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Tips for Building a New Home

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CyState85

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2019
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My wife and I are planning to build a new home and are looking for advice to save money on this process. So many new builds in Iowa are going for $200/square foot and that is entirely out of our price range.

We don’t need/want anything fancy at all—-1500-1700 total square footage with 3BR, 2.5BA with 2 car garage, standard cabinets, and a partially finished basement. Any tips, tricks, things to keep in mind to cut costs?

I know the house description is vague, but we are in the beginning stages of this process and want to eliminate things from the get go if it’s going to jack up the price.
 
Why build when you can park?

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cyfan92 said:
Save your money and buy used. New construction is crazy expensive for like 1 million reasons
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This. And I have heard too many horror stories of issues in the new build that the general contractor wants nothing to do with despite offering "new home warranty". Let someone else work out the kinks and buy it from them a few years later for cheaper.
 
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I’ve have had 2 houses built. If I had to do it again I’d buy a pre existing home. Just make sure the roof and HVAC (the big ticket items) are in great shape and you’ll get more for your money. For me, the worst part of new construction is the yards are **** and impossible to grow decent grass on even with irrigation and no big trees for a couple dozen years...
 
What scared me in the OP was trying to save money or cut costs for new construction.. The quality of budget new homes is already pretty horrific. I would hate to see what corners they would cut further. That said, my boss has a $800K plus new home and it's stunning. You get what you pay for

Mrs and I bought a 2012 build home, 2 years ago. We have several friends with brand new homes and our house definetly has a better quality and is much cheaper on a /sf basis. Also the trees are 8-9 years bigger than new.
 
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CyState85 said:
My wife and I are planning to build a new home and are looking for advice to save money on this process. So many new builds in Iowa are going for $200/square foot and that is entirely out of our price range.

We don’t need/want anything fancy at all—-1500-1700 total square footage with 3BR, 2.5BA with 2 car garage, standard cabinets, and a partially finished basement. Any tips, tricks, things to keep in mind to cut costs?

I know the house description is vague, but we are in the beginning stages of this process and want to eliminate things from the get go if it’s going to jack up the price.
Click to expand...

Whoa. 3 years ago we were hearing $150/square foot. What is going on?
 
cyfan92 said:
Labor shortage, material prices skyrocketing, demand due to low interest rates and incomes rising, keeping up with the jones'.. I can keep going for awhile
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Makes sense. I look forward to taking advantage of the coming recession
 
Any changes after initial pricing will kill you.

Know exactly what cabinet pulls, lights, faucets, floor coverings, sinks ...... you want because any changes with have a surcharge. (Ours was 7% of the cost of the item).
 
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Don't forget other sometimes forgotten expenses that fill the new house. Appliances, furniture, decor, etc. all add up quickly.
 
CyState85 said:
My wife and I are planning to build a new home and are looking for advice to save money on this process. So many new builds in Iowa are going for $200/square foot and that is entirely out of our price range.

We don’t need/want anything fancy at all—-1500-1700 total square footage with 3BR, 2.5BA with 2 car garage, standard cabinets, and a partially finished basement. Any tips, tricks, things to keep in mind to cut costs?

I know the house description is vague, but we are in the beginning stages of this process and want to eliminate things from the get go if it’s going to jack up the price.
Click to expand...

Unless you are going to do a lot of it yourself, it's going to be hard to just cut costs without giving things up. I had a buddy who dug his basement, did his own plumbing and electric, did all the painting and a few other things and I think he said he was in the $120 range. I was looking into potentially building and when it was all said and done, I decided that if there was any sort of budget needed, it wasn't worth it.
 
cyfan92 said:
What scared me in the OP was trying to save money or cut costs for new construction.. The quality of budget new homes is already pretty horrific. I would hate to see what corners they would cut further. That said, my boss has a $800K plus new home and it's stunning. You get what you pay for

Mrs and I bought a 2012 build home, 2 years ago. We have several friends with brand new homes and our house definetly has a better quality and is much cheaper on a /sf basis. Also the trees are 8-9 years bigger than new.
Click to expand...

I figured for a 3000 sq ft. home I was looking at $600000 if I was building it to live in for life. $450000 if I wanted to cheapen some things up. I just never made the math make sense but I totally get building if you know what you want and have the funds (I didn't have either).

I'd also maybe let the economy shake down a little bit. I'd be surprised if the people holding these homes don't need some cash flow here in the near future and you may be able to low ball your way into something. I wouldn't be afraid of low balling at all right now.
 
There are two things a man has that he never thinks are quite big enough.

One of them is his garage. Do not scrimp on the size of your garage!!!! Relatively cheap space and you will never regret adding the SF if you can.
 
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FIVE count them 5 cars worth of garage space. Maybe 4, if you put in a good sized workshop area.

Wasn't there a thread just like this maybe a month ago? Try searching for that, lots of good tips there too.
 
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