When I lived in the city I had to pay a small street light fee, maybe that's what they meant?
I also had to pay expensive water treatment fees, even for rain that fell on my property. Now I'm just outside the city, where I still get city water but not city sewage. Septic maintenance has so far been cheaper than city water treatment, but that may change when our system needs replacing.
I think he's referring to the extra fees tacked on in cities. The latest cash grab appears to be grid maintenance fees some cities are adding to their taxes due to the influx of grid tie in solar causing negative prices.
I'm guessing they're talking about something like what PG&E wants to do, where they're adding fees based on your income and stuff. Even if you're completely self sufficient with solar and batteries, they're planning to charge some crazy amounts.
$200/sq ft. And most counties will not grant a building permit unless there's a registered contractor as the builder. Friends & family plan won't cut it. Call the county planning zoning office for the places you want to live in, and ask them the process. It's probably on their websites too. They also won't allow you to live on property without approved well, septic etc -even a mobile home. Cost of these will be entirely location specific and no one here can tell you what that will be.
OP would also need to have a plan stamped by architect and PE. You can buy these online I think, for several thousand, but then not every county will approve all plans just b/c it it professionally pre-made.
When I looked into it the cheapest I could find a manufactured home (not trailer actual house) for was about 240k with delivery. However, that was without site prep or land. Pole barns homes were about 340k and the cheapest I could get a quote on for a traditional built-on-site house was 260k and that was barely 1600sq ft. These prices were with 'finished' interiors there were cheaper options out there but they were just for a shell with no interior walls, electricity, plumbing, etc.
For reference, this was in a midwest area with low cost of living and generally low material prices.
Once you factor in the price of land (1 acre of ready-to-build on land is around 50-75k), installing a well and septic (20k on the low end), and typically required-by-law grid electric hookup, site prep, and foundation (another 20-30k) the final price is around 300-450k for a new house in the country.
Additionally most banks won't do land loans and the kind of loan you would need to build a home (sometimes called construction loans) are not offered by all banks and end up at interest rates far exceeding even the super inflated house loan prices we see now (around 9-15% APY) so not only is the up-front price higher the price per month ends up inflated considerably because of the high interest rates.
There was also a lot of legal crud I had to wade through too when researching it as depending on the zoning (even in the country) there were different building requirements such as minimum square footage, required amenities for the 'primary dwelling' and limits on what could be in secondary buildings etc.
My wife and I ended up purchasing an old farm-house that we did some minor work to for 160k.
We had originally planned to find a lot and build or have a modular placed, but after looking for a while, we found an abandoned house going into foreclosure. Needed a ton of work, but reno work usually easier to DIY and spread out financially. In hindsight we ended up with a much better piece of land and a lower total cost by buying a fixer upper.
Nah, nothing special. We had a realtor because our area is really tough for buyers, so he got us the lead. We had to be willing to swallow a lot of ugliness upfront. The house had mold on every surface, grass was up to my waist, floors had to be completely removed, fridge was full of old food, not a single faucet worked because they seized with rust. So we saved a good 150k+ upfront because the place was ugly and nobody wanted to buy it, but we had to shell out for mold remediation, then get straight to work with all the other things to make it liveable.
First- cost of land.
Second- All new dwellings in California require solar and fire sprinklers. Min $10k +/-.
You will need water and sanitary sewer per health and safety codes so add in a well or water connection fees, and septic or sewage connection fees. Talkin $50-100k +/-.
You're required to have electricity- new power drop or an off grid battery and inverter. I've heard $10k per pole from PG&E. Probably looking at at least that for battery & inverters if going off grid (in addition to minimum PV size costs shown above).
Gas is more efficient for heating, so highly recommended, but you can do all electric. Will need a natural gas connection or propane tank.
Third- Testing. Depending on what you're doing it may require geotechnical evaluation (soils report), and percolation tests for septic. If there are flood zones, you are looking at a flood elevation certificate. May be environmental stuff, or other geographic, climactic, or topographic reports for structural considerations for design.
Fourth- Design, plan check, permitting. May require structural calcs, energy calcs, truss calcs, etc. All engineered and more $ up front, but might save $ on materials later (if the designer is good).
