HOW TO BRING THE COST DOWN OF YOUR NEW CONSTRUCTION HOME PART 2
THE HEAVY HITTER: SQUARE FOOTAGE
We all know a bigger house costs more money, right? But let’s talk about the mystery of garages, porches, and footprints.
We all know a big house costs more and some may think we are just referring to heated square feet but we are also referring to garages, porches, and footprints. We have had clients send Eugene plans that have only maybe 1500 square feet of heated space but all of that is sitting on top of the garage that is the same size and has a wrap around front porch. They about have a heart attack when they see the cost per square foot of their heated space. The garages have everything the heated portion does and I mean everything, minus just one thing and you guessed it…just the heat and AC. The rest costs a lot of money!
Because we also live in a beautiful place with gorgeous weather most of the year so that means we all love covered porches! Porches cost a lot more than you would think at first glance, but consider that they require framing, a roof, electrical for your outlets, fans and lights, deck material, material to make them waterproof, windows, and doors to get out onto your porch. Sometimes you may need another door to get out onto another costly item…stairs. Around here, most people would like one of their main porches to be screened in. That is also an extra several thousand dollars depending on the size. What about a grilling deck? How expensive can they really be? Again, it depends on the size, if you need a gas line ran to it, if there are stairs from the outside, what materials it’s built out of, and a door from the house to get out to it.
The sprawling farmhouse look has been a hot trend for quite some time. We love them too! We have had unsuspecting clients bring in a house plan drawn outside of Sun Coast that is all on one level and thus often has a huge footprint. Many times the farmhouse look appears better when the garage is a side entry or pushed in the back. That means the concrete footprint is bigger too. Many times folks like to push their house further back to enjoy the grand look of this beautiful home and have sticker shock when they see the added cost of the driveway and sod for the front yard. (Most sod their front yard with some trees and bushes and seed their backyard and part of their side yards). This can easily end up costing over $10,000 in overages they may not have anticipated.
Sometimes, The Environmental Health Department surprises us with where the septic system has to go, possibly requiring us to push the house back. When we see this, we will be point it out so you can decide what you’d like to do. Often the septic permit is applied for after we go to contract so if overages are a large factor for you, applying for your septic permit before you purchase the land and finalize your contract amount with your builder is a great idea!
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT EACH OF THESE THAT MAY NOT APPEAR OBVIOUS?
PRIORITIZE
Everyone has a budget. That budget is either what you are able to spend or what you are willing to spend. Either way, it’s important to decide from a day to day perspective what is most important to you. If you collect cars, like having your big truck or all of your cars inside, want to have a big gym in your garage, have a riding lawn mower, lots of bikes and toys, need a space to refinish furniture, etc then maybe choosing a bigger garage is a great idea for you. Building a shop or detached garage later is an idea, but it usually costs more in the end.
What about porches? This also depends on your lifestyle. Do you have big gatherings at your house that are often outside? Does your whole family like to spend time out on the porch? Do you have a pool you’d like to sit near but out of the sun? Do you feel the need to be able to get to anywhere on your property from inside the house (or from outside in) quickly? If not, consider choosing just one key area by picking the best views with the most privacy for your covered porch.
The overall design of your property dictates the footprint. One level houses were once a must for those who couldn’t navigate the stairs. With residential elevators becoming much more common, this thankfully leaves folks with multi-level options that may be less expensive to build even with factoring in the added expense for the elevator. Well thought out designs of the entire project can bring down costs tremendously in some cases.
SECONDARY THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN THINGS ARE ADDING UP
- 8’ ceilings instead of 9’ or 10’
- Smaller windows
- Smaller trim
- Carpet in the bedrooms instead of hardwood or LVP
- Inserts instead of tile showers
- Less expensive finishes such as plumbing and lighting fixtures
- Lower grade vinyl siding. Lap siding instead of shake.
- Shingles instead of metal for your roof
- White windows instead of black