Cost to Build a House and How to Save Money Building a Custom Home!
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- We saved $1,000,000 by building a house and in this video we share how we did that! Watch to find out how much does it cost to build a house, how to save money building your own home, and why building a house vs. buying at market value can save you a lot of money!
First, we break down the cost to build a house, including the cost to buy land, and new home construction and building costs. We built our Dream Home in the heart of Toronto, Canada, so the Toronto housing market and Toronto real estate market significantly influenced our real estate investment including both the cost to build a house in Toronto and ultimately the final price and value of the new home.
Next, we offer tips on how to save money building a custom home. This includes thinking through your architectural drawings or house plans, floor plans, exterior design and overall home design. Additionally, this includes creating and managing a construction budget for the new build, selecting finishes, making trade offs, shopping around, and getting the most value from your Dream Home.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build a house, we are actually doing it again! We are building another new construction home - right across the street from our first custom home, and the new home is only going to get better! Subscribe to our channel to follow along our Dream Home building journey.
You can also follow us on Instagram where we provide snapshots of the day-to-day house construction process: / wethewolfmans
Please like, share and comment - we would love to hear your feedback! - Навчання та стиль
Thanks for following along! Want to know more? Download our free Guide where we will walk you through the top questions to ask a home builder so you could select the right one and save yourself time, money and stress: bit.ly/2zqfyID
This was extremely helpful because you rarely find videos that is about building a "truly custom home" and not a builder grade home that has been upgraded or redesigned. My fiance and I are in the process of building a custom home on an acre of land we purchased less than a yr ago. We are super excited and these are some great tips. Thank you!
Tricia Jackson thank you for your feedback - we’re so happy you found this video helpful! Congrats on your upcoming custom home build, that’s so exciting! Good luck with everything and keep us posted on your progress!
Genuinely honest couple
Thank you for your wisdom, insights and honesty! Really enjoyed watching the video, as it comes from the heart and experience you both went through. Will start studying all points for our Dream home :). You are Bless to Be a Blessing!
Thank you so very much for your kinds words! We are so happy that you found this information valuable. We are very blessed and grateful to be going through the experience of building our Dream Home and are so excited to share our learnings and insights with others :)
Great video Wolfmans! My wife and I just paid off our current home and are looking to move into a bigger place within the next 5 years. Your series of videos have convinced us to consider building now instead of buying. Could you may be do a video on the finances? Maybe a case study with some generic numbers on how the timeline works as well? Example: when to secure a mortgage for the land, how much to have liquid for construction, when to sell the current home to pay off any mortgages or loans. I know it'll be different for each person, but a high-level idea of how it works would be incredible. Thanks again, and looking forward to joining the home building community soon!
Thank you so much for the feedback. We will look into putting out that type of video. As you mentioned however it is extremely challenging to do something like this because every persons situation is so so different. If you would like to speak on a call I would be happy to chat about something that could make sense for you.
Let me know
Thanks
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm currently looking for a tear down to do the same thing but on a much smaller scale. This is super helpful!
So helpful and informative. Thank you for sharing. Can't wait to see more!
Thank you so much for the great feedback! We’re so happy you found it informative and appreciate you taking the time to leave us a comment! 😊
Amazing! You guys are so informative and helpful!!
Thank you so much for the kinds words! We're so happy you found this helpful!
Thanks guys for sharing!! This is so helpful!
We're so happy you found this information helpful! Thank you for taking the time to leave us a comment and let us know :)
Great video, guys! Keep up the good work :)
Thank you so much! 🙏
thank you guys for sharing!!
Our pleasure! Thanks for following along.
I’m so interested in planning to build my dream home and u guys inspired me. Do u guys have any tips for first timers
Hi there I really like your videos. I am building a house in GTA. Wanted to know where did you get the stone which you installed at front of the house.. Name of stone & supplier. Thanks
Hi, the stone is from a brand arriscraft. It’s the rainasance in the nutmeg colour. We got it from Peter at JV building supplies
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment and support!
fantastic video!!
Amanda Eh thank you so much for your kind words and for following along - we’re happy you found this valuable!
Amazing!
Thank you!
Hey Wolfmans, thank you so much for your honesty and contribution. This video gave me a lot of valuable information and luckily I live in the same area. I hope you will create more videos that go more into detail of this build and how you did your research for materials, trades, what things you hired professionals for and what things you did yourself (in terms of design and project management) and factors that impacted your decision making. I'm curious why did it took such a long time to complete the build and move in? Where there any unexpected delays? And what could have been done to prevent them? Thank you a lot! I'm very grateful I stumbled upon your video.
