Building a custom home in Lakewood

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Lakewood, Toms River & Jackson related Inquiries

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amother

Peru

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 8:45 am

amother Snow wrote:

Hi. I estimate my 5700 square ft home to have costed in the range of 1.3 to build and took 2 years from buying to moving. I renovated existing home but did very big extensions and redid entire interior. Good luck! Tips to keep cost down, find a very reasonable designer, dont try doing it on your own, and be very clear about your budget!

Also focus on layout alot put all your concentration into it. Also remember that huge doesn't always equal easier or better....sometimes it achieves the opposite for example a massive kitchen takes double the time to cook and clean in etc. If u have loads of cleaning help then maybe it's different. Get in touch with other ppl who built recently and don't be shy to ask questions do lots of research.

Get your layout and kitchen plans done and looked over by top experts and smart family members...

A new house is very different than old plus extensions.

amother

Purple

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 9:05 am

we just finished building a 5000 sq foot home plus finished baement. it cost us 1.1 we did some smart upgrades but nothing crazy. I was not happy w my builder but I won't post his name here. who are u using.

amother

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 9:08 am

amother Purple wrote:

Thank you!! We are still deciding who to use. Did 1.1 include a finished attic too? How much above the original budget was that? Can you please also share what smart upgrades you did? Thanks again!!

amother

Purple

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 10:04 am

amother OP wrote:

Thank you!! We are still deciding who to use. Did 1.1 include a finished attic too? How much above the original budget was that? Can you please also share what smart upgrades you did? Thanks again!!

ask detailed questions about the builders from someone who finished recently. ..yes finished attic and basement with rental.
we included built ins and custom closets. I can't think of specific upgrades to give u .
our original budget from the builder was 650 LOL

amother

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 11:07 am

Oh my!!! How did you swing the cost of the budget if it doubled midstream??

amother

Purple

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 11:23 am

amother OP wrote:

Oh my!!! How did you swing the cost of the budget if it doubled midstream??

God. seriously.
but its not like I did so many more upgrades than we had planned. honestly think the builder didn't give us a normal budget ( there was no way we could have met those numbers) plus of course everything went up. but I think they grossly underestimated things

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 1:18 pm

Price of construction went up ALOT this year. Lots of supply & labor shortage.
We just went thru this about 4 years ago, then the going rate was $125/ sq. ft.

We used Tzvi Fried/ Durabuilders 732-725-7572 and were very happy- he knows construction and takes alot of other stuff into account that regular builders don't, like space issues, practicality issues, and aesthetics, and was very honest with us. I don't think he's the cheapest, and it took longer than we anticipated, but we felt like we were in very good hands the whole time and didn't feel taken advantage of.

We also dealt with him ONLY, no middle man.

Some smart tips:
- Use an honest builder who KNOWS construction, not just a builder that functions as a project manager (I.e. some contractors just get the teams together but don't know construction from beans)

- Use an honest decorator, who's not going to make you spend way over budget.
Many builders & decorators get large kickbacks from other vendors whom they then push you to use, but it's not necessarily in your best interest to use those vendors.

Construction (and weddings!) always go over budget but if you use the right people, it doesn't have to be waaaay over budget.
Hatzlacha!

amother

Purple

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 1:54 pm

amother Purple wrote:

ps , again, I used a very well known builder who everyone recommends....

amother

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 9:03 pm

Oh gosh - I’m doing lots of research so hopefully I will end up with a reputable builder! Thanks so much everyone for your replies! Would love to hear from more people that built recently - I’m hearing that prices skyrocketed since Covid so I can’t expect costs to be nearly the same as 2 years ago.

If anyone e can give more insight - would be greatly appreciated!!

amother

Lightgray

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 9:06 pm

My friend used avrumi streicher and was very happy but she said she also went over budget but he claims it’s over Covid.

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Dec 04 2022, 9:11 pm

It is a post-covid thing. Cost of labor jumped and supply & production shortages.
I'm hearing $175/ sq. ft. is where it's at now

The prices of everything jumped since Covid, plus inflation.

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