Long time lurker, first time posting. Just wondering if there are any other low budget builds going on. It seems many of the threads in the building forum (and others) are geared toward items and price ranges way over our heads.

DH is a firefighter and I'm a stay at home mom to a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. We are getting ready for our first build. We recently sold our 1st home that we renovated and owned for 3 years and are now renting a basement apartment from family while we will be building just down the street.

DH has many years of construction experience in framing, tile work, hardwood install, and most general construction prior to and along side his firefighting career. His dad is also a GC but lives 2 hours away so will be helping with the framing and on weekends here and there. Because of DH's schedule of working 8 24-hour shifts per month, he will basically be working full time on the house.

We are buying 2.5 acres from my family for $70K. Our build budget is $150K or less. Shooting for $130 ideally. We are almost finished getting all bids together (septic, dirt work, concrete for foundation, lumber, trusses, siding, roofing, insulation, HVAC, electrical, drywall, trim, doors, windows, cabinets, counter tops, and flooring all in) just waiting on plumbing and a few small things like bathroom and lighting fixtures and appliances. We will be meeting with the bank with our estimates and plans in the next 3 weeks. We will be financing pretty much everything, lot and build, so around $200-$220K. House plan is 1800 sq ft, 2 story, 3 bed (4th option/bonus), 2.5 bath.

We are subbing out drywall, insulation, HVAC, electrical, rough-in plumbing, and carpet install. DH will pretty much be doing the rest on his own and/or with help from family/friends.

Any other low budget builders out there?

I left my job, and live on-site in a barn I built last fall. We're not financing, but have a limited amount of money. When it's gone, we're done, one way or the other!

Some folks can and are able to be their own GC, and some cant't. That's a very challenging, full-time job and not everyone has the personality, trade contacts, knowledge and skill to be their own GC, so it's not something for anyone to think they can do it on their own without the right contacts and skills.

There are a number of pre-designed small house sites on the Internet for reference for those looking to build small, and consider for ideas or for the actual plans.

When building small, some things to consider:

--Do the stair math and select stair design that best fits your age, health, family and functional preferences. Many stairs in stock plans are designed to code minimums and are very steep, as a means of saving floor space. This may be a false savings, depending on one's stair climbing abilities;
--Some rooms can't be minimized beyond a certain point, since their equipment and fixtures are standard sizes and proper space for human use and circulation is needed, ie, kitchens and baths, closet depth, door sizes, etc.
--That said, try to eliminate corridor space as much as possible by having circulation take place through other usable rooms
--Frank Lloyd Wright had a useful philosophy for many of his houses: he made the "living" spaces large, and the "sleeping and service" spaces (kitchens, baths, utility rooms, etc.) small. His reasoning, which is useful in today's high-priced houses, was to put the space where it is used by the most people for the most time.

Good luck on your projects.

@sweet.reverie: Wow, it sounds like we have a freakish amount in common, lol. As far as how the bids are coming back so far, I know we will be able to stay under the $150K but we'll see how much we can trim down. Only a few bids were higher than expected (drywall and HVAC) but so far we haven't been looking for the absolute best prices yet, just putting together preliminary numbers for the bank. We know we can cut down in some of the finishings if needed and hopefully we can get some other bids that will be a little less.

At this point I have my heart set on SmartStrand carpet, $6/sq ft hardwood, and slab granite counters, but those are all things where we could easily cut quite a bit of $ if needed towards the end.

Oh and we are in western WA about half way between Seattle and Canadian boarder.

Here is the plan that ours is very closely based on. It is being modified slightly by expanding the front entry and some small things in the interior we will change/customize, only 1 sink in kids' bathroom, adding exterior man door to exit garage on far right side, small changes in master bath.

For a two story home, a modular home might be another option. The 'shell' is built at the factory to your specs (not an existing plan like manufactured homes) and then the inside is completed on site. I think Bob Vila followed a modular home from set up to completion, on one of his shows. Once the shell is up, it's similar to a stick built home's timeline.

