Smaller new construction homes, where are they?

[Anonymous]

What does one do in this area (DC metro) when they want to simplify their life, get a new construction home without issues of older homes, a little outdoor area, a good neighborhood, but they don't want to share walls with neighbors? I don't want a townhome attached to others, but I also don't need more than 4K sq.ft. really. I just need a functional layout and a 2 car garage, some trees or hedges for privacy and a small deck. No interest in complicated landscaping, huge lawns or various complicated stone surfaces to have to clean. A backyard the size of a patio with a deck/screened porch but detached from neighbors and with some medium size trees or privacy hedges that can be planted. Where are these homes? Is there a specific area zoned for good public schools where this exists?

[Anonymous]

Sorry but this doesn't exist. You can try to custom build but that won't be in a neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

4,000 square feet is small?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4,000 square feet is small?!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4,000 square feet is small?!

It isn't, that's precisely the point. But for this area it is apparently tiny and no builders do this unless it's townhome development or something on really tiny urban lots (and then it costs the same as an 8k sq.ft. new build in suburban parts).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but this doesn't exist. You can try to custom build but that won't be in a neighborhood.

There is a lot of gouging happening where if you own expensive land they will charge you more for the same house it costs less to build on less $$$ land. I call it "land premium". If you own your land and it's $$$ builder will squeeze this land premium from you, not just for the actual build itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but this doesn't exist. You can try to custom build but that won't be in a neighborhood.

There is a lot of gouging happening where if you own expensive land they will charge you more for the same house it costs less to build on less $$$ land. I call it "land premium". If you own your land and it's $$$ builder will squeeze this land premium from you, not just for the actual build itself.

To build a 4K sq.ft. home you will pay the same as building an 8k sq.ft. home further out or in less desirable neighborhood. Even if you already own the land. Also you will be pressured to build a larger home for resale value, as you will be convinced that $$$ buyers in the area are all looking only for large homes, and you will lose money if you build a smaller one. Tell me I am wrong.

[Anonymous]

I just built a 4500 sf house on a 6500 sf corner lot. We paid 400-500k less than what 5500-6500 sf houses are going for. The builder owned the lot from the beginning but we came up with a custom plan and I negotiated hard prior to signing. It was an enormous amount of work, but we are happy with the end product.

To the OP, we built something close to what you are describing because we couldn’t find it. It’s doable, but definitely not easy to pull off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4,000 square feet is small?!

It isn't, that's precisely the point. But for this area it is apparently tiny and no builders do this unless it's townhome development or something on really tiny urban lots (and then it costs the same as an 8k sq.ft. new build in suburban parts).

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Arlington regularly has 4000 square feet new builds (that’s finished space across 3 levels too, so it’ll live like 2800 or so). They sell for about $2M give or take depending on the zoned schools and lot size.

Is the issue price?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4,000 square feet is small?!

It isn't, that's precisely the point. But for this area it is apparently tiny and no builders do this unless it's townhome development or something on really tiny urban lots (and then it costs the same as an 8k sq.ft. new build in suburban parts).

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Arlington regularly has 4000 square feet new builds (that’s finished space across 3 levels too, so it’ll live like 2800 or so). They sell for about $2M give or take depending on the zoned schools and lot size.

Is the issue price?

Here’s one that looks perfect for your specs - just sold

https://redf.in/W7MNaE

[Anonymous]

You want a small 4,000 square foot home? Do you want a small home or do you want a 4,000 square foot home? I’m confused.

[Anonymous]

I didn't quite believe this post but checked it out and it does seem OP is right - I didn't see new construction homes of a more modest size close in to DC. I live in Severna Park and there are quite a few new construction homes in the 2500-4000 sq ft price range in the Severna Park High School and Broadneck High School school districts -- this seems to be the average size for homes that aren't waterfront. FWIW it also seems like the homes here are about half the price of homes the same size in Bethesda, Kensington, Rockville etc.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a lot like portion sizes at restaurants. There are all these fixed costs that go into running a restaurant and the food costs themselves are a relatively small variable cost. In order to cover all the high fixed costs restaurants need to charge a high price and they do that by offering huge portions. If they made their portion size reasonable (i.e. cut in half) the price might only decline 10% and folks would balk (even more than they already do).

Home construction is similar. The lots are expensive, getting crews out to do foundations is expensive, building crews and materials are expensive. A 6,000 sf house might only cost a negligible amount more than a 3,800 sf house and builders have decided (or the market has decided) that it's better to sell a 6,000 sf house for $2.4 million than a 3,800sf house for $2.2 million.

[Anonymous]

This isn't difficult to find. If you exclude Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Arlington, and McLean, you can find this in any DMV suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't difficult to find. If you exclude Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Arlington, and McLean, you can find this in any DMV suburb.

Arlington has plenty of new builds at/under 4K square feet currently on the market. We toured one last week in Cherrydale under 4K sq ft that's currently offering a promo interest rate. There's another on N Cleveland around 4K sq ft. There's 2 on N Kenmore. Another on 28th St N. I could go on and on.

Sounds like OP also has budget constraints and expects 4K or smaller houses to cost a lot less than a 4K+ house. But close in the majority of the value is in the land, even for new builds, so that isn't the case.