Cost For New Home Build In Central Texas.

[James Morris]

Hello all, I am a young (21 y/o) investor from the Austin area looking to broaden my horizons. I have been buying and selling vacant lots for the past three years, and am finally (after the close of my last 2 properties next month) in a position to build a small investment house. I am looking to build a small 1338 Sq Ft three bed, two bath two story house in the lake way/hudson bend area. I am looking to keep this one pretty simple with stained concrete or tile (whichever is cheaper) with carpet in bedrooms and typical average finish out besides some granite counters. The Slab will only be 30x30 plus a carport, and water is available but will require a septic system.

I know there are many factors such as topography, but I am looking to get an idea of what it may cost to build something like this on a flat lot from some of you experienced investors, and maybe even get some recommendations if any of you use a contractor. I am semi familiar with the process of building, but plan on using a contractor for my first few projects until I am comfortable doing the contracting.

Here are some photos of the plan I have in mind! All advice from experienced builders/investors will be greatly appreciated.

[John Blackman]

You can build for anywhere from about $100/sqft an up.  It also depends on what you include in that amount.  The pre-start costs that are often *sometimes* included in a build and used to sway that number to the negotiators advantage are the following:

• Plan Sets - $1.25 - $4/sqft
• Engineering - Framing, Foundation, Water Tap plans
• Soil testing - $1,500
• Inspection Fees - $500
• Energy Audits - $500
• Water Meter Fee - Depends, $500 - $15,000
• Tap hook up - Depends, City may do it, or up to $5,000
• Gas Line hook up - $1,000
• Utility costs - $600
• Legal work - surveys -$1,500
• Builder's Risk insurance - DONT FORGET THIS! - $400
• Porta Cans - $70/mo
• Interest Carry Costs - Depends on your note and size
• Lot Grading, Drainage mitigation - Completely variable

The above list can often be as much as 15% of the entire project cost especially if you need utilities or have sloped lot issues.  So make sure you understand all of those well.

You can get very basic builder grade finishes done for about $90/ft after all of that and the builder fee is usually going to be Cost + some percentage (15%+ in Travis County)

I know of some good fee builders you may want to consider for your first one.  Hit me up privately.