Anonymous wrote:I would build no smaller than 4000sf. 2500 is terrible

The OP doesn’t want that large of a house. A smaller house would have great resale value in this area. Lots of downsizers still want a SFH here, and the only way to do that is buy a 50 year old fixer upper.

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course builders are willing to build you a modest house. The real question is, would you be willing to pay the same price for your modest house where you could pay the same amount and get a 3 story monstrosity.

There are a lot of fixed costs in building a house that aren't cheaper bc you are building a smaller house.

+1 It would be better to either build a large home or buy a smaller home that's close to what you want and renovate it.

For years, my sister and her husband clung to this idea of building the small retirement home of their dreams. They're finally seeing the light that this makes no financial sense.

Just come up with a short list of your must haves and see if you can find something close enough that you can make into something that you love. Otherwise you're going to spend an extra $800K to have whatever specific little details that you're fantasizing about and you'll lose money on the resale. Make sure you're not buying in a tear down neighborhood or else everything you put into it will be a bad investment.

Anonymous wrote:Of course but it won't be much cheaper than building a 5000 sq foot house.

This is exactly why we ended up building a "monstrosity." I ultimately determined that there was no point in building a "charming" home towered over on all sides by 3 story new builds, and I wanted to get my money out of it in the not-too-distant future.

You’re better off buying a modest house rather than building one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would build no smaller than 4000sf. 2500 is terrible

How rude and stupid. I’m wealthy but I live a quiet life and prefer not to entertain large groups. 2500 sq ft is already quite big enough for my family’s needs!

It would be smarter just to build a larger house and not use some of the space. Resale value will be much better if you build something that is in range for the market you are in.

Sarah Susanka, architect of the Not So Big House fame, touched on this many years ago. You can build a lovely small and charming home but it won’t be cost effective.

Yes…of course they will but only if you pay them directly, ie your custom plans. These will be your boutique “custom” builders. They will not build a smaller house to sell because the profit margins increase lucretively with additional square footage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I am looking for a 2500 sq ft house max. Not sure about budget, because I don't know what builders ask these days. Money is not a problem, but I don't want to put it all into one basket, so to speak.

There are some fixed costs in building a house that change very little regardless of the size of your house. For example, the design, site plan & prep, permitting, and general oversight. Then there are the quality of materials and finishes. I would estimate a well-designed, well-built, 2,500 sq ft, truly custom with high-quality materials and finishes to run around $1.3M - $1.6M.

This.

Everyone someone asks this, you need to think about why builders and spec houses keep going up in size = square footage matters for sale/resale.

A 10x10 room vs a 12x12. You get 44 more sq for only 2 feet worth of extra materials and labor which is relatively minimal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7400 sq ft plot in the Bethesda area. Do you think any reputable builder would be interested in building a modestly-sized house? I do not want one of those modern 3-storey modular thing built out to the property limit, because I love gardening and need space for that as well.

Thanks.

Find an up and coming new builder.

Haha, where? And how? It's hard enough to find GCs willing to take on a whole home remodel let alone a small new build.

Anonymous wrote:I have a 7400 sq ft plot in the Bethesda area. Do you think any reputable builder would be interested in building a modestly-sized house? I do not want one of those modern 3-storey modular thing built out to the property limit, because I love gardening and need space for that as well.

Thanks.

Find an up and coming new builder.

You can find a company that will design build the size you want. We also have hired an architect for plans and then found a contractor to do the work. It’s just more work than using a big construction company.

I have friends who tried to do this a few years back and struggled to find a builder who would do it. But I’m sure you could find someone. If you only care about living in it, then build it however you want. If you care about resale this seems like you’d lose a fortune.

Anonymous wrote:I would build no smaller than 4000sf. 2500 is terrible

How rude and stupid. I’m wealthy but I live a quiet life and prefer not to entertain large groups. 2500 sq ft is already quite big enough for my family’s needs!

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I am looking for a 2500 sq ft house max. Not sure about budget, because I don't know what builders ask these days. Money is not a problem, but I don't want to put it all into one basket, so to speak.

I think you could do this 2500, but as some said, it might limit your resale(?)

Do 2500 with a very large kitchen and a larger 1500 guest/flex wing. You could leave this less furnished and used, but it would be there for the future.

I was the poster who said 1900 was my ideal

Anonymous wrote:I would build no smaller than 4000sf. 2500 is terrible

NP here. My dream is 1900 like I and a few years ago. However, on land like op is saying, you can do so much more with outdoor living space (than I was able to do in my 1900).

But the interior, for some, is not desirable to be big. If you’re sort of a minimal person, it’s so freeing to manage less space!