No idea. 24K is what percentage of the original price? What was the bid? What were the other quotes you received for the foundation? What does the lot look like? Did he give you a firm price or an estimate? What type of contract do you have? Typically you need to have a 15-20% emergency fund for over runs and changes.

Is this a fixed price contract or a cost plus?

Custom plan?

Who owns the lot?

We had a cost plus contract for a custom build and ended up 40%+ over the initial bid that our builder provided, even after having him increase substantially some of the line items. The house is large with med/high finishes. Some of the increases were covid related, but many were due to "rough" bids being done instead of accurate calculations using the building plans.

These days I would say that it is common to have large swings in prices between bids and actual work, with increases driven by demand, supply chain issues and labor issues.

If you don't have the cash to cover potential price increases like this for the rest of the build, then you need to have an immediate meeting with your contractor and bank.

Yes and no. We had significant overages in excavation and foundation and framing. The excavation and foundation issues arose because we found a creek under the old house. This wasn’t really predictable. The framing issues arose as lumber prices skyrocketed from quote to when we needed lumber. You need to ask why it’s happening and understand the process or your build. It’s important your builder front load you with what’s happening and why. Sometimes it can’t change and you will pay more. Other times there may be other solutions or you can adjust spending elsewhere to offset cost. But all of this also depends on the type of contract you have and what rights you have as a result.

The quote is for 511k. 52k of which is an estimate for site preparation.

It is a fixed contract. But in the contract it said the quote was base on a flat lot. beacause my lot is on a hill i knew it was going to cost more. I didn’t expect this much more.

"it said the quote was base on a flat lot. beacause my lot is on a hill i knew it was going to cost more"

Why did he not quote it based on the lot being on a hill, if you knew it was, he should have as well? You are pretty well stuck now as it is what it is, you knew it was going to cost more but never demanded to know how much. And remember you have a long way to go and you do not want to make an adversary of him this early in the process.

A steeply sloped lot is not an unforseen circumstance. Finding an underground creek when you're excavating is.

i just reviewed the contract and saw that part. He told me that the hill will add more after we closed. I thought it will be under 10k so I thought fine.

“And remember you have a long way to go and you do not want to make an adversary of him this early in the process”

I realize this that why I didn’t protest. I wanted to know if this was unsual or not. This is my first time building so I don’t know what to expect.

my initial understanding was that additional costs are usually from change orders and upgrades.

Hi, Reginald,

Your builder did you a disservice by not providing you with a credible estimate of the cost to construct your home on your particular lot--which is not a level lot. It may have been the product of laziness or it may have been to intentionally understate the costs knowing that you'd have no option once the home was under construction. Either is unacceptable from a "professional."

Without knowing the specifics of your contract, I suggest that you should be entitled to information about the construction cost for the base case (level lot) foundation and copies of specific invoices for the materials and labor required to construct the foundation of your home. While the builder may be entitled to collect the difference, I don't think they should be rewarded by paying any mark up on the cost difference unless otherwise specified in your contract.