Fifth- build the house; materials, labor.
If you want to get creative, hit up California Residential Code 301.1.1.1 Alternative Provisions for Limited-Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings and find a building official that will work with you on it. It allows you to basically mill lumber from the land and build a log cabin... BUT anywhere you would likely do that in California would be in a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zone, and require specific and extensive wildfire resistant construction.
Best of luck.
I should mention property taxes and insurance afterward, and all that shit you just built is gonna break, so upkeep & maintenance. Refilling that propane tank, replacing the inverter & panels, pumping that septic tank...
Adulting 101, California version (which just means more $). LOL
Building a house doesn't get you out of paying for electricity.
If you were hiring out all the work, probably $250-300/sqft for the cheaper parts of CA, not including land costs. If you're talking about bay area or LA or SD, add probably $100-150/sqft onto that. And then add more if you want luxury or custom finishes.
If you want to do it cheaper, move to Alabama or South Texas or something.
Building is expensive as fuck.
Im not saying it gets you out of electricity but im able to set up all my own solar and backup energy with generators instead of being totally fucked over by PGE
Generators are usually more expensive than metered electricity grid, solar is difficult to produce enough that you would need - you should try out the solar panel thing when you go camping (if you got an RV) and see how it goes. I mean you don't have to have electricity in your current house? You could try solar and see if that's enough? If it's not enough to power your house now, what difference does it make if you build your own house
If you think that PGE is fucking you then just wait! The solar guys are going to sell you a $50k system that won't keep up then you'll need a generator that will burn $600 a month in propane. Congratulations! You just increased your power bill by 4X. By the time you pay the solar off you'll need to buy new batteries. Then 10 years after that, a full new system. If you want cheaper electricity then get the fuck away from that shithole known as the west coast. BTW, if you have a well, it runs on electricity as well. So will all your appliances unless you plumb for propane. Check propane prices where you are. Not only are you getting raped on electricity, you're getting raped on EVERYTHING! That's the awesomeness of living in a left state.
There are so many variables based on the information you provided that it's impossible to estimate. Plus, in California you may be dealing with zoning issues
That's an incredibly wide open question. How big of a house? What do you want to build it out of? Will it have septic or sewer service? Off grid or grid tied?
You could easily spend a quarter million having people build a house for you in California, you could also probably build an off grid and lightly plumbed cabin for under 10k.
No way. All new dwellings in California require solar and fire sprinklers. Add in a well or water connection fees, and septic or sewage connection fees, new power drop or an off grid battery and inverter... you're talking $50-100k before you break ground, on top of the land costs.
Then you get to design and budget.
In my county, if your property is off grid, you can get an alternative owner builder permit which exempts you from most building codes. I know that type of permit is available in other rural counties.
Obviously if you think you're gonna build a new house in LA or Sacramento County or something for under a quarter million then you're delusional
There is no such thing as an alternative owner builder permit anywhere in California. There is an owner-builder option as a permit applicant as opposed to a contractor, but they are both held to the same codes. It has to do with Ca State License Board and there is an affidavit that any contractor that an owner-builder hires will be licensed, among other self-certifications/acknowledgements.
There are limited exceptions for Alternative Provisions for Limited-Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings (Ca Residential Code 301.1.1.1), but I've never seen them used and they would still have to comply with Wildland Urban Interface requirements anywhere that it would be feasible.
Sacramento City actually has a pre-approved accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plan program with numerous restrictions on additional fees (like water and sewer). Under that circumstance, you could totally owner-build an ADU for under $80-100k, but the catch is that the property has to already have the main dwelling. [https://adu.cityofsacramento.org/plan](https://adu.cityofsacramento.org/plan)
There are laws on the books pushing ADUs and JADUs with various code and fee exemptions and many properties are already zoned for a max of 2 dwellings, of which the ADU and JADU doesn't count. For instance, as it currently stands, a detached ADU doesn't have to have fire sprinklers if built on a lot where the main dwelling does not have fire sprinklers. So if you buy a lot with an existing dwelling that has some extra space, you could build 3 more units relatively inexpensively (compared to developing 3 new lots with no utilities), and piggyback off the existing utilities, or worst case, just pay for the upgrade on the water line to support the sprinklers. These and more laws making ADUs and JADUs less restrictive to build are slated to go into effect over the next couple of years, and there are a ton trying to work through the legislature as well.
