Most Affordable Way to Build a House

by Tony Guerra Google
Pricing out your home's construction costs can help keep it affordable.

Pricing out your home's construction costs can help keep it affordable.

In 2012, the median price for an existing home came in at $180,600. According to the "" website, a new house probably costs you between $80 and $200 per square foot. For example, a $300,000 2,800 square-foot home costs about $107 per square foot to build ($300,000/2,800 = $107.14). Given the price of houses, it's no wonder people are looking for more affordable ways to build them, and there really are ways to do so.

Design of Home

The cost to build a house can vary tremendously even among houses of the same square footage. For example, a 2,000-square-foot single-story rectangular ranch-style home costs more than a-2,000 square-foot two-story square colonial because the colonial's foundation is smaller. Simple, rectangular-shaped rooms are easier to build, and save on construction costs. Generally, as pointed out by the "MSN Real Estate" website, square-shaped homes are more economical to build than rectangular-shaped homes.

Cost of Materials

The materials that you choose to use to build your house greatly affect its ultimate cost. A house's flooring, bathroom fixtures and heating and cooling systems, for instance, can vary greatly in cost. Standard "builder-grade" materials for homes are builders' least-durable and lowest-priced materials. Quality-grade, custom-grade and ultra custom-grade home building materials are more expensive. If you're on a tight house-building budget, builder-grade materials may make sense, though slightly more expensive quality grade materials probably last longer.

Pricing Out Costs says that identifying and pricing every item used to build your house is the first step to affordability. By identifying and pricing all the items or systems comprising your home you can bid them out to subcontractors. Home builders commonly bid out various house systems to subcontractors. When building your own house, make any subcontractors bid competitively. To smartly bid out your home's construction, make sure you understand your building plans and specifications first.

Deciding on Affordability

The most affordable home is the one you can actually afford to buy or build. When building a home, be realistic and start with the amount you can actually spend and then work backward from there. You also need to be realistic about the size of house you need. Deciding on what and where you can afford to build your house is crucial in keeping its construction costs down.

Ultimate Affordable Homes

Several companies now offer "tiny homes" ranging from 60 to 900 square feet that can be built from scratch or delivered to a site. One company building tiny homes offers models with completely finished exteriors and available upgrades starting at $12,900. Affordable regular-sized kit homes are another low-cost way to build a home. MSN Real Estate says that 26-foot by 46-foot versions run about $41,000. A kit house usually comes with almost all materials for its construction, and takes about three weeks to build.

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