Custom Build Costs, Melbourne

Hello,

We're looking at a knock down rebuild in bayside, Melbourne, trying to get a handle on if we can make it work for a custom build with someone like Lat 37, Comdain, Mazzei or Glenvill

Flat block, 650sqm, clean of easements. We'd like to build a modest sized (200sqm/25 squares-ish) 3-4 bedder, 2 bath, single story, mid finishes, but modern/architectural feel, open plan, bit of floor to ceiling glass in main room.

Is this doable on a 500k-ish budget? Sans landscaping.

My research has so far turned up $2000 psqm as a ball park for custom. So 2000x200 = 400k. That leaves 100kish for site costs, gst and overages?


Thanks in advance!

Anyone?

I would guess most homeone users (like us) are not using full ‘custom’ builders. In our case we picked a smaller volume builder that have some of their own plan designs but in reality 90% of their work is full custom.

Anyhow it worked out cheaper for us to select a base plan then just modified it a lot to suit. But because we technically were not doing a full custom house it was substantially cheaper this way....but still getting the level of service from a mostly ‘custom’ type builder.

Anyhow our builder for extra floor space (excl. any plumbing etc) was closer to $1k than $2k per sqm for our build. This is in regional Vic though.

So my suggestion is to talk to some past customers of some smaller builders to find a decent one, then pick a plan and just modify it to suit. You will no doubt find your per sqm costs are well under $2000....assuming you don’t go silly on spec level. Put the upgrades into things that matter like windows, doors insulation etc

Ok, I'll bit
modern/architectural feel ?-> ie design fees, eg additional $50K?
Open Plan ? -> ie no Support walls, eg additional engineering $50K?
Floor to Ceiling Glass?-> eg 10mm glass& Structural Columns/framework, eg LOL additional $50K?
The trend becomes obvious, add another $50K
BTW, As the Footprint gets smaller the Unit rate per m2 Increases.. your logic-> pricing is way off the mark
Start with your own Plan/Engineering and get 3 Builder Quotes...goodluck

Thanks for the reply. That is a good tip that m2 unit rate increases on smaller builds, I suspected as much. I'm aware more glass, more design etc means more $, but there is a lot of overlap in those terms, architectural build generally means modern, more glass etc, so +50k isn't accurate or helpful as I'm more looking to get handle on current approx build costs per square (or sqm) in Melbourne, on a flat block, single story build. From my research on here so far, I'm getting:

Project home = 10-13k per sq
Custom Build = 15-20k per sq
Architectural/Custom = 16-25k+ per sq

Anyone care to chime in with their opinion/corrections to these numbers?

Can a 25sq-ish architectural be built for 500k construction costs?

We want to build something like this : https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-glen+iris-129877806


Cheers!

BIMguy seems to think I'm dreaming, but you reckon costs should be under $2000 p sqm?

This mystery continues...

When I spoke a year ago to a full custom builder that does around 12-15 homes per year, he basically said to us the sqm price is largely dependent on things like how complicated you want to make the external walls and roof etc plus all the specifications inside. We were talking about 25 squares for high $300s with nothing fancy, but he mentioned some projects were smaller but ran $100k plus higher than our estimates purely based on high end finishes etc.

Personally I would find a builder that is doing at least 15-20 homes per year and so has some economies of scale and their margins don’t have to be as healthy as a builder doing 2-3 homes per year. If they have an in-house draftperson even better. Pay their $5k or whatever deposit and go through the initial design phase and see what their estimators come up with.

Economies of scale on 15-20 homes vs 2-3 will be attributed to may be 10% savings on some materials and labour and those savings won't be necessarily will be propagated to the client's final price.

As has been said above, every custom build is different and a lot depends on the complexity of the engineering, selection of the materials and finishes.

On the other side, I truly believe that in the recent future, with the emerging of new construction technologies such as a factory prefabricated homes/home panel pre-fab technologies, 3D printing and construction robots, most of the builds will be custom and we will be seeing less and less "prehistoric" project labor-intensive builds.