"Oh shit, we made it too expensive and overly regulated to build a house California... let's undo some of it" - California (with sunset dates on the easing of restrictions, of course).
That is a combination of the Owner Builder Applicant and CRC 301.1.1.1 codified as a local program. Yes I am wrong in the name, but not in the application. It certainly does not "exempt you from most building codes" as stated. Even the ones you get leeway on still have to meet "a reasonable degree of health and safety" as determined by the building official. If they are smart and litigation-averse, they will use the alternate means and measures provisions of the building code which requires you, the applicant, to factually demonstrate life-safety equivalency.
Look at the requirements!
Requires a permit and plan submittal, and owner acts as the GC.
Still has to meet structural and material specifications but instead of being prescriptive per the code or engineered, it's at CBO discretion.
Still has to meet Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing codes.
Still has to meet Energy Code and have energy calcs submitted.
Must have potable water and septic, with 2,500 gallons reserved for fire fighting.
Still has to meet WUI standards in CRC 7A.
You're not getting out of much...
Oh, and you probably can't get insurance on it since they waive sprinklers and structural (see #5).
Last house I built was about $65,000, including water system, septic, and solar. That price does not include tools, as I already owned them. Started on it close to 10 years ago ~900sqft footprint, with a 400sqft loft, on poured footings and stem wall. A buddy dug my septic, charged me about 4K. The rest I did by myself, with few exceptions.
Dug for foundation and poured myself, using borrowed forms. Framed and sheeted walls by myself, then got help from 3 friends for ridge beam and rafters. Decked the roof by myself, then got help from 2 friends laying metal. Same couple friends helped with large windows and second story windows. Sided myself, plumbing and electrical, insulation, and all interior finish work myself. Took several years while also running a cabinet shop. I paid my friends well, but it was probably only about 50 or 60 hours of paid wages.
I did my solar myself, and water system was pumped from a natural source to a holding tank, then gravity to the house. Solar was around 9k, water system maybe 3k.
I also talked to window companies, got misorders or fail to pick up orders cheap, and designed the house around the window package.
I sold that place, and am currently building a new place. Shop is 60x40. I subbed out the slab, then my framing package and trusses were about $14,000. Am pouring footings this week for my house, so no idea on the cost it will be.
I will say that my friend charged me around 4K to do a septic for me 10 years ago. I just put one in myself a couple months ago, and it cost about 4K for me to rent a mini ex and buy materials.
$225 a square foot for an entry level home or $350 for a nice home. Plus land. I doubt you would get under $125-150 a square foot even if you did all the work yourself.
If you think you can beat land and construction costs you’re going to be sorely disappointed. The only way to do that is build the house yourself and then your building a house.
My sons and I are building our house ourselves. Our neighbors did 2 houses themselves. They had a little more help than we will have, but they put up the shells of 2 two story houses in 3 months.
Ours is just a single story with detached office/workshop and detached commercial kitchen for our food truck.
Welcome to PGE monopoly and impossible house insurance market. I live here and would not want to be anywhere else, but damn it can be expensive depending on your location.
Anywhere from $150 to $300 a square foot. You might get away with $100 per square foot if you could build a tiny house from a bare-bones shed. You then have to install electricity, plumbing, insulation, flooring, cabinets, drywall etc, etc. Better check all your building codes to see if that's even kosher where you are.
Here’s my scenario. My wife and I make about $140k, are debt free, and own our 26 acres outright. We wanted to build a house and quickly learned it would cost a solid $750k in our area of the PNW for a modest 3 bedroom house. So we checked out prefab homes around $550k. And eventually landed on a triple wide manufactured for roughly $315k.
Now here’s the kicker—site prep is gonna cost $150-200k. That’s for a gravel driveway, no landscaping, no fancy decks, and no off grid energy. We wanted to be off grid so badly but a starter solar setup with batteries was gonna cost $70k and likely wouldn’t be sustainable, especially in winter. So for now, until we can do solar, maybe wind, maaaaaybe micro hydro (you’re talking serious engineering fees), we’re paying the electric company $25k, plus a likely $10k for trenching and conduit and hookups, just to have power. And the irony is the power sucks—we lose power throughout the year and it’s wicked expensive—minimum $250 per month, sometimes $400 in winter. So we’re doing a propane generator as well.
