COMMENT OF THE DAY: I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE “. . . Tricon Homes, if they are not the number one builder in terms of number of units in the Heights, they are definitely in the top two. Since the 90’s they’ve built over a hundred units a year, with the majority of them located in the Heights. If you think their construction costs even sniff $100/sqft, you simply do not know what you are talking about. I sell land for a living to top builders in town, and work for a home building company that builds from the $150’s to $1.8M. A $1.8M house in Memorial will average $120/sq.ft in direct costs for construction. Are you trying to say that it costs more per square foot to build a bungalow with siding in the Heights than it does a brick/stone mansion in Memorial or River Oaks?? If so, again….go find a better builder cause you’re getting ripped off.” [MCoerver, commenting on Comment of the Day: The High Cost of Building Small]
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I don’t know about Heights wood siding cost, but I’m about to spend more for cedar to reside my house than it would cost to brick it as a new build. Siding is expensive, unless you go for straight vinyl or fiber cement board. The folks around the corner had a Weekley built on their lot and it was $130 or so per sq ft. I seriously doubt you can get a decent house built for under $!00 per sq ft, in town.
This is an apples and oranges comparison. When spec builders talk about their direct costs it is a bit misleading, as those numbers do not include overhead and profit. On a spec residential project, the builder is making some profit off the construction, but making an even bigger profit off the land. By contrast, when a homeowner hires a contractor to renovate/expand a home, the contractor’s pricing includes overhead and profit, which accounts for at least 25% added on to the direct costs. In addition, there may be a contingency, not to mention change orders.
As for Tricon, I have heard some horror stories regarding their construction quality over the years, so perhaps there is also a ‘you get what you pay for’ aspect to pricing, as well.
Tricon is now polluting Montrose neighborhoods.
Also, a larger house is almost always going to have a lower per SF cost than a smaller house. Totally agree with Mies about comparing apples & oranges.
Not apple to oranges at all if the comment being replied to is taken in context of a builder trying to obtain financing for construction of a new dwelling…..which is who it would be in about 90% of the cases. Good luck as a homeowner trying to get a construction loan right now.
Bottom line though is that since the leverage ratios and down payment requirements for mortgages have been relaxed, the banks have more exposure in their current portfolios. This has caused undue emphasis and pressure on price/sqft comparables as the driving factor in product design as well as ability to obtain financing. If the bank had 20% down instead of 3% (or 0%)…they could hedge their risk and allow you to purchase a home that is smaller and possibly at at price/sqft not commensurate with the neighborhood, because if you default, they know they can discount the house 20% and still be made whole on their loan. But now that it has become a RIGHT to own a house and you can virtually buy one with NO MONEY DOWN, the banks have HUGE exposure should something go wrong, and they are going to make damn sure that the house they are lending on is priced just like every other house in the neighborhood. It sucks. You will be hard pressed to see a one-story house built in Houston until this changes….and NOT EVERYONE LIKES TWO AND THREE STORY MONSTERS!!