Carl,
In your experience, do those estimates on Building-Cost.net match up fairly well with actual bids?
David
Hi David,
That Cost to Build Calculator as well as any cost to build calculator has to be considered to be what it really is, just a construction tool.
And like any tool, it must be used correctly to get good results.
While I have found the results from this calculator to be in the “ballpark”, I cannot emphasize strongly enough that until you get actual bids from General Contractors or subcontractors, and building material suppliers you will not have a fairly accurate cost estimate.
Uses for the Cost to Build Calculator include:
• Preliminary estimates in order to make a decision whether or not to go further ahead with a certain new home, home plan or project.
• Helping you judge if a bid from a Professional General Contractor to build your house (turnkey) is in the “ballpark”.
• Helping a Professional General Contractor come up with “ball park” figures.
• Seeing how design and quality changes monumentally affect total cost
• To help establish budgets for the categories that can be adjusted (in order to control cost) without affecting the overall design of the house.
If you find a home builder, custom home, or a home plan you like but it’s coming out to be too expensive, take a look at adjusting the cost of certain categories that won’t affect the overall design of the house…i.e. floor covering, appliances, window brand name, etc.
It is sort of like "reverse engineering".
Carl
Suggested Additional Reading:
Cost to Build in North Carolina Too High
Construction Bids Too High