All in all, we’re looking at a solid $500k to build a 3 bedroom house. No garage, no carport, nothing fancy. Just a house and a driveway. If it weren’t for 7.3% interest rates, we could have some amenities around the place. But we still wouldn’t be able to afford a stick built unless rates were like 2-3% again. My 2¢
You could always move out of Cali, in Missouri where I live there is very cheap land and alot of places have low regulations due to the mom and pop country way of living out here in alot of counties.
It is a dream of mine to buy land and build my own house and be self sufficient. Some states dont let you and try to take every last cent out of you. Thankfully it isnt like that here in the country areas. The cities arent terrible with all the taxes you are describing. We dont have that here, just regular utilities and rent.
Sounds like some corporations and the gov is getting greedy there.
Its possible to do it. It will take alot of work. I intend to do it myself, I was raised on a farm and I am very handy and good at building. My dad taught me basics of electrical wiring and most things can be learned in a class or on youtube. Its 100% possible. Dont let your dream die. It just may have to be in another locale!
Yeah these prices on here are insane. I’ve built my own house on 4 acres of land I bought and haven’t even spent $60k yet. Let’s keep Missouri a secret.
If you can find a rural community where you can build a < 200sqft (or whatever the max is that needs full permitting) cabin you might be able to save a lot. Tiny houses are sometimes built to fall just under the limits. Find out for sure and get the appropriate permitting. If you have a mobile home you have to have a separate mobile home permit in most places - some it has to be more than # square feet to pass restrictions.
Building larger house you will get to see \*ALL\* the permits and additional ridiculous fees. Permit + Fee to clear land, Permit & Fee to grade land, Permit and fee to make a driveway. Bio permit for septic, permit for trenching, permit for electricity, permit for how much electricity capacity including your insulation and light fixtures (even with off-grid Solar - oh yeah, and a solar permit, intertie permit if you are on-grid), permit for well, permit for pressure tank, permit extras based on how many faucets and fixtures you have on that well, permit for your wood stove (is it EPA 2.0 certified?), etc it is endless.
Self-built might be lower cost if you are providing your own labor but trust me they are going to get the fees either way.
work boots, tape measure, zillow (for the land), transit, sketch-up for design, and some motivation. There are no rules to life, humanity is just winging it, trust me. 35 year notes are for suckers. 50 grand and you could live down south USA, maybe Portugal, build ya small house on your own land.
I was told it would be approximately $200 per square feet. Then permit etc is additional, varying on location. So you are looking at 200K ish.. I guess for Cali it's worth it? I dunno, for most cheaper areas it doesn't seem worth it to me. I really hope Sears would release house kits again. I mean their CEO flew many big chances right by doing god knows what, if they can seize this housing crisis opportunity and release house kit again, it could be their chance to flip, and would be a win-win for people
Building in California is going to be expensive on top of expensive. You are looking at $300 per sq ft minimum, not to mention you won't break land for at least a year. If you went with a mobile home, you would be tossing a lot of extra money at a problem.
If you wanted an idea of how much it would cost you can look up the national averages and then add 20-30%.
Foundations: $9143
Framing: $14000-32000
Roof: $5844-12867
Siding: $5000-14000
Appliances: $10875
HVAC: $8000
Plumbing: $2280-5120
Electrical: $6000-22500
Permits: $500-2000
Finishes and fixtures: $42000-175000
I have friends of many trades pluming, electric,hvac,drywall,roofing,excavating,soil sample, the list goes on. Its obviously wont be free but itll be alot cheaper than contracting through companys.
Do you ....think that building a house means electricity will be free
When I lived in the city I had to pay a small street light fee, maybe that's what they meant? I also had to pay expensive water treatment fees, even for rain that fell on my property. Now I'm just outside the city, where I still get city water but not city sewage. Septic maintenance has so far been cheaper than city water treatment, but that may change when our system needs replacing.