Hi Tina, thank you so much for your detailed comment and great suggestions for future videos! To answer some of your questions - we hired an architect to complete the drawings that need to be submitted to the city for permits, but for the most part we’ve designed the house layout and floor plan on our own (we have a few separate videos on that and how we approached this process). We’ve also hired a builder to help supervise the day-to-day construction but we’ve overseen the overall build and have been very hands on in terms of helping to source trades, negotiating fees, managing on-site issues, managing the budget, and making all the selections for materials and finishes.
Stay tuned as we will share some of our experiences of shopping in stores for finishes and certain considerations when selecting materials.
In terms of why it took this long - it took us about a year to design the home, get all the permits and mobilize the builder, and then about 13 months to build. While we could have done this a bit faster, it’s fairly standard to build a custom home of comparable size in approx a year (10 months at minimum). Naturally there will be some delays - some trades may start later than anticipated, certain work will drag a bit longer than you hope, material deliveries may have a longer lead time and may be delayed, some mistakes/oversights require going back and fixing, etc. All these things can end up pushing out your completion date. That said, now that we’re building our second custom home, we’re doing it faster as we’re planning better and being more efficient.
@@WeTheWolfmans thank you so much for such a detailed reply, that's so nice of you! It is only after I posted this question that I discovered all your other videos (and I'm so grateful you are making all these videos for us). My husband and I are hoping to be in your shoes sooner later than later and if you guys are interested to connect privately feel free to message me! I would love to grab some trade contacts from you and share some of ours if you ever need some.
Absolutely! Happy to connect and share! Feel free to reach out to us at: wethewolfmans@gmail.com. Josh is also a real estate agent and has a good understanding of what to look for when you want to buy land/property to build a custom home. That’s very exciting that you’re thinking of building - good luck to you both and stay in touch!
@@WeTheWolfmans thank you!! I definitely will! Good luck with the new build! I'm just going through the program to get a real estate licence myself. Thanks again, you will hear from me soon!
Tina Zivkovic that’s great! Good luck to you and looking forward to connecting soon!
Great information! Will be passing this information to my sister in law who is an architect and is building her own house in Vegas, thanks eh!
Thank you very much for your feedback and for sharing this video with others - your support means so much to us!
It was a great video for all home builders out there . Really enjoyed the video,I think you guys have a very creative mindset to build his house. Did you use a builder or a GC to build this house or you acted as your own contractor.
Sebin Sebastion Thank you for your great feedback! We did hire a builder more so to provide technical expertise. Although this was our second home we still did not feel fully ready to take that part on by ourselves. However, we are extremely hands on and play a very active role in the build- we drove the design process and all the decisions, we brought in and vetted a lot of the trades, we manage the budget, and we’re also on site frequently managing and overseeing the day to day construction.
What advice would you give to get the best price on land ..how not to over pay?
Learned a lot about building a house. Your best video yet. Thank you!
Thank you so much for the feedback! We’re so happy you found it valuable 🙏
What do you think about purchasing an already designed house plan online ? They say it comes with estimated cost ? Example : family home plan site???
@ Rebecca Redshaw If the design works for you and your family’s needs, and it works well within the lot size you have, and you’re happy with the way the exterior looks in the pre-designed house, then that’s great and nothing wrong with going with a standard design. As with everything in home building, there is usually some trade off - you will trade off some of the benefits of customization and possibly optimization of space, for a better cost and more certainty of what you’re getting. No wrong way, you just have to figure out what works best for you :)
Thank you for all the insight that you have provided! Having you both walk us through your experience has been so helpful and thorough.
Quick question, do you have any advice on how to finance the job? Would you recommend working through securing a construction loan? I would greatly appreciate your advice. If you prefer to contact me personally through email that would be fine too!
Lots of love from Toronto!
Thank you so much for the feedback and we’re so happy that you found this video helpful!
Re advice on financing and loans - it’s a tricky one to provide broadly because there are so many personal variables like one’s own savings, earnings, credit history, ability to get access to funding, at what cost, different types of loans, etc. We’re happy to share more about what worked for us - feel free to email us at: wethewolfmans@gmail.com 😊
Great content, thanks! Does the $980k include the finished basement? Or did you have that done later?
