Anything you want over a builder's basic box will cost more. How much more will involve the context of the project as a whole. It's not an isolatible absolute. Location plays a big part.

Great post, Mrs. Pete!

I would add, spend some time looking at builder starter homes in new subdivisions and examine the features and allowances they include (also watch a basic builder home go up) That will give you an idea of what a minimal splurge house entails. Also, builders will also give you a list of upgrades they offer (i.e. how much to add a fireplace, how much for hardwood, etc) which will help give you a relative ball park on how much different upgrades cost.

In our first builder special house, we did not even have OSB on the outside of the walls. There was white Styrofoam in between the studs and the white vinyl siding was attached. Yikes! I bet that saved the builder lots

Carol

MrsPete, that was wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to type that all out!!!

We do have a lot, about 4.5 wooded acres, and are working at determining our design. We will be using ...someone yet to be determined, to help with the design. We would like to be able to better weigh which options are worth the cost.

Are there any books you'd recommend? I've tried out local library and am not finding anything really substantial.

Vinyl siding, for sure. Hardi is a premium siding material around here. Windows would be builder-grade vinyl as well. One of the best ways to reduce costs is by building a smaller house to begin with.

IMHO, the place to SPEND money is on the basic structure. Strong and energy efficient, and low maintenance, if you can swing it. Cheap windows will perform nearly as well as good ones.... for a few years. If you're going to stay in the house for a long time, quality construction will eventually pay.

Our house hits a number of the items on MrsPete's great list. We built a small rectangle, very simple. Basic appliances work fine for us. Where we departed was ICF construction, metal roof, very good windows, very tight, heavily insulated envelope. Most of our splurges are geared towards energy efficiency and low maintenance.

There are a few books.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueprint Affordable: How to Build a Beautiful House Without Breaking the Bank

This post was edited by Renovator8 on Mon, Sep 29, 14 at 16:41

Truly, "new" is the greatest element that costs you more. Buying existing will be less expensive.

also

Here is a link that might be useful: Good House Cheap House: Adventures in Creating an Extraordinary Home at an Everyday Price

also look at the Amazon "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section for the linked books.

Here is a link that might be useful: Building an Affordable House: Trade Secrets to High-Value, Low-Cost Construction

@ Mush, sounds like you built similar to what my vision is, tight energy efficient envelope…now just to figure out the rest :) Great list MrsP. I will definitely be referring back to this, and looking into the resources listed!

Thank you Renovator for the recommendations! I have read Good House, Cheap House, though it's been a couple years. I'll revisit that one. And I'll plug that in over at Amazon and see how far down the rabbit hole it takes me.

I'm glad y'all enjoyed that list. I found it enjoyable to consider "the most basic" options -- not that I think any of us want to build a house using this list as a guide, though we probably all have SOME of those items on our lists.

And I think we all agree that spending money on things like energy efficiency can save more in the long savings. We might draw the lines in different places, but I think we all realize the difference between short term savings and long term value.

Oh, and I have two more items to add to the hypothetical cheapest house:
- If it includes a garage, the door opens to the front, allowing for the shortest, cheapest possible driveway.
- The interior doors will be hollow and lightweight.

I kind of agree with you, Live Oak, on "new" being a very expensive item . . . but I'd temper it with this thought: We've all seen neighborhoods of brand-new houses thrown up quickly and cheaply by builders who skimp on the important things and sell the houses for 100K (and no money down). THOSE new houses can be had for less than an existing house, but I don't think many of us want them. We recognize that the cheapest grade of . . . well, everything will have a very limited shelf life. "New" in the way that people discuss it here on this board is quite a different thing, and, yes, that IS an expensive commodity.

Ren8, I'm interested in those book you mentioned. I looked them up on Amazon, but -- being me -- I'll first see if they're available at the library. Well, I know my local library doesn't have them, but inter-library loan is my friend. My cheap friend.

This post was edited by MrsPete on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 8:05

MrsPete - very interesting & educational post. Thank you!