But maybe the words have different meanings in other parts of the country. I experimented with modular with a low cost build but the actual cost wound up being higher than stick built.

LL, I understand that the "plugging it in" was an exaggeration, but certainly there's a lot less for a DIY to do when the house is delivered in assembled boxes than when you have to stick build it yourself...that was my only point.

We are looking to build a 2,000 sq ft 1 1/2 story around $200-250k not including the land. It's higher than yours but still significantly lower than many around. We aren't as far along as you are. We hope to start on house plans early next spring and go from there. We are also fairly handy and will DIY as much as possible. Because dh has such a non-traditional work schedule that should help dealing with house stuff and being around during the build. I anticipate hiccups and being fully consumed and exhausted by house stuff when it kicks off but I am hopeful we can handle it and will get through it. This too shall pass right? I am sure I will be muttering that a lot! We could not afford to have it built turn key. Doing some of the work ourselves should allow for a few upgrades in finishes. That is the dream anyhow.

We are in west Michigan.

Please do continue to post. There are a few of us out there in the same budget range.

I like to see houses that are smaller on this board too, because it feels more like what I'd actually be able to do someday.

Also, there is a small house forum, which you may want to visit--not so much for build advice, as building is building and you run into things for small and large alike, but because of the way you must live in a smaller house. So, if you haven't stumbled on the small house forum, you might head there and poke around some.

My hubby is also a firefighter, and I, a stay at home mom with 2 little ones ,3 and 1:)

We plan and doing most of it ourselves on a building budget of 200k.

My hubby is also a firefighter, and I, a stay at home mom with 2 little ones ,3 and 1:)

We plan and doing most of it ourselves on a building budget of 200k.

Maybe the OP will come back and update on her build :)

We are about halfway through our build and should be ready to move in by June 1st.

Its nice to see other low budget builds on this board. I've wanted to share pictures or plans on this site many times, but have always hesitated out of fear that the house my husband and I love will be ripped apart by those spending and building 2-4 times what we are.

So who knows. Your plan is very conservative, but nice. Good luck.

This looks like a plan that was designed for a home built on a small lot, close to other homes -- there are no windows on the side walls, aside from the one over the tub. You are on acreage -- wouldn't you like to be able to look out over your land? Could you add some side windows?

Not a ton to update at this point.
- Septic design was approved by county building department.
- Building permit application and documents were submitted a little over 2 weeks ago, so we're currently waiting on that.

We were hoping to finance through Northwest Farm Credit but things ended up not working out with them. We are technically building through hubby's contractor dad so we have a large portion of gifted labor from FIL and hubby's labor as well. In WA Farm Credit does NOT do owner-builder so their underwriters were put off by the situation even though on paper we have a GC. Part of the problem also had to do with FIL didn't pass Farm Credit's Contractor credit approval due to a short sale on a personal home 7 years ago.

-Washington Federal on the other hand has been great to work with since they do all financing in house and do owner-builders. We are on track for our loan (for lot and construction) to close by April 15th. My mom and step-dad built through them 3 years ago as well as 2 other local friends in the last couple years.

-We've increased our build budget up to $160,000 with $15K of that designated toward updating the detached garage + 900 sq ft shop currently existing on the property. It needs a new roof and some siding replacement, so we will be re-siding the front to match the house, re-panting to match, re-insulating and drywalling in the shop. The shop has current electric, plumbing, gas and even it's own septic system. It was used as a business in the '80s but has been vacant for over 20 years since my family acquired the land. We are planning to convert the shop to a 1 bed, 1 bath guest house and will finish it out with personal funds as our budget allows. Estimate for the new home is looking right around $145,000.

Congratulations on your build! I am also going with some of the budget finishes in my home with the hope that I might upgrade in the future. But I'm just thrilled that I'm getting to build my own home and not having to, either, buy someone else's 'vision' or get a prefab national build house in a cookie-cutter neighborhood. And to be honest, some of the builder finishes aren't that bad when I get to personally select the color or finish. In the house I'm currently renting, there are builder finishes (and landlord DIY) EVERYWHERE and the house is so horribly mismatched and in ugly colors.

