After the floor plan and the elevation were finished, we took our finalized copies to our builder for a more accurate bid. Yes ballpark figures were discussed at our initial meeting, but now that we had the design finished Daniel could bid our project with specifics.
We both had mascara tears after getting our bid. It was $70,000 over our target price. Everyone tells you that you will go over budget when you build. We couldn’t start off $70,000 over our target. It would be a disaster.
Why? How could our bid be so far over our initial ballpark figures?
Although we only have 3791 square feet of living space, we have to frame and brick and cover 5677 square feet. These costs skyrocketed our price per square foot. Also framing, brick, and labor costs are fixed. There aren’t cheaper options. They are what they are. (Remember the discrepancy in the square footage on the floors is because I want the kids to be on the first floor with us.)
Daniel and I started looking at what costs we could cut. We saved almost $20,000 from cutting the tile roof. Then we painstakingly took $100+ here and there from various allowances like tile, appliances, lighting, etc. Somehow we landed at our target price.
This picture basically shows how I felt afterward. (For the record I wasn’t drinking anything when Nick took this. I was just caught off guard.) Overall our mood was extremely uneasy. We said from the beginning we wanted a nice house not a big house. Now we felt like the opposite was happening.
Here are some general thoughts/questions that were whirling around our heads: Do we even attempt to build? Do we just ignore budget and go crazy? Should we just live with my parents forever? Do we go house hunting again? (Admittedly I never stopped looking for houses throughout the entire design process just in case.)
Basically we were overwhelmed with the bid, but we were uneasy with the cuts we made getting it into a comfortable price range. What’s a family on a budget supposed to do?
(Not to answer my own question, but the answer is something completely crazy.)
Oh ouch….that really hurts. But I guess, at the same time if you are trying to build your dream home and you don’t want to move again you mind as well do what you want, right?
It was definitely a punch in the gut. We both agree this isn’t our forever home or anything. We aren’t even 30 yet, so I doubt we will stay there until retirement. However I want to build a substantial house that will be quality and last for whoever owns it for years to come. That’s the allure of older houses to me, so I feel a responsibility (I guess) to build with integrity. Then I also have a budget. Can you hear my inner debate?!
Ahh yes … budget. We faced the same dilemma. I can tell you what we did, but I am excited to hear what you decide on. Looks like there are still so many options at this point
This is why I really need to find that endless pot of money. I want to know what y’all did!
BUDGET=BUZZ KILL.
70 grand. That blows. Sorry you had to make cuts! I’m positive your house will still be stunning regardless. You guys aren’t capable of anything less than that!
Totally blows. Basically builders bid top of the line then let the homeowners decide what to cut. Some of the cuts didn’t make a difference but some of them were really disappointing. Hopefully we can still build something that’s stunning! Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Ouch. Being that much over budget stings like a bad sunburn you get from falling asleep outside for a few hours!
I’m going to guess a few things: A) you’re back at the drawing board designing a smaller house that’ll keep you within budget but still allow you to get what you want? B) you cut off the second floor of this plan to save on square footage and ultimately building costs? or C) you guys are going to buy an RV so you can travel the country and live all over?!
Am I close?! It’s C, isn’t it? 😉
A bad sunburn that someone slaps with a rubber band.
We can’t get anything past you. It’s definitely C. We poured our meager funds into renovating an airstream and are going mobile. (Actually not a bad option.)
I’m glad I didn’t know much when building our house. We built things very basic with plans to make higher end upgrades. I can only imagine that I would be $2,000,000 over budget if we tried to build now.
We didn’t really even get into the specifics of finish out, so I knew we would eventually be going over budget hence why I set our target price lower. I know there will be lots of sacrifice along the way since my vision is greater than my budget from day 1!
What. a. BUMMER.
I hope you guys settle on something that lets you sleep well at night! That junk is s-t-r-e-s-s-f-u-l.
Thanks! We actually were restless after we chopped the budget down. I think we came up with a creative solution – it remains to be seen.
Wow! That’s definitely a lot of money.
I already know what you decided so I’m sort of cheating.
Yeah it was a bummer. Some things were easier to cut than others. We just felt like after it was all said and done we cut some of the quality out of the home. Glad we came up with a creative solution in the end!
Trolling through old posts…my God 3791 sq ft heated!!!…now that I know what that means…well we aren’t worthy:)
Funny because that’s the square footage before we added all the extra space upstairs.