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How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

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Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#21

Post by carllerche »

kqr2 wrote: post #15
maratd wrote: post #12

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.

I had good luck. As mentioned above, finding a good GC is not easy because they do not advertise. It is entirely word of mouth.

I live in the pacific NW where there are a lot of old craftsman style homes. High quality woodwork details is the theme.

I started by calling high end custom furniture shops and asked them if they could do built in cabinetry work. They did not, but they recommended a number of woodworkers that moved on from furniture into contracting (carpentry, custom window sashes, storm windows, etc...).

Then, I asked them what GCs they have worked with in the past and which they would recommend.

A few names came up often, I spoke with them, picked one, and was really happy with the work.

I guess the tl;dr is, good GCs use highly skilled subs, so find the subs then ask which GCs they recommend.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#22

Post by rootusrootus »

I've always wondered what software developers make in the heart of silicon valley. I see some things that basically say 'more than Portland but only by maybe 50% or so', which means perhaps $180K or so? Nobody is buying a million dollar house on that kind of income, but in Portland (where I think houses are pretty expensive) someone making $120K wouldn't have any problem buying a perfectly fine place, even pretty close in to the urban core.

Maybe I'm getting my numbers from the wrong place.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#23

Post by Zhenya »

rootusrootus wrote: post #22

I've always wondered what software developers make in the heart of silicon valley. I see some things that basically say 'more than Portland but only by maybe 50% or so', which means perhaps $180K or so? Nobody is buying a million dollar house on that kind of income, but in Portland (where I think houses are pretty expensive) someone making $120K wouldn't have any problem buying a perfectly fine place, even pretty clo…

These homes aren't being built/bought by your general software dev.

This is the Dir/VP/EVP + founders + high equity;low digit employee id exitors.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#24

Post by stanleydrew »

rootusrootus wrote: post #22

I've always wondered what software developers make in the heart of silicon valley. I see some things that basically say 'more than Portland but only by maybe 50% or so', which means perhaps $180K or so? Nobody is buying a million dollar house on that kind of income, but in Portland (where I think houses are pretty expensive) someone making $120K wouldn't have any problem buying a perfectly fine place, even pretty clo…

Salary varies with experience and size of company quite a lot, but $180,000 is certainly not outside the norm. I think it's possible to buy a $1M house on that income if you save for 4-5 years.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#25

Post by dcldcl »

kqr2 wrote: post #15
maratd wrote: post #12

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.

1. Keep talking to people who've finished projects. Eventually you'll get to people who recommend their GC.

2. If you've run out of people to chat up, try going to your city's build permits department and see which builders have been getting permits in the last few years. Not a guarantee of quality, but gives you a list to interview.

3. Ask for referrals from your architect or engineer. And then ask the referrals for references.

But even if you do this, finding a good GC in Silicon Valley is very hard right now.

I tried getting contractors to bid almost a year ago. From 25 calls/emails, I got replies from about 8. Of those, half said some variant of "sorry, too busy to take on new projects right now."

I can't imagine how much crazier it'll be this year with the hotter housing market and the added demand for rebuilding after the fires.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#26

Post by Y7ZCQtNo39 »

Zhenya wrote: post #23
rootusrootus wrote: post #22

I've always wondered what software developers make in the heart of silicon valley. I see some things that basically say 'more than Portland but only by maybe 50% or so', which means perhaps $180K or so? Nobody is buying a million dollar house on that kind of income, but in Portland (where I think houses are pretty expensive) someone making $120K wouldn't have any problem buying a perfectly fine place, even pretty clo…

These homes aren't being built/bought by your general software dev. This is the Dir/VP/EVP + founders + high equity;low digit employee id exitors.

Aren't there many more general software developers than there are VP's, founders, and low digit employee exiters?

Like, I'm curious what drives the demand for homes in the ~$2M range in the bay area, if it's not the general software developer who's able to afford it.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#27

Post by woolvalley »

jacobolus wrote: post #16
matte_black wrote: post #9

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…

Bedrooms, multiple kids, large spacious bathrooms, an office, a gym, a combined living room/kitchen/dining room open space for hosting parties, and most importantly of all, storage space. That can become 3000 sqft fairly quickly, of which you only use 1000 sqft frequently as a family :D

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#28

Post by linkregister »

This is an interesting article that describes building a $2-6 million dollar house in a matter-of-fact manner. I wonder what the prospective audience size for this article is in the Bay Area –maybe less than 5000 local people are capable of affording these properties.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#29

Post by jonathankoren »

Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #26
Zhenya wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These homes aren't being built/bought by your general software dev. This is the Dir/VP/EVP + founders + high equity;low digit employee id exitors.

Aren't there many more general software developers than there are VP's, founders, and low digit employee exiters? Like, I'm curious what drives the demand for homes in the ~$2M range in the bay area, if it's not the general software developer who's able to afford it.

With two software developers in the family you're bringing in 300k to 400k. That makes 2M much more reachable.

Re: How much does it cost to build a home in Silicon Valley? (2016)

#30

Post by Zhenya »

Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #26
Zhenya wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These homes aren't being built/bought by your general software dev. This is the Dir/VP/EVP + founders + high equity;low digit employee id exitors.

Aren't there many more general software developers than there are VP's, founders, and low digit employee exiters? Like, I'm curious what drives the demand for homes in the ~$2M range in the bay area, if it's not the general software developer who's able to afford it.

~$2M is definitely an established developer.

But this home was estimated north of $6M

"The total cost would be $6,562,500."

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