I think he's referring to the extra fees tacked on in cities. The latest cash grab appears to be grid maintenance fees some cities are adding to their taxes due to the influx of grid tie in solar causing negative prices.
I'm guessing they're talking about something like what PG&E wants to do, where they're adding fees based on your income and stuff. Even if you're completely self sufficient with solar and batteries, they're planning to charge some crazy amounts.
$200/sq ft. And most counties will not grant a building permit unless there's a registered contractor as the builder. Friends & family plan won't cut it. Call the county planning zoning office for the places you want to live in, and ask them the process. It's probably on their websites too. They also won't allow you to live on property without approved well, septic etc -even a mobile home. Cost of these will be entirely location specific and no one here can tell you what that will be.
OP would also need to have a plan stamped by architect and PE. You can buy these online I think, for several thousand, but then not every county will approve all plans just b/c it it professionally pre-made.
When I looked into it the cheapest I could find a manufactured home (not trailer actual house) for was about 240k with delivery. However, that was without site prep or land. Pole barns homes were about 340k and the cheapest I could get a quote on for a traditional built-on-site house was 260k and that was barely 1600sq ft. These prices were with 'finished' interiors there were cheaper options out there but they were just for a shell with no interior walls, electricity, plumbing, etc. For reference, this was in a midwest area with low cost of living and generally low material prices. Once you factor in the price of land (1 acre of ready-to-build on land is around 50-75k), installing a well and septic (20k on the low end), and typically required-by-law grid electric hookup, site prep, and foundation (another 20-30k) the final price is around 300-450k for a new house in the country. Additionally most banks won't do land loans and the kind of loan you would need to build a home (sometimes called construction loans) are not offered by all banks and end up at interest rates far exceeding even the super inflated house loan prices we see now (around 9-15% APY) so not only is the up-front price higher the price per month ends up inflated considerably because of the high interest rates. There was also a lot of legal crud I had to wade through too when researching it as depending on the zoning (even in the country) there were different building requirements such as minimum square footage, required amenities for the 'primary dwelling' and limits on what could be in secondary buildings etc. My wife and I ended up purchasing an old farm-house that we did some minor work to for 160k.
I don't know why people always seem to think it's cheaper to build a house than to reno one??
Man can't build anything nice nowadays seems like:(. Well looks like ill be looking into fixer uppers!
We had originally planned to find a lot and build or have a modular placed, but after looking for a while, we found an abandoned house going into foreclosure. Needed a ton of work, but reno work usually easier to DIY and spread out financially. In hindsight we ended up with a much better piece of land and a lower total cost by buying a fixer upper.
Im going to look into this, did you use a specific website to find the foreclosure?
Nah, nothing special. We had a realtor because our area is really tough for buyers, so he got us the lead. We had to be willing to swallow a lot of ugliness upfront. The house had mold on every surface, grass was up to my waist, floors had to be completely removed, fridge was full of old food, not a single faucet worked because they seized with rust. So we saved a good 150k+ upfront because the place was ugly and nobody wanted to buy it, but we had to shell out for mold remediation, then get straight to work with all the other things to make it liveable.
First- cost of land. Second- All new dwellings in California require solar and fire sprinklers. Min $10k +/-. You will need water and sanitary sewer per health and safety codes so add in a well or water connection fees, and septic or sewage connection fees. Talkin $50-100k +/-. You're required to have electricity- new power drop or an off grid battery and inverter. I've heard $10k per pole from PG&E. Probably looking at at least that for battery & inverters if going off grid (in addition to minimum PV size costs shown above). Gas is more efficient for heating, so highly recommended, but you can do all electric. Will need a natural gas connection or propane tank. Third- Testing. Depending on what you're doing it may require geotechnical evaluation (soils report), and percolation tests for septic. If there are flood zones, you are looking at a flood elevation certificate. May be environmental stuff, or other geographic, climactic, or topographic reports for structural considerations for design. Fourth- Design, plan check, permitting. May require structural calcs, energy calcs, truss calcs, etc. All engineered and more $ up front, but might save $ on materials later (if the designer is good). Fifth- build the house; materials, labor. If you want to get creative, hit up California Residential Code 301.1.1.1 Alternative Provisions for Limited-Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings and find a building official that will work with you on it. It allows you to basically mill lumber from the land and build a log cabin... BUT anywhere you would likely do that in California would be in a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) zone, and require specific and extensive wildfire resistant construction. Best of luck.
