Cost to Build 3 Townhouses???

[La Jolla Renter]

Anyone with first hand knowledge of what’s the cost per sqft to build 3 townhouses in Solana Beach? Each unit would be about 2,400 sqft, 2 car garage, 3b 3b.

I have been told $250 a sqft which seems very high with so many contractors begging for work. I am thinking $150-175 a sqft.

[UCGal]

It is probably closer to $250/sf. Some spaces are less expensive (living rooms) some a LOT more expensive (bathrooms/kitchens.) A lot depends on finishes…

Economy of scale – building 3 units at the same time, should help… but something don’t get a price break… 3 gas meters, 3 electrical panels and electric meters… Is it going to be common water/sewage? If not – 3 hookups/meters there. All of the utility agencies will have their hands out.

[UCGal]

It is probably closer to $250/sf. Some spaces are less expensive (living rooms) some a LOT more expensive (bathrooms/kitchens.) A lot depends on finishes…

Economy of scale – building 3 units at the same time, should help… but something don’t get a price break… 3 gas meters, 3 electrical panels and electric meters… Is it going to be common water/sewage? If not – 3 hookups/meters there. All of the utility agencies will have their hands out.

[UCGal]

It is probably closer to $250/sf. Some spaces are less expensive (living rooms) some a LOT more expensive (bathrooms/kitchens.) A lot depends on finishes…

Economy of scale – building 3 units at the same time, should help… but something don’t get a price break… 3 gas meters, 3 electrical panels and electric meters… Is it going to be common water/sewage? If not – 3 hookups/meters there. All of the utility agencies will have their hands out.

[UCGal]

It is probably closer to $250/sf. Some spaces are less expensive (living rooms) some a LOT more expensive (bathrooms/kitchens.) A lot depends on finishes…

Economy of scale – building 3 units at the same time, should help… but something don’t get a price break… 3 gas meters, 3 electrical panels and electric meters… Is it going to be common water/sewage? If not – 3 hookups/meters there. All of the utility agencies will have their hands out.

[UCGal]

It is probably closer to $250/sf. Some spaces are less expensive (living rooms) some a LOT more expensive (bathrooms/kitchens.) A lot depends on finishes…

Economy of scale – building 3 units at the same time, should help… but something don’t get a price break… 3 gas meters, 3 electrical panels and electric meters… Is it going to be common water/sewage? If not – 3 hookups/meters there. All of the utility agencies will have their hands out.

[NotCranky]

If you had your plans stamped today and service infrastructure was done or not a very big deal you could build these cheaply if you played your cards right.

Building fees are up,quite a bit, Local government is the only one raising fees in the industry. They will slap on as many requirements as they can and a few extras if you are not careful.

Building materials are way down. This is probably an extreme example but today I priced out 250′ rolls of 12-2 wire. Two years ago this item was over $100 at Home Depot. Today it is about $26.
Shortly after “mission Accomplished” in Iraq plywood went from $10 per sheet to $20 and then dropped back to about $16 and now post bust is about $12. Drywall went from about $6 to $14 from that time until the bust and is now about $8. Dimensional lumber price doubled and now is back were it started.In general, raw materials are down about 40%-50% except concrete.

Manufactured products, Lights fans ,windows ect., are discounted but not as much but can be negotiated down to about 30% less for this same project compared to when over $200 per square foot was be coming the norm for pretty standard construction. So you can see on materials alone you making good progress towards your range. Labor,which was about 1/2 the cost was very inflated so, yes, under the right circumstances and considering the finishes you could get there. On the other hand the real luxury places were going for much more than $250 per square foot and probably always will.

There could be lots of problems if you got a contractor who was too hungry, bid low, and didn’t lock in prices today and then price inflation specific to the job’s needs take off and the guy and the usual subs can find someplace paying more…or he just walks or threatens to because he is losing money.

If the job were ready to start, the money was there and I was the owner, I would go time and material and negotiate the materials for myself or at least oversee that. If the project is going to be funded by a bank, they probably won’t advance enough money to buy all the materials. Still, if prices don’t go up too much during construction it would be cheap. On the other hand if prices go down you get the benefit not the contractor.

[NotCranky]

If you had your plans stamped today and service infrastructure was done or not a very big deal you could build these cheaply if you played your cards right.

Building fees are up,quite a bit, Local government is the only one raising fees in the industry. They will slap on as many requirements as they can and a few extras if you are not careful.

Building materials are way down. This is probably an extreme example but today I priced out 250′ rolls of 12-2 wire. Two years ago this item was over $100 at Home Depot. Today it is about $26.
Shortly after “mission Accomplished” in Iraq plywood went from $10 per sheet to $20 and then dropped back to about $16 and now post bust is about $12. Drywall went from about $6 to $14 from that time until the bust and is now about $8. Dimensional lumber price doubled and now is back were it started.In general, raw materials are down about 40%-50% except concrete.

Manufactured products, Lights fans ,windows ect., are discounted but not as much but can be negotiated down to about 30% less for this same project compared to when over $200 per square foot was be coming the norm for pretty standard construction. So you can see on materials alone you making good progress towards your range. Labor,which was about 1/2 the cost was very inflated so, yes, under the right circumstances and considering the finishes you could get there. On the other hand the real luxury places were going for much more than $250 per square foot and probably always will.

There could be lots of problems if you got a contractor who was too hungry, bid low, and didn’t lock in prices today and then price inflation specific to the job’s needs take off and the guy and the usual subs can find someplace paying more…or he just walks or threatens to because he is losing money.