But I totally understand your feelings on sharing on the forum. I had that experience last week when I decided to ask for opinions on a floorplan and instead received comments telling me how horrible my house was going to be. I was very close to deleting my original post and not visiting the site again until I received a comment from someone who was incredibly encouraging. I kinda think the majority of the people commenting may be building houses 2-4 times more expensive than yours or mine BUT there ARE some like-minded people and there are people who may be building houses 2-4 times more expensive but they're kind and realize that you do what you can.

I, personally, would love to see your house photos! :) I've just learned to ignore the negative posts and remember that their budgets are greater than mine and they won't be living in my house. While I did get some good advice, I know what I'm building will work wonderfully for me and my husband and in the end, that's all that's important! :)

Good luck on the rest of your build!

And I would not worry what other's think. If you are happy, that is what matters ultimately.

Thanks!

I do not see you finishing the inside of your 2000 sq ft house with only $10,000.

If you went with $4.00 Sq ft flooring it would cost $8000.00 alone. (4.00 x 2000) = $8000.00

Perhaps it will be a bit cheaper flooring at $1.00 or even $2.00, but that puts you at $2000.00-$4000.00 for flooring.

Cheap Interior doors will cost you $55.00 each

Cabinets?

Counter tops?

Appliances?

moldings?

Paint?

Lights?

Plumbing Fixtures?

As you can see, the bulk of the cost is really on the interior of the home. I am not saying you can't build 2000 sq ft for $90K. I have done it 100 times over, but you need to get the "shell" bid way down or you are not going to be close to making it.

Hope this helps.

As per adding windows after permits, I would strongly urge the OP to consider some side windows. It makes such a huge difference to have windows in rooms on two sides of the house. We added a few more windows than what was on our permit, and that was fine with our City. You just have to pay attention to percent of allowable openings. However, with your big property you should not have many restrictions on openings.

Good luck to all those trying to keep costs down by DIY, acting as owner builders, or keeping the build on tight budgets. This too shall pass and we will all have lovely homes to live in.

Carol

Thanks for your feedback! I really do appreciate it!

I should've included in my original post that we do already have quite a bit of building supplies, etc already - things like flooring, light fixtures, trim, appliances, paint, etc. So, the $10k budget isn't really representative of the total cost to finish out the interior, just what I hope the remaining things we have to purchase would come to.

In my last job, I oversaw construction of a public facility that had a budget of about $650,000 (almost 7,000 sq ft), and I am almost finished with doing extensive remodeling to a house we were renting out (renters did about $30,000 worth of damage to a $75,000 house, but the majority of that was labor as our insurance covered paying someone to do the work - we are selling it!)

While building a home is new to me and I certainly have a lot to learn, I hope that what I learned from those two projects and helping my family build our home as a teenager will come in handy with building our house.

But, I am certainly open to any suggestions, ideas, comments!

You are welcome.

If I read your post correctly, it looks as if the only items left to purchase will be the cabinets and countertops and perhaps plumbing fixtures?

These (3) items alone can be very expensive. It will depend on whether or not you use granite, formica, etc.....and what type of cabinets you choose.

Also,
Since you are new to this, do you have the tools required to install all of the items you mentioned, or do you plan on subbing these items out for the labor portion?

My husband and I are looking at something in the neighborhood of a 200K budget (to include an in-ground pool), which goes a long way when you already own the land, when you're in a low cost of living state, and when you are willing to take some cost-cutting measures. I have no doubt this is do-able.

My husband and I are looking at something in the neighborhood of a 200K budget (to include an in-ground pool), which goes a long way when you already own the land, when you're in a low cost of living state, and when you are willing to take some cost-cutting measures. I have no doubt this is do-able.