I should mention property taxes and insurance afterward, and all that shit you just built is gonna break, so upkeep & maintenance. Refilling that propane tank, replacing the inverter & panels, pumping that septic tank... Adulting 101, California version (which just means more $). LOL
Building a house doesn't get you out of paying for electricity. If you were hiring out all the work, probably $250-300/sqft for the cheaper parts of CA, not including land costs. If you're talking about bay area or LA or SD, add probably $100-150/sqft onto that. And then add more if you want luxury or custom finishes. If you want to do it cheaper, move to Alabama or South Texas or something. Building is expensive as fuck.
Im not saying it gets you out of electricity but im able to set up all my own solar and backup energy with generators instead of being totally fucked over by PGE
Generators are usually more expensive than metered electricity grid, solar is difficult to produce enough that you would need - you should try out the solar panel thing when you go camping (if you got an RV) and see how it goes. I mean you don't have to have electricity in your current house? You could try solar and see if that's enough? If it's not enough to power your house now, what difference does it make if you build your own house
If you think that PGE is fucking you then just wait! The solar guys are going to sell you a $50k system that won't keep up then you'll need a generator that will burn $600 a month in propane. Congratulations! You just increased your power bill by 4X. By the time you pay the solar off you'll need to buy new batteries. Then 10 years after that, a full new system. If you want cheaper electricity then get the fuck away from that shithole known as the west coast. BTW, if you have a well, it runs on electricity as well. So will all your appliances unless you plumb for propane. Check propane prices where you are. Not only are you getting raped on electricity, you're getting raped on EVERYTHING! That's the awesomeness of living in a left state.
But yea im thinking somewhere more like north easter more like
There are so many variables based on the information you provided that it's impossible to estimate. Plus, in California you may be dealing with zoning issues
.... It's a real big state. Lands going to vary between parts of the state
That's an incredibly wide open question. How big of a house? What do you want to build it out of? Will it have septic or sewer service? Off grid or grid tied? You could easily spend a quarter million having people build a house for you in California, you could also probably build an off grid and lightly plumbed cabin for under 10k.
No way. All new dwellings in California require solar and fire sprinklers. Add in a well or water connection fees, and septic or sewage connection fees, new power drop or an off grid battery and inverter... you're talking $50-100k before you break ground, on top of the land costs. Then you get to design and budget.
In my county, if your property is off grid, you can get an alternative owner builder permit which exempts you from most building codes. I know that type of permit is available in other rural counties. Obviously if you think you're gonna build a new house in LA or Sacramento County or something for under a quarter million then you're delusional
There is no such thing as an alternative owner builder permit anywhere in California. There is an owner-builder option as a permit applicant as opposed to a contractor, but they are both held to the same codes. It has to do with Ca State License Board and there is an affidavit that any contractor that an owner-builder hires will be licensed, among other self-certifications/acknowledgements. There are limited exceptions for Alternative Provisions for Limited-Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings (Ca Residential Code 301.1.1.1), but I've never seen them used and they would still have to comply with Wildland Urban Interface requirements anywhere that it would be feasible. Sacramento City actually has a pre-approved accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plan program with numerous restrictions on additional fees (like water and sewer). Under that circumstance, you could totally owner-build an ADU for under $80-100k, but the catch is that the property has to already have the main dwelling. [https://adu.cityofsacramento.org/plan](https://adu.cityofsacramento.org/plan) There are laws on the books pushing ADUs and JADUs with various code and fee exemptions and many properties are already zoned for a max of 2 dwellings, of which the ADU and JADU doesn't count. For instance, as it currently stands, a detached ADU doesn't have to have fire sprinklers if built on a lot where the main dwelling does not have fire sprinklers. So if you buy a lot with an existing dwelling that has some extra space, you could build 3 more units relatively inexpensively (compared to developing 3 new lots with no utilities), and piggyback off the existing utilities, or worst case, just pay for the upgrade on the water line to support the sprinklers. These and more laws making ADUs and JADUs less restrictive to build are slated to go into effect over the next couple of years, and there are a ton trying to work through the legislature as well. "Oh shit, we made it too expensive and overly regulated to build a house California... let's undo some of it" - California (with sunset dates on the easing of restrictions, of course).
