Come along as we build our custom home- lessons learned in real time.

[Anonymous]

So, for the site prep fees NOT related to architecture and permitting....just on-the-job site work, our costs totaled about 61K . This was 'dump fees', demolition of some sheds/shacks, silt fence/erosion control, etc (*about 8-10K is job site 'rolloff/hauling", meaning that it will continue throughout construction, and its the continual removal of waste materials from construction itself, but started pre construction with general trash removal. We paid a bit extra to have some stuff removed from some land adjacent to ours, too, because of aesthetics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We decided to go take the road less traveled and build. First time we’ve done this and wanted to share in case others find this useful, and get advice from the DC hive too. Maybe others will chime in with their experiences, too.

Some of this will not be chronological, since we bought the lot some time ago. But I’ll try to cover stages from lot selection, site prep, construction and budget along the way.

Might split this into more than one thread, depending on how unwieldy this gets.

Other details: building somewhere in the DMV region, house will be about 5,500 feet including garage, and we have a budget of $1.4 m, all in.
And, we're NOT going with a design-build firm--that means more hands on managing this project, and having to find everyone from the architect, to the engineer, to the builder ourselves. But it should save us money.

Can it be done, on time and within budget? With our sanity intact? Tune in....

I cannot believe it costs 1.4m to build a house on a lot you already own. WTF? Why would anyone do this?

[Anonymous]

Sigh. It is costing us about 1.1 million In construction fees. Lot purchase, permitting + site prep is close to 300k, for a total of 1.4 million. In the DC area. We chose to build because an existing home of similar size would have cost in a similar range (give or take a couple to many hundred thousand depending on location), but would not have had the specialized features we wanted- mainly related to wheelchair accessibility. Hope that is clear.

We also wanted our home to be in a reasonably good school district. Education is so critical, especially reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. It is costing us about 1.1 million In construction fees. Lot purchase, permitting + site prep is close to 300k, for a total of 1.4 million. In the DC area. We chose to build because an existing home of similar size would have cost in a similar range (give or take a couple to many hundred thousand depending on location), but would not have had the specialized features we wanted- mainly related to wheelchair accessibility. Hope that is clear.

We also wanted our home to be in a reasonably good school district. Education is so critical, especially reading comprehension.

Hi - a year later, and where are you in the build?! Read all the posts and interesting to follow. Is the build complete? How long ground break to move in? Happy with Chadsworth and did this particular builder help you stay in the 1.4M total budget? Happy with home??

[Anonymous]

Yes! We moved in back in Aug 2024 and our new home. Ended up at 1.5m, all in- we went over knowingly for some features/options we really loved.

I did a second thread about the construction process itself: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/150/1176568.page#28881286

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! We moved in back in Aug 2024 and our new home. Ended up at 1.5m, all in- we went over knowingly for some features/options we really loved.

I did a second thread about the construction process itself: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/150/1176568.page#28881286

Thank you for such a helpful thread. I thought your heading of “Come along with me” was particularly gracious. All good wishes in your home.

[Anonymous]

You are more than welcome! I enjoyed the process and sharing the journey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We decided to go take the road less traveled and build. First time we’ve done this and wanted to share in case others find this useful, and get advice from the DC hive too. Maybe others will chime in with their experiences, too.

Some of this will not be chronological, since we bought the lot some time ago. But I’ll try to cover stages from lot selection, site prep, construction and budget along the way.

Might split this into more than one thread, depending on how unwieldy this gets.

Other details: building somewhere in the DMV region, house will be about 5,500 feet including garage, and we have a budget of $1.4 m, all in.
And, we're NOT going with a design-build firm--that means more hands on managing this project, and having to find everyone from the architect, to the engineer, to the builder ourselves. But it should save us money.

Can it be done, on time and within budget? With our sanity intact? Tune in....

I cannot believe it costs 1.4m to build a house on a lot you already own. WTF? Why would anyone do this?

I know, it's insane. This just shows how very little purchasing power our dollar has, it's all inflated. If labor genuinely is getting paid better now and materials are this much more expensive, then I get it. But I think there is a lot of greed on part of developers wanting to make the most profit and also get a little bit of profit from the land itself even if they aren't the owners of the lot. It must be lucrative with so many development companies that sprung up, it's time they have healthy competition on prices, but I don't see it yet. I really don't want to pay 1.5 mil to build a basic home made out of wood and vinyl and some decorative stone veneer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We decided to go take the road less traveled and build. First time we’ve done this and wanted to share in case others find this useful, and get advice from the DC hive too. Maybe others will chime in with their experiences, too.

Some of this will not be chronological, since we bought the lot some time ago. But I’ll try to cover stages from lot selection, site prep, construction and budget along the way.

Might split this into more than one thread, depending on how unwieldy this gets.

Other details: building somewhere in the DMV region, house will be about 5,500 feet including garage, and we have a budget of $1.4 m, all in.
And, we're NOT going with a design-build firm--that means more hands on managing this project, and having to find everyone from the architect, to the engineer, to the builder ourselves. But it should save us money.