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, it includes the basement. We finished the basement as part of the build as it’s cheaper to do it all together if possible.
@@WeTheWolfmanshow much cheaper?
Hi guys...any tips on how to shop for the house builders...?
How did you get your build cost to $1m? Are you including builder management fees, basement, backyard/landscaping, closing costs, carrying costs, etc? Who was your builder? Thanks!
Because I'm starting the process and my numbers are coming in much higher!
Hi Daniel thank you for your question and for reaching out. Please keep in mind that cost breakdowns will vary greatly depending on your area, home design, size, etc. This cost breakdown was for our first home build which was completed 3 years ago and the budget was finalized 4 years ago. There have been many price changes since this time, specifically lumber which has gone up tremendously. Otherwise this number for us included every part of the cost - the builder, landscaping, finished basement, etc.. The only item not included was carrying costs. We didn’t want to include this as it will be very different person to person depending on financing arrangements. Therefor we didn’t want to include that in this calculation. Please send me your email address and I will send you the contact information for our builder.
Finally, if you are in the process of looking for land, I am a real estate agent and specialize in finding land for new builds. Let me know if you would like any help on this front.
Cheers
Question? Did you hire subcontractors steps by steps or you had a general contractor that helped u with that?
Toronto is damn expensive we just bought a new house cost a fortune.good for you guys!
Thank you so much Mark and huge congratulations to you on your new home purchase, very exciting. All the best!
Great video, thanks! My question is regarding your hiring of a builder for his technical expertise. Would you be able to provide details on approx cost for such hiring? As well, on he builder arrangement, was the builder full time working on your project or the arrangement was more of pay by the hour... any insights would be highly appreciated. Thanks
Thank you for your question. This will depend drastically from builder to builder especially dependant on the specific arrangement. Our builder was not full time only working on our project. Most builders will not operate only one project at a time. However he always made the required time to stay on top of things and keep things moving. We were very happy with him .
@@WeTheWolfmans thank you for your quick response. I appreciate it. Approx how much I should budget for a builder that is kind of part time? What would be minimum and maximum range assuming I will do the same as you did being heavily involved in every step and need a builder only and mainly for consultation and their contacts. Are we talking $50k, $100k etc? Any tips here would be great.
Thanks again!
1 million nowadays is normal ,if its 5 million thats something
Thank you for sharing this! How did you buy such cheap land in Toronto?
Shawn thank you for the note! It really was a great buy for us. Keep in mind we purchased it in 2015 and also it’s not the heart of Toronto, it’s in North York. Also Josh is a real estate agent and knew exactly what to look for - what we purchased was a complete tear down. The house that was on the lot hasn’t been lived in for 6 years and was completely falling apart. It was the perfect opportunity for what we were looking for in terms of demolishing and building.
@@WeTheWolfmans Thank you for let me know! Good luck on your new house building!
@@WeTheWolfmans Would you also introduce how to finance the construction a new house?
Hello , Thank you for the info , how do you got the $ to build it ? That’s the info I need I got money but only for the land right now
Thank you for following and for your question. To be honest the best person to speak to for something like this would be a financial advisor. There are many different ways this can be done, and a good creative financial advisor is worth their weight in gold.
Good luck and let me know if you need a good recommendation for a financial advisor.
Love your videos but I think this one is a little misleading. IMO you cant really include the increase in land value over 5 years to the profits of building as that would have been the case regardless of building or not. Also did you include all expenses before arriving at that profit? LTT, Carrying costs, Brokerage fees when selling, etc.? Finally, I think the most you're looking at for that house in that neighborhood is 2.7 (I could be wrong). Great job though. big fan.
Hi, thank you for your comment. In the video we explain that this wouldn’t be as of today’s market and so it’s not based on an increase over 5 years. We state that at the time we moved in in 2017, $1MM is the savings we generated based on fair market value of the finished properly. This is based on the fact that if we wanted to buy the same property at that specific point in time it would have cost us that amount, which is $1MM more than what we spent building it.
Part of that difference is attributed to the appreciation in the real estate market in the area at that time, and we are very forthcoming in saying that anyone else who owned a property in the area at that time would have benefitted from a similar appreciation - we’re very forthcoming about calling that out in our video.
