Build a New Home for Under 70,000

Summary: You can build a nice 2 bedroom new home for less than $70,000 with careful selection of house size and design.

Carl,

I've been a carpenter for over 25 years and my question to you is
this.....Can I build a home realistically for $70,000?

I have $70,000 from the sale of my prior home and I own the land free & clear (no loan).

I do not want to spend a penny more than the $70,000 as I want no debt.

The only labor I would need to hire more than likely is for the electrical and HVAC.

I'm also researching insulated concrete forms (ICFs) to see if that is something I want. Earl

Earl, not only should you be able to build a new home for less than $70,000, you should be able to have it built for you by any licensed general contractor or home builder.

Now 800 square feet may not sound like a big house, but it’s bigger than you’d think and quite livable.

This attractive home makes use of roof trusses with an overhanging roof line to add even more usable outdoor space.

Using the construction estimate software, I ran a cost to build estimate on this 800 square foot new home plan that I found on Cool House Plans.

Since I didn't know where you were planning to build, I used a CA city and, in order to keep costs down I used the following home building specifications when using the cost estimating software:

• 800 sq ft
• concrete slab foundation
• no garage
• forced air heat
• no AC
• no fireplace
• rural area in Bakersfield CA.

The estimated cost to build this house came out to be than $68,468, including not only all the labor to build it, but the cost of using a General Contractor as well. Land and land development costs are always excluded in my cost estimating examples

Well Earl, subtract the labor costs you won’t be needing, the General Contractor markup you won’t be paying, and any other costs you think you won’t need to budget for and you should have a enough money to not only build this house, but be able to add a garage and a few other amenities…perhaps even afford ICFs.

Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate and until you get actual bids for subcontractor labor and building materials you won’t have an accurate estimate.

Good luck, Carl Heldmann