Buying vs Building in today's market

[Smiling JOe]

Construction in Cassine Village is not typical concrete homes, like you find in Alys Beach, and much of Rosemary. However, there are some nice homes, most are stick built. On a similar note to the cost of Greg Goodwin, in Cassine, today, I spoke with a local builder, who does quality construction, and built my last house and the one I'm currently in. He is in the final process of completing a stick built home in Daughettes for a cost to the customer of $145 per sq ft. The homes is nice (not fancy, but nice), with some upgrades like wood ceilings and a nice fireplace, and a couple of cost saving features, like stained and scored concrete flooring, which offset the costs of the upgrades. Scott Wensel, of Baywoods Development, is the builder. Scott has built in many neighborhoods in Pt Washington, as well as WaterColor, WaterSound, Seacrest Beach, and others.

contact info
Scott Wensel
SHWensel@yahoo.com

 

[redfisher]

I've got a good friend who was quoted approx. $178 including some upgrades...that's the reason I posed the original question to see if that was average...What the code regarding concrete first floors, I thought it was a requirement w/in certain distance to the beach but am obviously wrong...What is it?

 

[Smiling JOe]

I've got a good friend who was quoted approx. $178 including some upgrades...that's the reason I posed the original question to see if that was average...What the code regarding concrete first floors, I thought it was a requirement w/in certain distance to the beach but am obviously wrong...What is it?

I know of no such codes regarding type of flooring required for home construction. Anyone else heard of one?

 

[SGB]

I know of no such codes regarding type of flooring required for home construction. Anyone else heard of one?

Perhaps they're in a flood zone? I know that anything below an 8 ft elevation needs to be "waterproof", but generally anything below 8 ft, can't be real "living space".

 

[Rambunkscious]

Excuse me, we are talking about apples and oranges here. Our homes are
comparable to "sweet" homes and we have built several in burnt pine.
Our 250 psf includes a 25k plan allowance from our architect, 70k cabinet allowance, and a 65k pool/enclosure allowance among other things. All our countertops including bathrooms are granite. Appliances are high end
stainless. This is for approx 5000 sf home. Sorry for the confusion but this
type of discussion always results in confusion when you compare apples to oranges.

 

[teocalli]

Construction in Cassine Village is not typical concrete homes, like you find in Alys Beach, and much of Rosemary. However, there are some nice homes, most are stick built. On a similar note to the cost of Greg Goodwin, in Cassine, today, I spoke with a local builder, who does quality construction, and built my last house and the one I'm currently in. He is in the final process of completing a stick built home in Daughettes for a cost to the customer of $145 per sq ft. The homes is nice (not fancy, but nice), with some upgrades like wood ceilings and a nice fireplace, and a couple of cost saving features, like stained and scored concrete flooring, which offset the costs of the upgrades. Scott Wensel, of Baywoods Development, is the builder. Scott has built in many neighborhoods in Pt Washington, as well as WaterColor, WaterSound, Seacrest Beach, and others.

contact info
Scott Wensel
SHWensel@yahoo.com

Rambunkscious specifically states that his houses have SS appliances, granite countertops, and allowances for architectural plans, pool, and cabinets. The PSF is $250 for 5,000 sqaure feet.

Is this for a stick home, concrete block, ICF, or some combination thereof?

"The Real Estate Book", Volume 10, Number 9, which I picked up recently, advertised a home in Rosemary Beach having 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms with permanent Gulf views for 2.299M.

Do the informed and experienced folks with current market information believe that one can buy a lot with permanent Gulf views and build thereon a house typifying construction at Rosemary Beach for a lower cost than the aforementioned home advertised for sale in "The Real Estate Book"?

The adage of "the devil is in the details" is certainly appropraite when discussing the advantages or disadvantages of buying or building in today's market.

Looking forward to more thoughts and opinions.

 

[Rambunkscious]

Journey, this is for a frame home.

Please read my post number 39. Coming from a builder I state in that post that it is more economically feasible to search out an existing home who someone is motivated to sell and buy it. I believe this makes more economic sense than to build something from scratch because building costs are still high and I believe, please see subsequent post, I list 5 reasons why construction costs are headed higher.

However everyone is not motivated by economics. Some people want what they want. One realtor on here mentioned the sex appeal factor and that
is why some people drive ferraris vs fords. When we get older we want and deserve some wants (not needs).

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

I've got a good friend who was quoted approx. $178 including some upgrades...that's the reason I posed the original question to see if that was average...What the code regarding concrete first floors, I thought it was a requirement w/in certain distance to the beach but am obviously wrong...What is it?

This is the case in South Florida, but not in the Panhandle (yet).

 

[redfisher]

This is the case in South Florida, but not in the Panhandle (yet).

So is what your saying that when you see a sfr being built with a concrete block first floor frame that its a significant upgrade and not part of code now?...Red

 

[Rambunkscious]

If you mean FIRST FLOOR WALLS....you say first floor concrete....wtf....

It is not code that the first floor walls be built out of concrete anywhere in the state of florida, its just common practice to do it in south and central florida. In south and central florida, some houses are still built with wood framing on the first floor. If built out of wood framing, they have to be heavily
connected to the foundation with metal rods and connectors.

First floor blocks are recommended here but there is a shortage of blockmasons here, ie, not enough legal or illegal mexican labor. So the cost is exhorbitant.