If the job were ready to start, the money was there and I was the owner, I would go time and material and negotiate the materials for myself or at least oversee that. If the project is going to be funded by a bank, they probably won’t advance enough money to buy all the materials. Still, if prices don’t go up too much during construction it would be cheap. On the other hand if prices go down you get the benefit not the contractor.

[NotCranky]

If you had your plans stamped today and service infrastructure was done or not a very big deal you could build these cheaply if you played your cards right.

Building fees are up,quite a bit, Local government is the only one raising fees in the industry. They will slap on as many requirements as they can and a few extras if you are not careful.

Building materials are way down. This is probably an extreme example but today I priced out 250′ rolls of 12-2 wire. Two years ago this item was over $100 at Home Depot. Today it is about $26.
Shortly after “mission Accomplished” in Iraq plywood went from $10 per sheet to $20 and then dropped back to about $16 and now post bust is about $12. Drywall went from about $6 to $14 from that time until the bust and is now about $8. Dimensional lumber price doubled and now is back were it started.In general, raw materials are down about 40%-50% except concrete.

Manufactured products, Lights fans ,windows ect., are discounted but not as much but can be negotiated down to about 30% less for this same project compared to when over $200 per square foot was be coming the norm for pretty standard construction. So you can see on materials alone you making good progress towards your range. Labor,which was about 1/2 the cost was very inflated so, yes, under the right circumstances and considering the finishes you could get there. On the other hand the real luxury places were going for much more than $250 per square foot and probably always will.

There could be lots of problems if you got a contractor who was too hungry, bid low, and didn’t lock in prices today and then price inflation specific to the job’s needs take off and the guy and the usual subs can find someplace paying more…or he just walks or threatens to because he is losing money.

If the job were ready to start, the money was there and I was the owner, I would go time and material and negotiate the materials for myself or at least oversee that. If the project is going to be funded by a bank, they probably won’t advance enough money to buy all the materials. Still, if prices don’t go up too much during construction it would be cheap. On the other hand if prices go down you get the benefit not the contractor.

[NotCranky]

If you had your plans stamped today and service infrastructure was done or not a very big deal you could build these cheaply if you played your cards right.

Building fees are up,quite a bit, Local government is the only one raising fees in the industry. They will slap on as many requirements as they can and a few extras if you are not careful.

Building materials are way down. This is probably an extreme example but today I priced out 250′ rolls of 12-2 wire. Two years ago this item was over $100 at Home Depot. Today it is about $26.
Shortly after “mission Accomplished” in Iraq plywood went from $10 per sheet to $20 and then dropped back to about $16 and now post bust is about $12. Drywall went from about $6 to $14 from that time until the bust and is now about $8. Dimensional lumber price doubled and now is back were it started.In general, raw materials are down about 40%-50% except concrete.

Manufactured products, Lights fans ,windows ect., are discounted but not as much but can be negotiated down to about 30% less for this same project compared to when over $200 per square foot was be coming the norm for pretty standard construction. So you can see on materials alone you making good progress towards your range. Labor,which was about 1/2 the cost was very inflated so, yes, under the right circumstances and considering the finishes you could get there. On the other hand the real luxury places were going for much more than $250 per square foot and probably always will.

There could be lots of problems if you got a contractor who was too hungry, bid low, and didn’t lock in prices today and then price inflation specific to the job’s needs take off and the guy and the usual subs can find someplace paying more…or he just walks or threatens to because he is losing money.

If the job were ready to start, the money was there and I was the owner, I would go time and material and negotiate the materials for myself or at least oversee that. If the project is going to be funded by a bank, they probably won’t advance enough money to buy all the materials. Still, if prices don’t go up too much during construction it would be cheap. On the other hand if prices go down you get the benefit not the contractor.

[NotCranky]

If you had your plans stamped today and service infrastructure was done or not a very big deal you could build these cheaply if you played your cards right.

Building fees are up,quite a bit, Local government is the only one raising fees in the industry. They will slap on as many requirements as they can and a few extras if you are not careful.

Building materials are way down. This is probably an extreme example but today I priced out 250′ rolls of 12-2 wire. Two years ago this item was over $100 at Home Depot. Today it is about $26.
Shortly after “mission Accomplished” in Iraq plywood went from $10 per sheet to $20 and then dropped back to about $16 and now post bust is about $12. Drywall went from about $6 to $14 from that time until the bust and is now about $8. Dimensional lumber price doubled and now is back were it started.In general, raw materials are down about 40%-50% except concrete.

Manufactured products, Lights fans ,windows ect., are discounted but not as much but can be negotiated down to about 30% less for this same project compared to when over $200 per square foot was be coming the norm for pretty standard construction. So you can see on materials alone you making good progress towards your range. Labor,which was about 1/2 the cost was very inflated so, yes, under the right circumstances and considering the finishes you could get there. On the other hand the real luxury places were going for much more than $250 per square foot and probably always will.

There could be lots of problems if you got a contractor who was too hungry, bid low, and didn’t lock in prices today and then price inflation specific to the job’s needs take off and the guy and the usual subs can find someplace paying more…or he just walks or threatens to because he is losing money.

If the job were ready to start, the money was there and I was the owner, I would go time and material and negotiate the materials for myself or at least oversee that. If the project is going to be funded by a bank, they probably won’t advance enough money to buy all the materials. Still, if prices don’t go up too much during construction it would be cheap. On the other hand if prices go down you get the benefit not the contractor.

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