So we are looking at possibly building a house. Man how overwhelming! Does anyone know average price to get a lot build ready? This isn’t a challenging lot or lots of rock or anything, just some tree clearing and leveling. Also, what are costs to get water, power, gas, etc?

Just gathering info as much as possible

We built a house two years ago. It was by far the most stressful experience that I have been through. If I had it to do over again we would have just bought a house. Building a house is very expensive. Every time you turn around there is something that costs extra. Craftsmanship is a thing of the past in residential construction. The construction loan experience in itself is a nightmare. Then when there are warranty issues, the builder will avoid you like the plague. I will never build another house!!!

You need to complete a hard/soft cost worksheet. I’ll see if I can PM you one later.

I’d say your looking at $5000 easy just depends on the amount of work to be done. A typical construction company gets around $100 per hr per piece of equipment. Water meter is going to be around $500, power pole assembly $400 if you can install, If not double that. Septic tank will average 4-$5000, so with a septic tank figure closer to $10K.

Most of the utility costs (and deposits) will vary by location.
But this figure is pretty close. The sanitary sewer situation may be your biggest pre-construction expense, if you don't have city sewer access.

This.

And with construction demand like it is right now, the garden is set for a horrendous working relationship with all vendors/contractors. I'd run.

That's why you need to hire a GC and let them hand you the keys when it's finished.
I can't remember anyone (who tried building on their own) saying, "man that was a great experience, I'd like to do that again".
Even though it's more expensive to go with a GC, it can save your sanity, your health, and possibly your marriage.

I’m currently building in Dothan right now. It’s been one of the easiest things we’ve done. Not nearly as stressful as we thought it would be. Our builder is great and if there is a change...as long as we do it before that part is started there is no cost or change order fee. Actually he has no fees for change orders

If you’re building in Shelby county that alone will add to your overall cost. We built last year and the contractor told us he could build this same house in Talladega county for less. He never put a number on it but he mentioned it several times.

No fees for change orders?? I’d be demanding a standing seam copper roof in lieu of shingles.

When we build our beach house we are just hiring a GC and be done with it. We just got quoted a price at the beach for $140 per S.F. this past weekend, but building at the beach is booming so we are going to wait until there is a little lull so the prices will go down. That price was for a turn key house on our property including all landscaping, utility hook-ups, permits and everything. Built on a slab with tile floors, granite counter tops, porches, etc... Just hand the keys over to us.

Building a cabin in the Mountains where there is virtually no permits required and no zoning board, etc... vs building at the beach where there is all of that in spades is just a totally different ball game. We are 6 hours from our beach property vs only 1.5 hours from our cabin. So going with a general contractor down there is a no brainer for us.

I built a house last year. My buddy told me I needed about 25.000 dollars to build a house. I thought he was crazy. I ended up spending about 22000.00. So he was pretty close.

Outback is right--do lock&key IMO. We picked all subs here, the best & most expensive...and I believe our house was built better because of it. However, it cost MUCH more and took longer. GC's can get their normal subcontractors out there at a better price and faster than you can.

It was fun for us to build, but it cost too much and took too long. If I had it to do over again today, I'd PICK THE BEST GC (not the lowest bid), and have them do everything from clearing to paving the driveway at the end. BTW, I talk to folks all the time that pick the lowest bid on a construction project and complain about problems. You can't have it both ways.

For example, clearing--I rented some equipment, then had a guy clear trees and do rough grading....but he never came back to finish. Then I found someone else to finish who overcharged because he was having to take on the unfinished job and fix some things. So the cost was more than if the GC at cost+10-15% would've done it. and more importantly, it took longer to get done and more of my time arranging/dealing with it.

Much cheaper to buy an existing house unless your new house is poorly constructed. But, I'd build again because location is key...we're not beside anyone and live on a dead-end road.

I don't think anyone on this website can give you an accurate cost of clearing land with all the variables involved. County water meter where we are....~$900. We paid $4,000 extra for it to be run to our line (up a county road & boring under one road to get to our side), and much more to get it to our house. We only ran UG power the final 400-500 feet, and I believe the cost was under $5,000 for that a few years ago. The power company will give you a quote.

We hired a General Contractor. We had a turn key price where the builder built a house on my land. These guys took every short cut that they could find. I am not kidding. Every time I pointed this out, it was an extra cost.

How big is the lot you are clearing, and where is it located?

Good grief! Now I really do want to run for the hills. Reason we want to build is we found a nice wooded 7 acres and would like a house on it. And when I say we are going to build I mean hire one of these people where the house is $100-$130/sf. I am assuming that is a gc?

I am as lost as a termite in a yoyo when it comes to this stuff.

If you can build for $100-130a square foot, you are getting it cheap. Depending on finishes a square foot.

Even then, it's gonna be iffy on the sanity and the marriage.

Everyone I know that has built a house has emphatically said "never again" and strongly recommend buying one already built.

I’m in a brick home for abt $68 sq ft nothing exotic.