Building A House - What Was Your Square Metreage Cost?

[fionas]

Thanks again for all that TGM - I really do appreciate the time you've taken to reply.

Yep, I do have expensive taste unfortunately but as I spend a lot of time at home, I've decided I've got to love my next house.

Wow - I didn't realise it was that big. I can think of ways of cutting the size down. We don't need a triple garage and neither DP or I is precious about garaging cars so could do without it altogether and use some of that space for the fourth bedroom.

The master bedroom currently has two WIRs which is OTT and the bathroom could be smaller. I do want an oversized actual bedroom though as I will be using it as my retreat.

I can't see my budget going much above $450K for the actual build though so I guess I'm going to have to substantially reduce the size of the house, win Tatts or buy extremely cheap land!

Thanks again for the info TGM - really, really useful.

[The_Gudism_Master]

No prob, you are most welcome. I enjoy this sort of thing.....

as I spend a lot of time at home, I've decided I've got to love my next house.

Can relate. If you are at home for a lot of the day, or plan to stay in a house for a decent time frame, you need to enjoy the space you are in, cause it will annoy the hell outa of you for years to come! The place we have recently bought is a 5 year plan for us, after that then (i hope) we will be in a similar situation that you are (though it gives me 5 years to design it!!!

Wow - I didn't realise it was that big. I can think of ways of cutting the size down. We don't need a triple garage and neither DP or I is precious about garaging cars so could do without it altogether and use some of that space for the fourth bedroom.

Yeah it is a big one! There are many ways to trim it back. The other bedrooms are very generous (4.5m X 3.6M is a big bed for a non-master bedroom), so these could be trimmed down. Every bedroom has its own ensuite, and there is no main bathroom as such (there is a toilet and basin). Having all ensuited rooms is cool, but expensive, alot more to clean, and very water hungry!!!.
Even the kitchen space is very generous and could be trimmed a little. It is amazing how much you can squeeze out when redesigned to fit under budget.
And yeah triple garage is a bit excessive too.

The master bedroom currently has two WIRs which is OTT and the bathroom could be smaller. I do want an oversized actual bedroom though as I will be using it as my retreat.

Yeah the 2 WIR is silly. The robe behind the bed.....I love this detail......but it is expensive as it adds to the floor area real fast, but doesnt give you any more space.
And the bathroom is very grand indeed! (damn nice though!!! ) As for the oversized bedroom, if you need the retreat.....damn its your house have one!

I can't see my budget going much above $450K for the actual build though so I guess I'm going to have to substantially reduce the size of the house, win Tatts or buy extremely cheap land!

If you have a budget (and who doesnt), start there and work backwards to get the size of the house you can afford.
If you were to go to an architect, this is what they would do. First, they'de ask your budget. Then they have the meeting with you to work out what you want in your house etc, and come up with a dollars per sq/m figure based on the discussions with you re design, quality etc.
Then basically do some math to work backwards (eg $500000 budget, sq/m figure of $1500, therefore the house can be 333sq/m in size. And then they start designing to fit that size.
You can do the same thing here to a degree. You have a budget in mind, and a ballpark sq/m figure cost wise. Actually upon rethinking that house.....you could probably get away with using a figure of $1500-$1800 per sq/m. (probably closer to the $1500 mark) If you take the 400sq/m from my last post, then the price comes down to $600000-$720000. All you have to do is massage that floor plan to reduce the size, to fit a cost. And hope when it is priced by a builder that the sq/m rate isnt higher than you planned on!

One thing an old boss said to me when I was designing a house that we were going to build, when you start a design, try not to think about the size to cost ratio at the beginning...work out what you want and need, then scale it back to fit under budget.

[fionas]

Thanks TGM and sorry it's taken me so long to reply.

Our current house is 133sqm and I reckon we need about 200-230sqm.

Now I think I have come up with a GENIUS solution. A while ago I was looking at module houses - you can get some really stylish ones for $2K per square metre. Now architecturally, they're fairly boxy and simple so while I thought one would be fine as a granny flat sort of set up at the back of our current block, I didn't think I'd want the whole house in that style for our new house.

But, having thought about it again, I think there is a compromise to be reached. We could have an architecturally interesting building for the living/dining/kitchen/2nd living/office and connect it through a glassed-in walkway to the bedrooms in a different section. And we could have a module for the bedrooms because I don't mind so much if they're simpler and a bit boxy. So I reckon each section would be 100sqm each.

The house/block we're looking at already has a garage so we don't need to worry about that. It also has a 2br house on it so I'm also thinking that once the module gets installed, we could use the bedrooms in that and then use the existing house as our living areas until our new house gets built. We'd then keep the existing house and use it for guests and possibly rent it out as a weekender. The block is 5 acres so it's not like we'd be cramped!

Anyhow, that is my latest plan though we haven't been able to see the block yet!!!