Construction Calculator Confusion
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
I have to admit the house I cobbled together on the Building Cost Calculator was a mess. I did NOT read directions on the calculator. Mea culpa.
I flew through the program and I mixed up “Quality Class” to make a crazy 3200 square foot house with inadequate bathrooms (and maybe other oddities.)
I thought it was odd, that the Building Cost Calculator never asked how many bathrooms. That was in choosing “Quality Class.” I chose average. Average gave me two bathrooms, back to back. Not what you would find in a typical two story, 3200 square foot home. Of course all of the 3200 square foot real homes that sold in 2007 that I compared to had more than two baths! Build YOUR Columbus dream home for $304,933 Lots more baths.
I went back and redid the calculations for each of three “Quality Classes” Best, Good, Averge. Still 3200 square feet. I believe I made the same choices as far as garage, basement, fireplace, etc for Best, Good and Average.
Best
Total Living Area 3200
Number Of Corners 6
Foundation Quality Class 1
Exterior Walls Quality Class 1
Exterior Finish Quality Class 1
Windows & Doors Quality Class 1
Roofing Quality Class 1
Interior Finish Quality Class 1
Flooring Quality Class 1
Bathroom Quality Class 1
Kitchen Quality Class 1
Plumbing Quality Class 1
Total Cost
Material $223,785
Labor $144,211
Equipment $5,412
Grand Total $373,408
————————————————————————————–
Good
Total Living Area 3200
Number Of Corners 6
Foundation Quality Class 2
Exterior Walls Quality Class 2
Exterior Finish Quality Class 2
Windows & Doors Quality Class 2
Roofing Quality Class 2
Interior Finish Quality Class 2
Flooring Quality Class 2
Bathroom Quality Class 2
Kitchen Quality Class 2
Plumbing Quality Class 2
Total Cost
Material $185,432
Labor $121,569
Equipment $4,479
Grand Total $311,480
————————————————————————————-
Average
Total Living Area 3200
Number Of Corners 6
Foundation Quality Class 3
Exterior Walls Quality Class 3
Exterior Finish Quality Class 3
Windows & Doors Quality Class 3
Roofing Quality Class 3
Interior Finish Quality Class 3
Flooring Quality Class 3
Bathroom Quality Class 3
Kitchen Quality Class 3
Plumbing Quality Class 3
Total Cost
Material $168,760
Labor $111,989
Equipment $4,085
Grand Total $284,834
————————————————————————————-
Best Grand Total $373,408
Good Grand Total $311,480
Average Grand Total $284,834
Make more sense? I still think it is odd… Maybe a bit off. It’s that Columbus ZIP code thing…
The theoretical homes are still inexpensive in comparison to the real home sales I came up for various Central Ohio school districts including the Columbus school district:
Big Walnut School District- $486,165
Columbus School District - $517,531 (These it turns out are condos, the single family home sales were smaller square foot.)
Dublin School Disrtict- $440,466 (seems freakishly low)
Hilliard School District - $484,994
Olentangy School District- $429,978
New Homes Search on the Real Living New Construction Portal This includes more than MLS (multiple listing service) but obviously not ALL Central Ohio new construction.
