Wait till next year, maybe the prices will come down when nobody is building anything.

I am under a contract because of a grant that says I must move in within three years from this past August.

I am just getting nervous and venting.

Continue to get quotes. But maybe an idea would be to approach a builder in a different way. Start with your budget (minus 10 or 20% for cushion), and a list of needs and wants (clearly labeling each item as such), then ask the builders you talk to what they can do for you with the needs, wants and budget constraints.

We've been floored by some of the quotes for our house plans, so we're doing it ourselves. Good luck, but make sure to follow up with references and a trusted Real Estate Attorney before you sign anything.

I went through the exact same thing. Our first two quotes were 25K and 45K over what we felt we could spend. We got another quote that was right in our budget with pretty much everything we wanted. The biggest difference with ours was the builder we are using charges cost plus 10% versus the others that were cost plus 18% to 20%.

Happily, the least expensive builder that we are using also happens to be the best builder of the 3 we got quotes from, with glowing references from every one of his references.

My advice, keep shopping around to different builders.

I agree totally - keep shopping around! We interviewed about 25 builders, got serious quotes from 4. The range of those quotes on the same house, with the same finishes, differed by over $100,000. In the end, none of them felt quite right to us, so we kept searching and started asking our neighbors and the people in the area where we owned the land for references. We found our builder by contacting the one everyone raved about, who does not advertise at all - he has a waiting list of clients by reference from his former clients only. We had heard good things about him before, but thought that because he was in such demand that we couldn't possibly afford him. Dead wrong! Not only does he build a quality home, he truly believes that each customer must be totally happy with it before he considers the project complete. And the even better news.......his quote was $110,000 LESS than the lowest bid we had from the bigger builders for even better custom finishes.

Keep looking and don't give up. It may take time and patience, but you will find the right builder.

if a builder is 110k less than you lowest bid you had better be ready for some surprises. there just isnt that much room in a project nowdays.

We had the same issue. Our first bid was 100k more than subsequent bids. The 3 subsequent bids were all within 20k.

"if a builder is 110k less than you lowest bid you had better be ready for some surprises. there just isnt that much room in a project nowdays."

No, that means that the other bids were highly inflated and the contractors thought that we would be stupid enough to bite on whatever BS they fed us. They expected us to be dazzled by the smoke and mirrors of their fancy showrooms and the "doo-dads" that they threw in to impress us.

I've built 3 other homes and I'm not exactly a rookie when it comes to this process. I don't give a damn about compressed air razor cleaners in each bathroom and the latest trendy kitchen appliances to impress the people at my dinner parties. I DO give a damn about a well-built, well-insulated, energy efficient house built by a master builder who doesn't even have to put an ad in the Yellow Pages because he has a waiting list of clients referred to him by his very happy former clients. And the even happier news? Every single one of the people we talked to that he'd built for told us that not only were they totally happy with their homes, the also said that he usually comes in on time and under budget. He spent several weeks working with our architect to find some ways to cut the costs without sacrificing the things that are most important to us. His ideas gave us more practical space, a better flow and minimized waste, while incorporating things that we hadn't even thought of.

Oh...and BTW, he and his entire crew are devout Amish, so I sincerely doubt he's misrepresenting anything. If you know anything about the Amish, their word is their bond. He built our neighbor's house and I've talked to them and several other of his former clients and have seen the quality of his work up close. When we took the construction contract to our own attorney for his review, he looked at the builder's name and said, "Oh...you couldn't have picked a better builder. I've known him for years. He's the best." When one of his competitors who had submitted a bid called us to follow up and we told him who we'd chosen, his reponse was "Know him well. He'll build you a great house at a fair price."

So you see, I've seen enough bids for enough different houses to know when a contractor thinks he can pad the profit margin to make up for the lack of work right now. And I also know a fair deal when I see it. The builders who figure had to deliver a good product at a fair price are the ones who survive and prosper in the lean times like this.

You are facing many problems rebuilding in New Orleans - lack of labor/expensive labor, inflated prices just because there is a lot of grant/insurance money and everyone wants a share of the pot, crooks, and a general non-interest in quality.

So, get lots of quotes, check references, and try to find somebody that you trust will do a good job. You will come out better paying an extra $30K for a good GC than if you get stuck with a crook or a GC that you end up firing half-way through. On the other hand, you don't want to get ripped off.

My GC was on the high side, but was extremely responsive through the bid process. On the downside, he was extremely slow, and ended up skipping town with 13 unfinished houses and 3 checks for 10% deposits from contracts he had recently signed. He's rotting in jail right now, but none of his victims will see a dime of the money they lost.

Maine, The rest of your story may be true, but I highly doubt your builder and crew are devout Amish. You would be talking no cars to get to your jobsite or transport materials, no electrical tools(air guns, saws, etc) and pretty much only hammer and saw to construct your house. Perhaps they are Amish, or perhaps Mennonite - but highly doubt they are anywhere near devout Amish. . .

"Maine, The rest of your story may be true, but I highly doubt your builder and crew are devout Amish. You would be talking no cars to get to your jobsite or transport materials, no electrical tools(air guns, saws, etc) and pretty much only hammer and saw to construct your house. Perhaps they are Amish, or perhaps Mennonite - but highly doubt they are anywhere near devout Amish. . ."