E.g. I just recently have seen a start up company in States where they create 3D model out of 2D plans (or directly take CAD model from your architect/draftsman), then pre-fabricate formwork for walls, roof and slab/footings together, deliver everything on site and just pour with concrete as one mono-composite structure. They use special fibre reinforced and waterproofed concrete for the pour as well as integrated composite re-enforcement integrated into their formwork. Main services e.g. plumbing piping, electrical conduits, electrical boxes are roughed-in at the factory too, external walls are rendered with paint, etc.

You get one storey house delivered and assembled in just 1 day, the next day is pour and then they spend couple of days inserting windows, so it takes only 1 week to get the house to the lock up stage from the start of the earthworks. It also takes just a couple of weeks for them to manufacture the full house from the final drawings as they have very optimised process with the usage of manufacturing robots, etc., the quality is always consistent.

2 storey house takes couple of weeks longer as they first pour footings (+piers if needed)/slab/ground level walls, wait for a couple of weeks for the walls to cure, then install concrete beams and hollow core flooring panels, staircases, screed the floor and then delivery, install and pour the second storey walls + roof.

Interestingly, they also claim that their walls and roof can withhold the blast of average air-to-ground missile.

A lot of things still needs to be improved, but overall direction is really a way to go.

Re 3d printing, sounds great, but that is going to be long while away. Modular homes too have come a long way, but decent looking ones cost like Modscape cost considerably more than a standard build at $2800-5000 per sqm + GST! Way too much for what still looks like a prefab house.


I want to build something like this:https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-glen+iris-129877806. Custom build. < 500k . <200sqm.

"Interestingly, they also claim that their walls and roof can withhold the blast of average air-to-ground missile?"
Hey Burny I would be more concerned if the wall and roof stands up with your budget of $2k/m2.. That's +$4K /m2 build
Look for alternate solutions with lower engineering/construction costs & BTW a sketch/design helps.

Are you replying to Alexsp's build, or the link I sent? I don't follow.

LOL, Both of you should stop dreaming.

Mate, no offence, this has been pointed out before, you are on every single thread spouting the same thing. Give it a rest.

None taken, and you may never build that house.
BTW, I share my project data on site every day
LOL, Go talk to the tradies on site about $2000/m2

Okay...

Modscape pricing seems way to unrealistic.
Lol, they should be costing less than standard project builds, not MORE.

That startup I talked said they plan to price they finished houses at lower end of the current framed housing costs and in States the average house cost to build is twice less than in AU.

If you build houses faster, they should be costing cheaper.

Agree, modscape prices are silly. 900k+gst (no site costs) for a 240sq house was the ballpark they quoted me. They just built the new classrooms at my son's school and they look good. The speed they went up was impressive, only a couple of weeks onsite.

Yep, we've been hearing about the pre-built, modular and 3D printed revolution for years. No doubt it will come, but I think these things are pretty slow to come to market. I need a house pretty soon!

From Modscape:

"Fully welded structural steel frames and the structural insulated panels form the basis of the floor, wall and ceiling components of each module are crafted using recyclable expanded polystyrene sandwiched between 2 sheets of recycled Colorbond steel. The pacific teak timber used to clad some projects is sourced from sustainable plantation forests, and our floors are comprised of engineered hardwood timbers on a floating base. All windows and glass doors are double-glazed as a standard, and our paints are all low VOC."

Nah, I would always better go with standard brick veneer with that regard.

Nah, I would prefer brick veneer and timber frames any day. 2.7 m max ceilings. No way to customise roof, tons of design limitations... And $4k per sqm. I really don't know how they still are able to find any clients for this.

I think it starts to make sense for remote locations, or locations where the holding cost is high.

Yep, but from what I see from their project list, instead, the majority of their houses are put into the high prestige suburbs such as Tamarama or Lane Cove in NSW. So they are certainly promoting it as an upmarket product.