Can it be done, on time and within budget? With our sanity intact? Tune in....

I cannot believe it costs 1.4m to build a house on a lot you already own. WTF? Why would anyone do this?

I know, it's insane. This just shows how very little purchasing power our dollar has, it's all inflated. If labor genuinely is getting paid better now and materials are this much more expensive, then I get it. But I think there is a lot of greed on part of developers wanting to make the most profit and also get a little bit of profit from the land itself even if they aren't the owners of the lot. It must be lucrative with so many development companies that sprung up, it's time they have healthy competition on prices, but I don't see it yet. I really don't want to pay 1.5 mil to build a basic home made out of wood and vinyl and some decorative stone veneer.

Developers that are buying teardowns I have spoken with are making incredible profits - at least the high end luxury builders I have spoken with

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We decided to go take the road less traveled and build. First time we’ve done this and wanted to share in case others find this useful, and get advice from the DC hive too. Maybe others will chime in with their experiences, too.

Some of this will not be chronological, since we bought the lot some time ago. But I’ll try to cover stages from lot selection, site prep, construction and budget along the way.

Might split this into more than one thread, depending on how unwieldy this gets.

Other details: building somewhere in the DMV region, house will be about 5,500 feet including garage, and we have a budget of $1.4 m, all in.
And, we're NOT going with a design-build firm--that means more hands on managing this project, and having to find everyone from the architect, to the engineer, to the builder ourselves. But it should save us money.

Can it be done, on time and within budget? With our sanity intact? Tune in....

I cannot believe it costs 1.4m to build a house on a lot you already own. WTF? Why would anyone do this?

I know, it's insane. This just shows how very little purchasing power our dollar has, it's all inflated. If labor genuinely is getting paid better now and materials are this much more expensive, then I get it. But I think there is a lot of greed on part of developers wanting to make the most profit and also get a little bit of profit from the land itself even if they aren't the owners of the lot. It must be lucrative with so many development companies that sprung up, it's time they have healthy competition on prices, but I don't see it yet. I really don't want to pay 1.5 mil to build a basic home made out of wood and vinyl and some decorative stone veneer.

Developers that are buying teardowns I have spoken with are making incredible profits - at least the high end luxury builders I have spoken with

I know for a fact they are! But.. they also want to cash out on building homes for the people who purchased their own lot or had owned their old house and want to rebuild. They want a cut of that land appreciation, that's absolutely the case. And this is the main reason the building prices are as high as they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We decided to go take the road less traveled and build. First time we’ve done this and wanted to share in case others find this useful, and get advice from the DC hive too. Maybe others will chime in with their experiences, too.

Some of this will not be chronological, since we bought the lot some time ago. But I’ll try to cover stages from lot selection, site prep, construction and budget along the way.

Might split this into more than one thread, depending on how unwieldy this gets.

Other details: building somewhere in the DMV region, house will be about 5,500 feet including garage, and we have a budget of $1.4 m, all in.
And, we're NOT going with a design-build firm--that means more hands on managing this project, and having to find everyone from the architect, to the engineer, to the builder ourselves. But it should save us money.

Can it be done, on time and within budget? With our sanity intact? Tune in....

I cannot believe it costs 1.4m to build a house on a lot you already own. WTF? Why would anyone do this?

I know, it's insane. This just shows how very little purchasing power our dollar has, it's all inflated. If labor genuinely is getting paid better now and materials are this much more expensive, then I get it. But I think there is a lot of greed on part of developers wanting to make the most profit and also get a little bit of profit from the land itself even if they aren't the owners of the lot. It must be lucrative with so many development companies that sprung up, it's time they have healthy competition on prices, but I don't see it yet. I really don't want to pay 1.5 mil to build a basic home made out of wood and vinyl and some decorative stone veneer.

Build the house yourself. We did it with a crew that was doing a remodeling on our street. We used the same architect that must builders used and made some changes to a CAD program. We used a permit expediter to handle the permitting. Am we had a resale company remove most elements of our old house and made about $26,000 from that after their fees. The fire department did a controlled burn fir training and most of the structure was easier to remove for the demo company. After permitting it was about six months until the occupancy permit from Arlington. We paid about $775,000 for brick structure with PVC trim, Marvin windows with wood on inside and vinyl on outside, wood doors and shutters. Landscaping and patios were about $23,000. Permits and related storm water management and arborists were about $103,000. It was a very straightforward process

[Anonymous]

PP, is that really possible for someone with a full time job and no prior experience managing projects, much less someone who doesn’t have familiarity with the trades to know which subcontractors know their stuff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, is that really possible for someone with a full time job and no prior experience managing projects, much less someone who doesn’t have familiarity with the trades to know which subcontractors know their stuff?

I've heard of others doing it. Not an easy process and typically on a small home