Estimating Square Foot Building Costs the Wrong Way
The final factor in costing out your home made chicken coop is the number of chickens you have. For a modest 2 chicken coop you can probably make one up for well below $100. If you have different breed you want to keep separate then you will be looking at quite a bit more. For most home made chicken coops you should have plenty of change from $200.
This could be your time to build. You've decided that the only way you're going to make this happen is by building a kit home. You understand the advantages of having the majority of the materials in one package with much of the framing labor done for you.
And, you appreciate the value of controlling your costs.
But, what is the price tag? You just want know! Well, you need to dig much deeper than that. First it's critical to set the stage a little.
The Kit Home Price Tag is Just Part of the Equation
Do you buy things based upon the price? I know I often do. It's pretty much a habit, isn't it? When we do this, we often neglect to differentiate between finished products like a TV, vacuum, car, or completed home and something like a kit home that is more of a process than a thing. This is why, when figuring the costs of building a kit home, the kit's price tag is of little value.
Because of our "price tag fetish", we have become so conditioned to just ask for the price no matter what we're buying that we often overlook the real or complete cost of things and make blind decisions.
You are doing yourself a disservice if you do this when building a kit home.
What Are You Really Doing?
You're not buying a house, you're building a home. Let me go even further; you're not just buying building materials, you're embarking on a project, an adventure ... an adventure that takes preparation, equipment, and personal involvement throughout.
For comparison, think of an African Safari.
Just as an African Safari requires many things (like vehicles, food, tents, guns and guides) for a successful adventure, building a home takes similar preparation and involvement. And, just as you wouldn't try to figure the price of the safari by asking the cost of the tents alone, you shouldn't focus on the cost of the kit home package.
The Kit Home Cost Equals 25 - 40% of Your Home Building Cost
While the percentages are different for every situation, the cost of the kit home package vs. the cost of completing your home will almost always be half or less.
What determines the percentage has everything to do with who's providing the labor, the cost of the land you're building on, the money it takes to add or connect to utilities, the cost of architects and engineers, the cost of the loan, and your "home-building coach" fee.
how much it cost to build a house