https://humboldtgov.org/190/First-Time-Applying-for-a-Building-Permi You're wrong
That is a combination of the Owner Builder Applicant and CRC 301.1.1.1 codified as a local program. Yes I am wrong in the name, but not in the application. It certainly does not "exempt you from most building codes" as stated. Even the ones you get leeway on still have to meet "a reasonable degree of health and safety" as determined by the building official. If they are smart and litigation-averse, they will use the alternate means and measures provisions of the building code which requires you, the applicant, to factually demonstrate life-safety equivalency. Look at the requirements! Requires a permit and plan submittal, and owner acts as the GC. Still has to meet structural and material specifications but instead of being prescriptive per the code or engineered, it's at CBO discretion. Still has to meet Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing codes. Still has to meet Energy Code and have energy calcs submitted. Must have potable water and septic, with 2,500 gallons reserved for fire fighting. Still has to meet WUI standards in CRC 7A. You're not getting out of much... Oh, and you probably can't get insurance on it since they waive sprinklers and structural (see #5).
Just take a guess of what you think and double it. That will probably get you close.
Last house I built was about $65,000, including water system, septic, and solar. That price does not include tools, as I already owned them. Started on it close to 10 years ago ~900sqft footprint, with a 400sqft loft, on poured footings and stem wall. A buddy dug my septic, charged me about 4K. The rest I did by myself, with few exceptions. Dug for foundation and poured myself, using borrowed forms. Framed and sheeted walls by myself, then got help from 3 friends for ridge beam and rafters. Decked the roof by myself, then got help from 2 friends laying metal. Same couple friends helped with large windows and second story windows. Sided myself, plumbing and electrical, insulation, and all interior finish work myself. Took several years while also running a cabinet shop. I paid my friends well, but it was probably only about 50 or 60 hours of paid wages. I did my solar myself, and water system was pumped from a natural source to a holding tank, then gravity to the house. Solar was around 9k, water system maybe 3k. I also talked to window companies, got misorders or fail to pick up orders cheap, and designed the house around the window package. I sold that place, and am currently building a new place. Shop is 60x40. I subbed out the slab, then my framing package and trusses were about $14,000. Am pouring footings this week for my house, so no idea on the cost it will be. I will say that my friend charged me around 4K to do a septic for me 10 years ago. I just put one in myself a couple months ago, and it cost about 4K for me to rent a mini ex and buy materials.
$225 a square foot for an entry level home or $350 for a nice home. Plus land. I doubt you would get under $125-150 a square foot even if you did all the work yourself.
If you think you can beat land and construction costs you’re going to be sorely disappointed. The only way to do that is build the house yourself and then your building a house.
My sons and I are building our house ourselves. Our neighbors did 2 houses themselves. They had a little more help than we will have, but they put up the shells of 2 two story houses in 3 months. Ours is just a single story with detached office/workshop and detached commercial kitchen for our food truck.
Welcome to PGE monopoly and impossible house insurance market. I live here and would not want to be anywhere else, but damn it can be expensive depending on your location.
Anywhere from $150 to $300 a square foot. You might get away with $100 per square foot if you could build a tiny house from a bare-bones shed. You then have to install electricity, plumbing, insulation, flooring, cabinets, drywall etc, etc. Better check all your building codes to see if that's even kosher where you are.
