Yes, it can be done for under $250/sf. Over the past 7 years, we’ve totally knocked down and redone two separate fixers in a very upscale NCC town.
One was done in 2004 and the other was started in 2008 and finished in 2009. The difference between construction/materials costs for the first and the second house was astounding.
We used the same finishes (high end but not over the top) in both houses, and yet the one built during the boom years cost $385/sf and the one built a year ago was just under $200/sf. The other difference is that for the first house, our GC billed us on a “cost plus” basis, which is when the GC charges you “his” cost (ha ha, usually hard to determine) plus an overhead/profit markup. Great quality job, but there were the inevitable huge cost overruns and we spent more than we thought we would by about 30%. It ended up okay because the real estate market was heading up, up, up and when we were ready to sell, we just happened to time it right, and it all worked out fine, but looking back, it could’ve been a disaster.
On our 2nd fixer, the financial markets imploded a few months after we bought our house…although we thought we got a good deal on it because it was priced like a fixer should be, we realized that we were in big trouble if we went over budget on the remodel, the way we did on the first one. We found a GC who not only did high quality work, but in addition, he gave us a fixed price bid, which we found is DEFINITELY the way to go. Financial security, plus peace of mind for both me and my husband(especially after the first remodel went so far over budget and then we watched all our investments tank in the market crash shortly after buying the 2nd fixer). As an added plus, it turned out that the fixed price bid was an extra incentive for the crew to finish the job on time because they were always eager to get their next progress payment whereas when you do a cost-plus project, the money is continually rolling in so it almost makes sense to keep it going longer. Hard to believe, but we came in on time, on budget and got a great quality house.
The biggest challenge w/a fixed price job (and it’s a BIG one) is that you’ll need to make sure that you (and usually your architect helps w/this) can spec out even the most minute details before the job is even formally bid by a GC so there are no surprises leading to change orders/overruns as the job gets underway. There can be no grey areas because if there are, the GC will have to charge you for making one assumption on the price of that grey area, while you may have made another assumption, usually of higher quality/cost. Doing the specs to this level of detail is a pain and you’ll get some pushback from others, who will tell you it’s “never” done this way, but the only way to make a fixed price bid work is to put all the details in writing on a spec sheet and give it to at least 3 GCs (who are willing to do fixed price bids) so they can all bid apples to apples. Otherwise, it’s not a complete bid, it’s a rough estimate. All the GCs you talk to will tell you what it “can” be done for, not what your exact vision will cost, and their numbers can be completely irrelevant.
You also need to spend time at your City Hall, understanding if there are drainage, electrical, engineering, etc requirements that can crop up. Also, make sure, in addition to having complete and detailed architectural/design drawings and elevations, that structural engineering drawings are included when plans are sent out to bid. Sometimes, the structural engineer may spec some sort of weird steel beam or strong wall or something due to the architect’s design and if you don’t include the structural drawings, the GC may (understandably) tell you later that it costs a fortune to install that beam or put up those strong walls or tresses, etc, if he didn’t know about it all during the bid process.
In the past, the “best” GCs wouldn’t take the risk of doing a fixed price bid, but these days, there are plenty out there who will. And, the good ones still make a decent margin on the deal because they know that their subs are hungry and they have extra leverage when the subs also know it’s fixed price.
One more thing – make sure you’re also comparing “apples to apples” when you talk about price per sq ft. For example, does this include landscaping and total sq footage (including garage, not just living space), plus fees from architect, City and structural engineer? My examples of cost psf above include all of that.
Good luck. It’s very stressful, as you’ve probably been told…if you have a spouse/partner, you better be pretty confident that you can weather it! It’s not fun for most people, but very gratifying in the end, once you’re in. Good luck.