With respect to costs, yes we included the LTT in the cost of the land we purchased, and there were no realtor fees as buyers don’t pay for that on purchased properties (only sellers). Carrying costs are not included in our cost to build as financing arrangements are very personal and everyone’s cost could be drastically different depending on one’s access to financing, how much down payment you can put down, what rates you can arrange for financing, etc. However, the costs of the build are fully comprehensive in terms of every $ we paid towards getting the finished home.
The $2.9MM valuation of the home at that time was independently supported and validated. During the time we moved in in 2017, there were comparable properties in our area that sold above $2.8MM and our new custom home has finishes that surpassed those homes. In addition to having our house formally appraised by a Bank, we also had other independent Realtors appraise the home at the time we moved in. In full transparency, right off the bat we state that these values are all based on IF we were to sell this home or buy it at market value on the day we moved in. Much the same way that one’s net worth might be appraised at a given time, or a stock market portfolio, or a business valuation - the value can fluctuate in the future, but that’s what it was worth the day we moved in. We are only here to share our honest experience and we feel we are being most truthful about how we got to these numbers and the context of the market conditions at that time, so that viewers could take away from this what is relevant to them.
We hope you find this clarification helpful - thank you for following along and taking an interest in our journey. We wish you all the very best!
Nice
Thank you!
Would’ve been great if you provided a price breakdown for each section you discussed
Hi 3lite
Thank you for your comment. Our spreadsheets for our project have over 70
Categories. Each category has a breakdown that can be anywhere from 2 to Sometimes as high as 15 sections. We thought it might be too detailed to break this down. Thank you for your interest and your feedback is much appreciated. We will consider doing some further budgeting videos in the future.
What kind of material did you use for your outside exterior is it stone?how much per square foot for exterior? How much all together per square foot? How many square feet for your home? What advice would you give to get the absolute best price🤣
Thanks for the video. Only issue I have with the video is that the the video is made in 2020 and estimated market value given was from 2017. If that value is post market crash then prices in the North York area would have generally declined to a point that the profit (net/gross) is less than half the $1 M mentioned. I understand that you purchased it in 2015 and took two years to build but the video lacks some transparency.
Hi, thank you for your reply. I understand where you are coming from, however in the video we tried to explain that this wouldn’t be as of today’s market. It states that if we sold the house at the time we moved in the 1 million is the profit that we would have accrued. Or alternatively if we wanted to buy a comparable property at that specific point in time it would have cost us that amount.
I hope that helps
@@WeTheWolfmansThank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I enjoy your videos. I even subscribed and hope you both do very well in your journey together as youtubers, builders, etc. I didn't want to get too into the specifics with my first comment. However, I just feel that you have overvalued the market price of your home at the time you moved in (whether intentionally or unintentionally). Working for a bank and being a Realtor makes that a bit more inexcusable. I know the neighbourhood the home is in. When the most expensive home sells for $400k less than your $2.9 M valuation even at the peak of the 2017 real estate market, it is hard to believe that $2.9 M is anything but unreliable. It's not in a neighbourhood like Bridal Path where homes can vary significantly in price due to factors like size, features, quality, etc. Having read some of the many kind and encouraging comments on your channel upsets me knowing that you have deceived them (not saying that it was intentional, but being in the professions you are in makes it hard to believe that it was not). Based on your numbers, some people might get motivated to try and do what you did. It may make some people feel depressed about their own experiences, etc. I just feel that you should have been more conservative/honest with that valuation. The 60% value that you added, which was mentioned in your video is really numbers/$ that mostly did not (and currently still does not) exist. Moving forward, I hope you give it some thought what I just said because alot of people are looking up to you and cheering you on. Although it may not seem like it, I really do hope you both and your family do very well (I'm sure you all will), and stay safe and healthy (especially during the Covid-19 pandemic).
@MrLegallaws Thank you for your very thorough message and most importantly we wish you and your family continued health and safety during these uncertain times. First off - we would never be deceptive, that’s simply not what we’re about. We take our personal brand very seriously and it is our objective with this Channel to be as truthful, real and transparent as possible.
During the time we moved in in 2017, there were comparable properties in our area that sold above $2.8MM and our custom home has finishes that surpassed those homes. You’re right that there were also some properties in the area that sold in the mid $2.5MM range, however most of these were on 43 foot lots while we have 60 foot frontage. This adds significant street presence and value and frontage is always worth more than depth. The $2.9MM valuation was independently supported and validated. In addition to having our house formally appraised by a Bank, we also had other independent Realtors appraise the home at the time we moved in.
