of homes in the last 20 years and I can promise the pricing you were given had alot of profit in it for the builder. Building and labor prices are much higher than they were a couple years ago but you can build a really nice house for $135/sf with the correct GC. I am finishing up a monster of a house, just under 8000sf, with all the bells and whistles and are at around $150/sf. House has 107 windows and 10 doors and were done using Anderson 400 series and Eagle series and custom mahogany. Finishes thru out are top notch, custom cabinets, custom mosaic tile patterns, quartz and high end granite tops in the kitchen and 8 bathrooms, Wolf 48" range, 48" sub zero, custom built bunk beds, complete house automation, custom security with fiber optic cameras (if you set foot on the property, I know about it and have live and recorded HD video from an array of cameras…sweet!!!), back up diesel generator, etc. etc.
“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson
$180/sf without the cost of the foundation is a very high price. An elevated foundation is going to be one of the larger pieces of the pie. If you plan on using the space for anything other than parking I would suggest solid cmu as opposed to piers and end filled break away wood walls. I have about 700 sf that is climate controlled in our garage in an elevated house. Makes for great storage and man cave.
Basically the best way to maximize your price per sq/ft is to maximize the heated square footage under roof and over foundation. A 1 story ranch is more expensive than a 2 story with the same sq ft. Another factor as Comp Time said is finishes. Its really like asking how much a car costs?
I have built hundreds of homes in the last 20 years and I can promise the pricing you were given had alot of profit in it for the builder. Building and labor prices are much higher than they were a couple years ago but you can build a really nice house for $135/sf with the correct GC. I am finishing up a monster of a house, just under 8000sf, with all the bells and whistles and are at around $150/sf. House has 107 windows and 10 doors and were done using Anderson 400 series and Eagle series and custom mahogany. Finishes thru out are top notch, custom cabinets, custom mosaic tile patterns, quartz and high end granite tops in the kitchen and 8 bathrooms, Wolf 48" range, 48" sub zero, custom built bunk beds, complete house automation, custom security with fiber optic cameras (if you set foot on the property, I know about it and have live and recorded HD video from an array of cameras…sweet!!!), back up diesel generator, etc. etc.
“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson
That’s insane. We built a 3000 s/f house ourselves with a fully enclosed garage underneath, big front steps, Charleston style porches front and back on both levels, 4 total, with hardi siding, tile, trim galore, custom cabinets, granite, and high end appliance for about $115 sf. Add in contractor profit, overhead costs, permitting and insurance for labor, and I would think $150 s/f should get you a top built coastal house on block pilings fully enclosed easily.