LOL! Where exactly do you live and are you near a large Amish/Mennonite population? The Amish don't drive vehicles themselves, but they DO ride in motorized vehicles and they DO hire "the English" to drive them and their crews to the worksite. They also DO get their materials delivered by trucks, just as any other GC's do. Just for clarification, they DON'T live in the Stone Age and use only hammers and saws. They use the same tools as any other carpenters on the worksite. Their beliefs prevent them from having electricity in their homes and in their workshops on their properties, not on a jobsite. They also use propane powered air compressors and applicances in their workshops and in their homes. The majority of Amish homes have a gas or propane powered refrigerator, hot water heater, washer and many other amazing tools and appliances powered without the use of electricity. You might want to go take a look at the website of Lehman's - one of the stores that cater to the Amish to provide all kinds of gas powered appliances and tools. It's quite an experience to go there and see everything that's available.

http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=676&iMainCat=676&iSubCat=676

We've been to the office/workshop of our GC a couple of times and I'm always in awe of his creativity. While he has no electicity there, he does have gas lighting and the coolest air compressor driven ceiling fan that I've ever seen. It runs on a system of pulleys driven by the compressor, which runs on natural gas.

BTW....my contractor does have a cell phone. I asked him about that and he said that his bishop grants permission to those in business who need the use of a phone, but for business purposes only. So you see, your assumptions about the Amish are the same as many of those who do not deal with them on a daily basis are. You'd be quite surprised how very little their beliefs about electricity effect how they do business. They believe in taking care of their own and their church and to so that, they have to be competitive enough to earn the money to do so.

Please excuse my defensiveness towards the Amish. I've lived among them and have interacted with them for many years here in Ohio, which is why I chose to build my new house smack in the middle of them. I bought my land from an Amish dairy farmer and he and his family have been wonderful neighbors to us. The day we closed on the land, they invited us to have supper with them and their extended family. All last summer, their grandchildren would run across the fields when they'd see us, with sweet corn and tomatoes from their gardens. I've taken the farmer's wife into town in my car for her doctor's appointments when she broke her ankle. My husband and I have helped them round up their calves, when part of their the fence came down in a storm. it's true that they're very wary of outsiders, but they're also hardworking, tolerant people who are not as primitive as most seem to think. They also love to laugh and joke. Our neighbor chuckled when we told him we were putting in a generator in case of power failure, which is common in rural areas. he said "well....you can just come and stay with us for a while."

i was going to recommend finding an Amish or Mennonite builder. they don't go for major showrooms, but they do EXCELLENT work. i have yet to see one advertise either. When the Mennonites around here build a house, they usually have less waste at the end than when other builders put up a wooden shed! seriously, most builder haul off several large construction dumpsters of waste, these guys MAY fill 1 smaller one. i have seen them sit there and pick thru cut boards to find one closest in size to what they need, while other builders would just grab a new one off the pile and cut it and throw the rest away as scrap.

Being that we are in New Orleans, there aren't any Mennonites around here. I've actually never seen one, or an Amish, in real life.

LOL! Yeah, I doubt there are many Amish in New Orleans! :)

I was thinking the same thing so I googled "mennonite Katrina" - there are some groups working in New Orleans, but seemed to be mostly charity work.

Seems like there's good joke here, the day that Boudreaux met the Amish farmer...

LOL!!!

Maine-

That is so COOL that you have Amish building your home...I can only imagine the exquisite craftmanship and attention to detail as well as amazing work ethic they will put into your home.

We met a group of about 12 Amish from Indiana in Niagra Falls of all places...we were on a tour bus with them and we even asked them how they got up there and they said they hired someone to drive them up. They were so friendly!

Cursive-
Like the others...keep shopping around...also, are you sure you can't cut costs on some of the finishes? These are where the numbers can really skyrocket...can you shop for flooring alternatives? Ready-made vanities instead of custom cabinets in the bathrooms? Can you cut out some of the trim work?

Do you have lots of angles and a complicated roof? that will drive the cost waaaaaay up....

Nope, rectangular roof.

Heres the plan, only thing we were gonna change up was to redesign the kitchen. Nothing fancy...

Have you considered a modular home?

At the very begining I thought about it. But then I spoke with a friend of mine who's boyfriend works for the company that hauls them in. And he convinced me to forget that idea completely. When he does to pick them up from the staging area, they are full of mold. Worse than post-storm houses.

Just to add another comment re the Amish . . . Maine is right on target. We're in Northern Indiana -- big Amish area around here. The nearest WalMart has a parking shelter for horses and buggies. My cleaning lady grew up Amish, is no longer part of the community. She drives her still-Amish sister to their cleaning jobs. My entertainment unit was built in an Amish shop to our design. Our builder (also our SIL) uses an Amish framing crew. From next door, we watched in awe as they framed this house. They'll be traveling (driven) to Tennessee to frame our new house in a few weeks. Our new kitchen will also be Amish built. Yes, they do use power tools, even when shunning electricity in their homes. Great, great craftspeople!

Re: the Amish. My cousin here in Oklahoma had an Amish group bused in from Ohio to do thier framing. So they do travel for work! :) I know they were nothing but pleased w/ thier construction.

I have a great deal of respect for the Plain people and their ways. They hold to very high standards in their work and they deliver a quality product at a fair price. That's not to say they don't know what their work is worth and will work for bargain prices. They are very astute businessmen and as was already said, they don't waste materials or time on a job. But above all else, what I value more than anything in working with Amish/Mennonite builders is that their word is their bond and they honor their commitments. If they say they will do something at a certain price, they do. No haggling after the fact, no "oh...I made a mistake and now there's a cost overrun that you'll have to cover". I have complete trust in my GC's judgement and his honesty. If he tells me that something needs to be done or done differently, I know that he's looking out after my best interests and not just his wallet. After dealing with many other builders in the long search to find the right one, it's totally refreshing to have confidence and trust in one, just as I was beginning to think that I was going to have to settle for less than that.

Do you mind telling where you got your plans stock, designer, architect, DIYÂ?

I found the plan online, and then had the architect "tweak" it to just how I wanted it. Except for the kitchen, which I want to totally change the design. Do away with that "bar" and have a big curved island instead.