When you mention that 60% of the value we claim doesn’t exist - right off the bat we state that these values are all based on IF we were to sell this home or buy it at market value on the day we moved in. Of course no profits or value can be realized unless the home is actually sold. Much the same way that one’s net worth might be appraised at a given time, or a stock market portfolio, or a business valuation - the value can fluctuate in the future but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist at the time of appraisal.
We’re also being very forthcoming that the market could change drastically even from the time you buy the land until the build is complete, and in our case we admit that we got very lucky with the market appreciation (which was evident across the entire Toronto real estate market). We are only here to share our honest experience and we feel we are being most truthful about how we got to these numbers and the context of the market conditions at that time, so that viewers could take away from this what is relevant to them.
Our objective with our Channel is by no means to convince people to build, or to sell home building as an idealistic experience that will make people rich. Our objective is to connect with other people who might be interested in the process and to share our real experience, learnings, struggles and successes. We will always aim to be as real and accurate as we can be but it would absolutely be our advice to make sure people consult with their financial advisors and real estate agents before embarking on a home build. They can be very lucrative but also very risky and challenging.
We thank you again for your interest, your time and for your support. We likewise only wish the best for you and your family!
👍
did you guys got a bank loan or out of pocket and did you guys had your hand in building or someone did all the work
Thanks so much for the comment. We had someone who was a GC but we were extremely involved in the build. In terms of financing yes we had to take financing from the bank in order to build this project.
fundamental info
So happy you found it helpful!
Where is the home located?
In Toronto, Canada
We The Wolfmans GTA is huge. Prices vary greatly all over. Doesn’t really answer my question.
More specifically in North York
u didn't match the sound to the video
Thanks for the feedback. We checked the video again and didn’t seem to find an issue. Hope you still enjoyed the content!
Your title is very misleading. You don’t know the difference between Saving $1.0M and building equity in a property. Any shmuck in TO could have made over $1.0M because of the real estate boom in your area. Are you saying they too saved $1.0M without having done any building renovations? That’s not saving......that is called equity!
SPENDING THAT MUCH MONEY FOR A 3800 SQ FT HOUSE IS COMPLETELY [BLANK].
Invest in some lav mics.
Tyler Drainville thanks for the feedback! We’ll look into it
You're just so happy, it's disturbing haha
Haha we are happy
I’d be happy too if I saved a million dollars on my dream house.😂
@@Me-mb1ex haha fair enough! 😂
your paid approx. $480 a sq foot ??
Must of been Italian builders.. double the price.
No - you’re including the cost of the land in your calculation, which is never included in the cost per square foot to build. The short answer is that our cost per square foot was about $258 CAD ($980K build cost / 3,800 sq ft). That said, there isn’t a consistent way to calculate this. On the cost side, we included our full build cost that we paid out of pocket including all the pre-construction costs (like permits), HST etc. If you were to ask a builder this question they may exclude some of these costs and only include the construction costs. On the square footage side, we’ve excluded the garage and basement as this is the typical way to measure it, but again others may include this space in this calculation. Just keep that in mind when comparing different costs per square foot.
@@WeTheWolfmans my bad you are right.
We are in the process of downsizing back to the city and building is one option. We find your videos extremely helpful and Joshua very informative. We will be contacting him....greetings from Vaughan.
That’s very exciting that you’re considering this move! We’re so happy that you find our videos helpful. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you wish to learn more about the custom home building process or discuss real estate in Toronto and the GTA. My email address is: joshwolfman@mac.com. Stay well and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
How is it possible it costs $258/ft2 if it does not include the garage and the finished basement? This does not add up. The actual cost excluding the garage and basement must be higher than $258/ft2. Could you please advise and provide the breakdown? For the builder, it is a general contractor, project manager or an actual builder? Great video, very informative.
e gawd... Nothing earth shattering here... yeh, inflation and the real estate market went up. We're all going through that. move on...
That is expensive land.
Toronto lol very expoensive city. That land would be a steal at this price today
so you telling me you paid almost 2 millions for a house built with wood .
okay
Lol you spent 1.8 million on building a house 🏠
This is not normal and should not be glamorised. It’s part of the problem with shortage of houses and endless debt people build up
Edit: maybe I’m just in the wrong job. Figured I was middle working class but clearly done something wrong with my career choice. A third of a million seems too much for a house even 😮
really How have prices gone so wrong.
Fair play to ya, for the profit that’s ahead when you sell. 👍