Any contractors on here?

[Hunter44]

My wife and I are about to purchase some land in the Farmer/Denton area and want to build on it in the near future. Would like to get some rough estimates on what we want built.

 

[Atla]

@ramjo

 

[braxton357]

I'm a gc, I'm going to say somewhere between $$$$$ and $$$$$$$.

 

[Loganwayne]

Before you buy anything make sure it perks. Or can hook up to city sewer

 

[UTfball68]

I have a construction crew with GC on staff…we have a $600k build going right now. We focus more on roofs, but if the juice is worth the squeeze, I knock out 3-4 houses/quarter.

 

[OnlyOneDR]

I'm a gc, I'm going to say somewhere between $$$$$ and $$$$$$$.

That is my experience, been trying to find a decent builder for months now that isn't $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

[CasterTroy]

Not a GC

Work with them daily. Have several that are very good friends

Would like to get some rough estimates on what we want built.

Not sure how familiar you are with the process...but the GOOD custom home builders are booked for several months. None of them will give you random $per sqft pricing right now.

Whatever you do, have the respect not to waste their time. You're doing the right thing in getting recommendations.
My advice is find a builder willing to build in your area and with good references. And be straight up with what you're looking for. Then if you feel like this is the guy, commit to this builder and THEN start talking numbers. No one wants to spend time doing a take-off for someone that may shop their price.

You're about to enter into a very intimate relationship with someone for 18-24 months. You need to feel good about this person. At the end of the contract, you want to invite the builder and his wife to dinner at your home.

If you don't get that feeling after meeting them, walk away.

 

[Loganwayne]

Also scope creep is real. Plan for it.
You need to figure out your budget. And your list of wants. And your lists of must haves. Your most likely not going to get them all. In my area you could pay 350-1200++++ a square foot. It all depends on your tastes. You can get a 1000 fridge or 10,000 dollar one. They both hold your groceries

 

[rodney eppes]

Before you buy anything make sure it perks. Or can hook up to city sewer

Your own Well, or City water; No Community water systems! No HOA's, but Be aware of what Zoning codes, Does allow or Disallows, in the area you build. Unless you have large acreage, = who will your neighbors be?

 

[YotaOnRocks]

Before you buy anything make sure it perks. Or can hook up to city sewer

Don't let a failed improvement permit deter you if you like the property. If the county fails the improvement permit, that just means you need a licensed soil scientist or aowe to look at it. More often than not a septic system can be installed, wether it is a conventional system or non conventional depends on the soil.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Don't let a failed improvement permit deter you if you like the property. If the county fails the improvement permit, that just means you need a licensed soil scientist or aowe to look at it. More often than not a septic system can be installed, wether it is a conventional system or non conventional depends on the soil.

Yeah that was something I was told to be afraid of when we were looking for land. Reality is it just means the septic system might cost $20-40k instead of $10k.

The most important thing is the location and overall lay of the land because those are the things you can’t change.Dont like some trees or a mound of dirt or some rocks or the kind of grass you see? Change it. Don’t like that one neighbor? Maybe you can buy when they sell. Don’t like the fact it’s all sloping or all flat? Well that sucks. Don’t like Gaston county property taxes? Well that sucks. Don’t like that it does or doesn’t have a creek? Well that sucks. Your well is full of iron? You have a well that sucks. (Biggest thing I wish I’d know that I can’t change)

Price to build is gonna be $100-300+ a sqft, with a realistic range of $125-200 for “normal” construction depending on if you try to be cheap or nice.

 

[ramjo]

I think the realistic range is $200‐$250 as a start. The house below looks like a spec house in the Denton area @Hunter44. Says 2100-2600 sq ft. So roughly $180 sq ft with 3 acres. LVP,carpet,vinyl siding and very noticeable sheetrock joints in the ceiling throughout.



GONE are the $100 square foot days to build a house. I just finished a 488 sq ft tiny house and had $150 sq ft in it. (I think it was close to $100 sq ft in matrtials. It allready had the 12x24 section framed with vinyl siding, I added 12x16 to it and finished both sections out.

3076 Gallimore Dairy Rd, Denton, NC 27239 | Zillow

3076 Gallimore Dairy Rd, Denton NC, is a Single Family home that contains 2496 sq ft and was built in 2024.It contains 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.This home last sold for $459,900 in August 2024. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $467,400, which has increased by $3,000 in the last 30...

www.zillow.com

 

[Hunter44]

The land we’re purchasing is 17.5 acres. Owner said it perked years ago but I’m going to fill out the form for Randolph county and have it perked again before a transaction is made. As for the house, we’re wanting to build something very similar to this, about 1800 heated sq/ft with a 10’ front porch. We plan on paying for a lot of stuff out of pocket like the slab, septic system, water hookup etc. and anything else the contractor will allow us to pay for in cash.

 

[Loganwayne]

Are you talking about paying the subs direct or paying the contractor in cash?

Paying subs direct and cutting your contractor out of it is taking money out of his pocket. If your still expecting to use his subs and him to coordinate it is going to rub them wrong.

Honestly every time a home owner or client of mine thinks they are going to save themselves some money and hire it out themselves it usually ends up costing them more in time and money than if I would have done it. But somehow it's still my fault.

 

[Hunter44]

M

Are you talking about paying the subs direct or paying the contractor in cash?

