Cost to build a house in North Fulton/North Gwinnett (appliances, construction loan)

[EastCoast2GA]

Hey everyone,

I'm exploring the idea of just buying land and building a house, although I suspect with dropped home prices, it might just be easier/priced same to buy an existing house.

How much do you think it would cost to build a 3000 sq ft, 5bd, 4ba house with a basement in North Fulton/North Gwinnett. Just the shell with walls and basic tile. No appliances etc. I can figure out the upgrades later.

just give me a ball park figure e.g 75k, 100k, 150k, 200k.

Just trying to figure out if its worth it to build rather than buy an existing house.

PS- I know the best estimate can only come from a builder/architect. Just trying to see if its worth pursuing further.

[BobKovacs]

Depends on what your starting point is. If you're starting from a fairly basic plan that's been build before, it's going to cost you less than if you start with a custom design with lots of windows, cut-up rooflines, etc. That said, I'd expect that it'd cost you in the neighborhood of $150k-200k +/- with some basic finishes (basic for a 3,000 sf house, that is). You could do it for less by building to "production standards", but if you're going to do that, it's not worth the bother- just buy a standing inventory home and get the warranty from the builder.

[jln69]

In North Fulton, you get much more for your money with a resale. Updating is a given. Everything is pretty much built out around here so the new construction in basically just in fill streets and small neighborhoods that just don't have what the resale neighborhoods can offer.

I would say BobKovaks is right. It used to be that the rule of thumb was a min. of 3x the lot price for a home. Don't know if that's true now but his estimates would put you at a min. 3x what new homes go for today in this area.

[K'ledgeBldr]

$100.00 sq/ft.
that's would be a starting point. Depending on who, what, when, where, and if you can even get a construction loan.