• Numpty@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    It only costs at most $100,000 to build a house in material and labour costs.

    Where? Seriously… where? Keeping in context and looking at building costs in BC (since Mr. Singh’s house is in Burnaby)… the materials cost to build a 2000 sqft house is more like 3 to 5 times what you guessed. Just the foundation and excavation costs can easily hit $60,000 - $75,000. Add to that the lumber for the flooring alone which can easily exceed $30,000. Just those two things and you’re over your $100,000 guesstimate. And you haven’t accounted for permits, surveying, connections to city utils. The real cost of materials in a home in BC is more like $500,000… to START. Plus you have contractor fees that can easily hit 20% of your materials cost… if not more.

    I own a house in BC that we built in 2019… I saw the materials cost… and the costs have gone up a LOT since then. You are way off on your cost of building materials estimate.

    • masterspace@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Building costs on average range from $120-$260 / square foot in Canada. A small sized starter home is not 2000ft but 1000, which puts us firmly in the $100-200k range, not the $600k they actually sell for at minimum. And this isn’t getting into the fact that once a home is built it will typically be good for many many owners.

      • Numpty@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        That’s still not accounting for foundation costs… contractor rates… and so on. Even with a 1000 sqft home, you’re still going to find youreslef pushing over $200,000 in materials and other costs… then there’s the land value. Lumber costs will make you cry… the wood you use in construction is bloody expensive nowadays. I don’t think that you can honestly get away with $120/sqft…

        But taking your price of say… .$200k (I picked the upper end because I think you’re low and using reference data that several years old) in materials cost… add in surveying, foundation, building permits, licenses, services, and the one big expense you’re missing… land to build on… and you’re not going to have a house built (even if you do almost all the work yourself) for $200k.