Paying subs direct and cutting your contractor out of it is taking money out of his pocket. If your still expecting to use his subs and him to coordinate it is going to rub them wrong.

Honestly every time a home owner or client of mine thinks they are going to save themselves some money and hire it out themselves it usually ends up costing them more in time and money than if I would have done it. But somehow it's still my fault

A family member of mine owns a concrete business so I’ll pay him for his part. We also have a close family friend that does septic systems. IF anything can be paid with cash I’ll just discuss that with the GC.

 

[CasterTroy]

From a liability standpoint, that's a collosal PITA. Hopefully you can find someone willing to work with you.

It's essentially like taking a mechanic a part you bought off rock auto and asking them to install it, or taking a steak you got at Food Lion to longhorn and asking them to cook it to save money

 

[Loganwayne]

M

A family member of mine owns a concrete business so I’ll pay him for his part. We also have a close family friend that does septic systems. IF anything can be paid with cash I’ll just discuss that with the GC.

I agree with what @CasterTroy . Most wont want to deal with the liability later on. You can ask the contractor to use these subs though. And maybe negotiate the fee on those items separately.

The slab is going to have plumbing in it at a minimum so at least two different crews involved. Which means no matter what the GC Is going to have to do coordination between the two. Would you do your job for free?

Also contractors carry a one year warranty on everything. Most likely (I would) exclude both of those. That's also going to exclude any structural issues that might happen.

 

[Hunter44]

It’s our first time building a house so I’m glad I’m getting some good information from yall

 

[83oldyoda4x4]

Tuned in ,bc we hope to do the same here soon. We have some land secured now.

 

[obullfish]

It’s our first time building a house so I’m glad I’m getting some good information from yall

Ask your GC if he would work with your preferred subs. If not then use who he’s got on the hook already. Building is stressful enough without adding to the mix.

 

[awheelterd]

Are you talking about pach ying the subs direct or paying the contractor in cash?

Paying subs direct and cutting your contractor out of it is taking money out of his pocket. If your still expecting to use his subs and him to coordinate it is going to rub them wrong.

Honestly every time a home owner or client of mine thinks they are going to save themselves some money and hire it out themselves it usually ends up costing them more in time and money than if I would have done it. But somehow it's still my fault.

My contactor is a long time family friend and he let me pay subs I 100% coordinated and found. It honestly wasn't worth it. I didn't have anyone to bitch at when they didn't do things right. I was paying them for 1 job, not like I had anything to hold over their heads. I only came out to the good with my brickmason. If I were building again I would have just used his guys and bitched at will.

 

[CasterTroy]

I didn't have anyone to bitch at when they didn't do things right.

Mine was a friend I'd known since I was about 7 yrs old.

But I rolled with all his subs, as I knew better. I had no issues with anything until the rock work. Everything looked great until the posts at the front door.

I happened to come up on his guy as he was finishing the second post. For some reason he believed he needed to cut the rock and put a vertical mortar joint at the corners

I told him to stop, and called my GC and said that won't fly.

The second attempt wasn't much better.

All in all I had to have him tear out the rock on the columns 4 times before it was satisfactory. My GC ended up having to buy 2 more pallets of rock as a result, and I felt bad, but he agreed that he wanted me happy, and those columns would be the first thing I saw every time I drove up to the house.

It's little things like that, which just takes time and effort to fix, that make a difference when a sub knows they have future opportunities they're blowing if they leave a GC hanging. Not so much a favor for someone they know with one project.

 

[awheelterd]

Mine was a friend I'd known since I was about 7 yrs old.

But I rolled with all his subs, as I knew better. I had no issues with anything until the rock work. Everything looked great until the posts at the front door.

I happened to come up on his guy as he was finishing the second post. For some reason he believed he needed to cut the rock and put a vertical mortar joint at the corners

I told him to stop, and called my GC and said that won't fly.

The second attempt wasn't much better.

All in all I had to have him tear out the rock on the columns 4 times before it was satisfactory. My GC ended up having to buy 2 more pallets of rock as a result, and I felt bad, but he agreed that he wanted me happy, and those columns would be the first thing I saw every time I drove up to the house.

It's little things like that, which just takes time and effort to fix, that make a difference when a sub knows they have future opportunities they're blowing if they leave a GC hanging. Not so much a favor for someone they know with one project.

Yeah, I started the building process when I was late 20's, if I had known better I would have done things differently. My builder offered to let me work around him, so I don't feel bad about it from his standpoint.

 

[CasterTroy]

Yeah, I started the building process when I was late 20's, if I had known better I would have done things differently.

Oh that wasn't meant to sound critical of you by any means. More so, I'm old AF and have been in construction for the better part of 40 years. Starting when I was 15 working in the summers with a spec house builder sanding floor seams and doing crown and chair mold for a GC. Hearing him bitch about all the stages of building, subs and customers
I'm not anywhere smart or brave enough to BE a GC but, Thru osmosis and years of exposure, I figured out how to make the process as painless as possible.

 

[Hunter44]

So is the better approach to just take the money we were going to use to pay cash for certain things and put it towards a bigger down payment? We plan on going through AgSouth Farm Credit in Asheboro for the construction loan since NCSECU doesn’t offer one. If anyone has experience with them I’d like to know as well. Or if anyone has other recommendations.