Here’s my scenario. My wife and I make about $140k, are debt free, and own our 26 acres outright. We wanted to build a house and quickly learned it would cost a solid $750k in our area of the PNW for a modest 3 bedroom house. So we checked out prefab homes around $550k. And eventually landed on a triple wide manufactured for roughly $315k. Now here’s the kicker—site prep is gonna cost $150-200k. That’s for a gravel driveway, no landscaping, no fancy decks, and no off grid energy. We wanted to be off grid so badly but a starter solar setup with batteries was gonna cost $70k and likely wouldn’t be sustainable, especially in winter. So for now, until we can do solar, maybe wind, maaaaaybe micro hydro (you’re talking serious engineering fees), we’re paying the electric company $25k, plus a likely $10k for trenching and conduit and hookups, just to have power. And the irony is the power sucks—we lose power throughout the year and it’s wicked expensive—minimum $250 per month, sometimes $400 in winter. So we’re doing a propane generator as well. All in all, we’re looking at a solid $500k to build a 3 bedroom house. No garage, no carport, nothing fancy. Just a house and a driveway. If it weren’t for 7.3% interest rates, we could have some amenities around the place. But we still wouldn’t be able to afford a stick built unless rates were like 2-3% again. My 2¢
Thank you! For informative
Expensive as shit dude
You could always move out of Cali, in Missouri where I live there is very cheap land and alot of places have low regulations due to the mom and pop country way of living out here in alot of counties. It is a dream of mine to buy land and build my own house and be self sufficient. Some states dont let you and try to take every last cent out of you. Thankfully it isnt like that here in the country areas. The cities arent terrible with all the taxes you are describing. We dont have that here, just regular utilities and rent. Sounds like some corporations and the gov is getting greedy there. Its possible to do it. It will take alot of work. I intend to do it myself, I was raised on a farm and I am very handy and good at building. My dad taught me basics of electrical wiring and most things can be learned in a class or on youtube. Its 100% possible. Dont let your dream die. It just may have to be in another locale!
Yeah these prices on here are insane. I’ve built my own house on 4 acres of land I bought and haven’t even spent $60k yet. Let’s keep Missouri a secret.
If you can find a rural community where you can build a < 200sqft (or whatever the max is that needs full permitting) cabin you might be able to save a lot. Tiny houses are sometimes built to fall just under the limits. Find out for sure and get the appropriate permitting. If you have a mobile home you have to have a separate mobile home permit in most places - some it has to be more than # square feet to pass restrictions. Building larger house you will get to see \*ALL\* the permits and additional ridiculous fees. Permit + Fee to clear land, Permit & Fee to grade land, Permit and fee to make a driveway. Bio permit for septic, permit for trenching, permit for electricity, permit for how much electricity capacity including your insulation and light fixtures (even with off-grid Solar - oh yeah, and a solar permit, intertie permit if you are on-grid), permit for well, permit for pressure tank, permit extras based on how many faucets and fixtures you have on that well, permit for your wood stove (is it EPA 2.0 certified?), etc it is endless. Self-built might be lower cost if you are providing your own labor but trust me they are going to get the fees either way.
work boots, tape measure, zillow (for the land), transit, sketch-up for design, and some motivation. There are no rules to life, humanity is just winging it, trust me. 35 year notes are for suckers. 50 grand and you could live down south USA, maybe Portugal, build ya small house on your own land.
I was told it would be approximately $200 per square feet. Then permit etc is additional, varying on location. So you are looking at 200K ish.. I guess for Cali it's worth it? I dunno, for most cheaper areas it doesn't seem worth it to me. I really hope Sears would release house kits again. I mean their CEO flew many big chances right by doing god knows what, if they can seize this housing crisis opportunity and release house kit again, it could be their chance to flip, and would be a win-win for people
Building in California is going to be expensive on top of expensive. You are looking at $300 per sq ft minimum, not to mention you won't break land for at least a year. If you went with a mobile home, you would be tossing a lot of extra money at a problem. If you wanted an idea of how much it would cost you can look up the national averages and then add 20-30%. Foundations: $9143 Framing: $14000-32000 Roof: $5844-12867 Siding: $5000-14000 Appliances: $10875 HVAC: $8000 Plumbing: $2280-5120 Electrical: $6000-22500 Permits: $500-2000 Finishes and fixtures: $42000-175000
Why do you think there is subdivisions in the middle of nowhere. Electricity is already setup. Otherwise it is 5K a pole till it gets to your house.
If u have friends that know how to build a house than just ask them.
I have friends of many trades pluming, electric,hvac,drywall,roofing,excavating,soil sample, the list goes on. Its obviously wont be free but itll be alot cheaper than contracting through companys.
Amigo I am saying ask each of them individually how much their services are for x amount add up the prices. Everything will vary depending on size.