84 Lumber Home Kits?

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

My fiance and I are looking into house plans through 84 Lumber and were wondering if anyone had any experience with kits like this in general. With the market being how it currently is in our area, we are both in agreement that building is going to (likely) be our best option. .5 acres/1 acre of land go for ~20-30k in our area which I don’t think is too bad. We have a budget of 200k for our first home, and I was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge on if this is even possible within our ideal price range. The kit model we’re looking at is $72k, which doesn’t include upgrades, HVAC, plumbing, foundation, electric, or finished flooring, so I’ve accounted for everything based on national averages and it puts us around $140,000 including averaging in land for 20k and 3k for land clearing…it just sounds kinda too good to be true to me??? Not sure if it matters but this is the one we're looking into: https://www.84lumber.com/projects-plans/home-plans/1-12-story/carriage-hill/

Featured Answer

Gene Lewis

5 years ago

The answers like '1/6th' and '600k' are full of it unless you're hiring a builder -- which is what they most likely are. With the housing market like it is, builders are bending over consumers all over the nation.

If you can stomach being your own General Contractor, you can finish it for around $150k. If you hire a 'builder', plan on 300k - which is a lot of money to spend for someone that harasses subs and talks to folks in county permitting. I just finished an 84 kit that I paid $65k for. A couple caveats - I owned the land and I personally did a TON of the work. Still, I finished the ENTIRE THING for just shy of $100k.

Builders: KMA.

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Comments (12)

rrah
5 years ago
Your link doesn't work. Are you planning on doing the entire building part yourselves? I can't imagine even with the low costs the $140,000 includes paying for labor.
PRO
User
5 years ago
They are about 1/5 to 1/6 of the total build costs.
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PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
"National averages" can be dangerous.

"it just sounds kinda too good to be true to me"

You are smarter than you think.
new-beginning
5 years ago
what about water? electric? sewer/septic tank? driveway? Just for getting the raw land ready to build?
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
5 years ago
By the time you done and over with you will be @ $600k give or take.
BT
5 years ago
Does 84 even sell a good lumber? I don't know who their supplier are - I was afraid to order about 1 year .
Gene Lewis
5 years ago
This is an English forum.
millworkman
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
"This is an English forum"

Actually American but what is your point?
dan1888
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I believe this is a link to the plan. Link.

Carriage Hill One and a Half Story House Plans | 84 Lumber

Imo, the layout and kitchen family room could use some revision.
bry911
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have several acquaintances who have built 84 lumber homes on their land. I have some knowledge and experience with them, from helping with a few things or just talking finances with them.

Here is my 2 cents... 84 Lumber has two collections (1) the Affordable and (2) the Oaks. The Affordable plans are mostly cost effective to build and can generally be done cheaper than a custom home so long as you stay in their selections. Their selections are designed to lower costs, you are not going to get marble counters and Zip sheathing, you are going to get laminate counters and OSB sheathing. They create decent, builder grades homes on your land and with some select upgrades you can get a reasonably affordable lumber package.

Having said that, a reasonably affordable lumber package is to a house what a tree is to a reasonably affordable lumber package. There is quite a bit of work and expense to get from a pile of wood to a house.

In my opinion, most of the houses in the Oaks collection lose that appeal. They are not designed to be cost effective to build and so while you save on the lumber package, those savings don't carry through to other build costs and you end up with expensive construction costs of cheap materials. The one notable exception to that I believe is the Stratford. I think it is a fairly simple to build Oaks collection home.

I believe the two I have seen in person were the Cape May and the Westminster. Just for reference here is a link to the August 2020 price sheet.
Gene Lewis
5 years ago
Thank you for the information. I just got 'ballpark pricing' for my daughter on 2 of the smaller homes - The Pocomoke City and the Watertown. Both are $15k higher now. I'm looking at Steel SIP construction for her now as it's not that much more expensive, and significantly better build quality.