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these numbers seem wildly inaccurate
Maybe I'm missing something but it looks like she omitted general contractor fees unless she rolled them into the sq/ft cost. Not that most people are qualified but I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. It's worth calling out as it's own item... I found an up and coming architect so my design fees were substantially less than my GC fees... by about 8-10x.
> I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money.
Do not do this unless you know what you're doing. One bad contractor (and you will be hiring many) can trash the whole project. The value of the GC is that he brings a stable of quality contractors that he knows and works with.
I've gone both ways, it really depends on the situation.
Maybe I'm missing something but it looks like she omitted general contractor fees unless she rolled them into the sq/ft cost. Not that most people are qualified but I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. It's worth calling out as it's own item... I found an up and coming architect so my design fees were substantially less than my GC fees... by about 8-10x.
Square foot costs are only given by a GC, so that's already included. > I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. Do not do this unless you know what you're doing. One bad contractor (and you will be hiring many) can trash the whole project. The value of the GC is that he brings a stable of quality contractors that he knows and works with. I've gone both ways, it really depends on th…
these numbers seem wildly inaccurate
Maybe I'm missing something but it looks like she omitted general contractor fees unless she rolled them into the sq/ft cost. Not that most people are qualified but I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. It's worth calling out as it's own item... I found an up and coming architect so my design fees were substantially less than my GC fees... by about 8-10x.
Square foot costs are only given by a GC, so that's already included. > I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. Do not do this unless you know what you're doing. One bad contractor (and you will be hiring many) can trash the whole project. The value of the GC is that he brings a stable of quality contractors that he knows and works with. I've gone both ways, it really depends on th…
Not sure what I am supposed to do with the extra 3500 square feet there...
Movie theatre, grand dining room, home gym, steam room, VR room, office, woodworking shop, wine cellar, etc. The possibilities are endless.
More seriously, in general single-family houses should be on the order of 1000–2000 square feet. The rest is typically a complete waste (nobody I know who has a 4000+ square foot house actually uses most of the space – people with real on-site wood shops etc. put them in a separate space detached from their home, not in spare bedrooms), and serves to isolate households from each-other, force a car-centric lifestyle, drive up housing costs for everyone and force people working essential menial jobs to live far away and commute long distances, cost much more public infrastructure than denser alternatives, etc.
I have a several rich programmer friends (early facebook or whatever) who bought outrageously large houses in Silicon Valley as a status symbol, but work all the time, eat out every meal, and only go home to sleep. What a tremendous demonstration of unthinking excess.
these numbers seem wildly inaccurate
Presumably you mean they're to low? Don't forget that land and construction prices have continued to increase by a fair amount in the past two years, so expect to pay somewhere between 10% and 20% more, depending on the area. Also note that your local muni government may flat out refuse to let you build the house you want to build, depending on which city you're in and how big the house is you're trying to build.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Movie theatre, grand dining room, home gym, steam room, VR room, office, woodworking shop, wine cellar, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Not to mention living with all of your extended family under one roof, starting a church or homeless shelter or disco club, stockpiling enough food to outlast a zombie uprising, or displaying your collection of luxury cars you never drive.... More seriously, in general single-family houses should be on the order of 1000–2000 square feet. The rest is typically a complete waste (nobody I know who has a 4000+ square foo…
You could turn a garage into a wood shop though if you don’t have a particular need to store your car in a garage.
The point of a large home is to turn it into your own personal oasis where you can spend days at a time without ever really needing to leave, and without feeling bored. The thing is, many people just don’t know how to live in a big house, because they spend so much time in cramped quarters until they can afford a home. A big house is all about features. Every room is an opportunity to have a space dedicated for something, if not for sleeping. Mindless excess is dumb, but thoughtful excess is amazing.
Had a chat with our insurance agent recently; she wants us to increase our insurance coverage on our home in old palo alto, which is currently calculated based on $350/sq.ft. rebuild cost. She said that clients in the burned-out areas in Santa Rosa were being quoted much higher rates, and although she admitted that was partly due to a large number of people competing for contractors all at once, she believes $450 is…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Square foot costs are only given by a GC, so that's already included. > I know people who GC the projects themselves to save a great deal of money. Do not do this unless you know what you're doing. One bad contractor (and you will be hiring many) can trash the whole project. The value of the GC is that he brings a stable of quality contractors that he knows and works with. I've gone both ways, it really depends on th…
Any advice on how to find a good GC? All the people I know who remodeled their home seem to have horror stories. A couple of them ended in law suits with the GC.