Housing costs in Tulsa

[Ibanez]

Does anyone have an idea about what the average cost per square foot is in the Tulsa area? I don't need hard numbers, just an estimate.

The reason is that we are looking to build a new house but every builder we talk to refuses to give us any kind of per square footage costs. They all want us to look at their plans rather than even consider the house plans we have. We currently have 4 plans of various sizes we like and will pick one of those 4 based on cost. Irritates the hell out of me that nobody is willing to talk per square footage costs. I've tried the Tulsa Builders Association but they are not helpful at all.

Surely someone could just give a rough estimate of cost per square foot.

[waterboy]

Have you asked a Realtor? They will give you a ball park. For some reason, $100 ft. sticks in my mind but I know that varies with level of quality expected and whether they've included land cost.

Builders often want to build from plans they've used before to take advantage of the learning curve. They know how to profit off their own plans and learn a little more each time they build that house. It costs more to learn how to build a new plan in time, do overs and finding the right subs. Time is money.

Look for a builder who has constructed a house similar to your plans and he'll give you a number but don't expect it to end up the same number.

[AngieB]

We've been looking at building in a new addition...$100/sq ft is about what it will be.

[sauerkraut]

I hate to say it but you really are better off using the builder's plans. They have all the kinks and bugs worked out of their plans and they can build it for the quoted price in most cases without any un-expected cost over-runs. They know all the little details that have to be taken care of. If you use your own plans something unexpected could pop up or something goes wrong, or it does not meet code and cost over runs are more of a problem. JMO.

[Ibanez]

The $100 per square foot is something I have been told by a couple of realtors, but they also say "that includes the price for purchasing the land." which doesn't help a lot since we already own our land.

I dunno. Just frustrating.

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by wavoka

The $100 per square foot is something I have been told by a couple of realtors, but they also say "that includes the price for purchasing the land." which doesn't help a lot since we already own our land.

I dunno. Just frustrating.

Its like buying a car. Determine what you want to pay for constructing the house, then go look for someone to build it for that cost. If you're way off base adjust accordingly. The cost of land in a subdivision is available (though it varies by the quality of the subdivision) so you can back that number out and find the average cost of building the house. For instance the cost of a lot in midtown might be $75-100,000 for choice locations (not including tearing out the perfectly good cottage style on the lot!). That location might require some pretty high quality construction for resale value. So, if your neighborhood is selling for $100 ft that includes the land. So a 3000 sq ft home is $300,000 value less the cost of land at $100,000 means the construction cost will be about $200,000 divided by 3000sq ft or about $65 sq. ft. If you own the land, you'll be talking to the bank about a $200,000 mortgage.  

If you're not in a subdivision and are building on acreage, the builder is just as much in the dark as you are in trying to figure out what it is going to cost to connect to utilities, what's under the turf he doesn't know about, transport materials, etc.

Does that help?

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

quote:Originally posted by wavoka

The $100 per square foot is something I have been told by a couple of realtors, but they also say "that includes the price for purchasing the land." which doesn't help a lot since we already own our land.

I dunno. Just frustrating.

Its like buying a car. Determine what you want to pay for constructing the house, then go look for someone to build it for that cost. If you're way off base adjust accordingly. The cost of land in a subdivision is available (though it varies by the quality of the subdivision) so you can back that number out and find the average cost of building the house. For instance the cost of a lot in midtown might be $75-100,000 for choice locations (not including tearing out the perfectly good cottage style on the lot!). That location might require some pretty high quality construction for resale value. So, if your neighborhood is selling for $100 ft that includes the land. So a 3000 sq ft home is $300,000 value less the cost of land at $100,000 means the construction cost will be about $200,000 divided by 3000sq ft or about $65 sq. ft. If you own the land, you'll be talking to the bank about a $200,000 mortgage.  

If you're not in a subdivision and are building on acreage, the builder is just as much in the dark as you are in trying to figure out what it is going to cost to connect to utilities, what's under the turf he doesn't know about, transport materials, etc.

Does that help?

Hehe..yeah.

Luckily we know everything about the utilities since they already exist on the land. My wife's parents have a house on the back 1/2 of the land  and the utilities all run right by the spot, but not too close, to where we are going to put our house.

I'm just a little frustrated because I really want to get construction started this spring.

[ARGUS]

$80. Bells and whistles = add on price.
Please capitalize that R as in Realtor[]

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by ARGUS

$80. Bells and whistles = add on price.
Please capitalize that R as in Realtor[]

And don't forget the trademark.[]

[OurTulsa]

I'm in the process of building right now and we are right at $175 ft. however we are using top shelf materials and some very progressive systems.  I knew of a few individuals that were building as recently as a year and a half ago for $60 ft. but they were using pretty low quality materials.  I think if you want basic quality you should prepare for $100 ft. without including the land; cost of materials has shot through the roof...damn feul prices and global warming produced natural disasters.

[cannon_fodder]

I was told by a Realtor in an investment scenario near the fairgrounds that a proposed addition would probably return no more than $75 a square foot (aka not worth the investment).

My house is currently assessed at $85 a square foot (actual value is probably $95).

So whatever that's worth to you.

[tulsa_fan]

I think if you own your own lot, $75 - $85 per sq foot will work.  Concept Builders built ours for $72+ sq foot, granted it's a piece of crap, and I HIGHLY reccomend you DO NOT use them, but Shaw Homes was also comparable in that price..  Of course, we modified their existing home plans.  If you take a full custom plan to a builder like them, you will not be happy.  They say they are custom, but they aren't.  Try a smaller builder, who really is a custom builder.  Then you are likely looking at the $100/sq foot price.

[Gaspar]

We design a lot of homes for a lot of builders.  Typically PSF prices are between $70 - $85 a sf.  

Our high end 6,000 sf. and up homes run around $100 - $120 sf.

Our "over-the-top" multi-million dollar homes are around $150 sf.

We can build a high-end office building out of top notch materials for $185 - $200.

I have only seen a few homes in Tulsa built for more than this, and unfortunately they only hold that value for about 20 minutes. []

A good builder can use excellent materials and use progressive techniques without ever exceeding a realistic cost to the client.  I'm not sure what you're building your home out of, but if you are exceeding $80 a square foot on a home under 5,000 sf. I think there is a problem.

Builders hate to talk  sf. pricing because it fluctuates, and they don't want to get nailed down.  BUT it does not fluctuate that much!