Know How to Estimate Your House Construction Cost?
rimzim • January 4, 2021
Who doesn’t dream of their own sweet home? A lawn in front of a grand façade, with ample space and luxuries in your own private space, but in most cases before your dream materializes into reality it hits the roadblocks that needs to be dealt with pragmatically. Before building your dream home, you need to estimate some key factors. Affordability, land availability, legal formalities, location, construction cost, and completion time are some of these factors.
An independent house mostly costs higher than an apartment but it also draws more appreciation than a flat. Building your dream bungalow, villa, or row house depends on a delicate duet between land cost and construction cost. City limits drive up the investment value of land. If the land of construction is on the outskirts of the city or comparatively in a smaller town the investment will be considerably lesser than of the land within the city zone.
Before You Lay Those Bricks
As you take the first step towards constructing your own independent house you must consider some of the basic factors. One such is, what is the preferred size of the plot? What will be the per square feet area of the house? Figure out with your family members the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other provisions like balconies, storerooms, etc; you may require which subjectively depends on the number of people who will be living in the house. Also consider the location based on your workplace, children’s education, and the feasible budget after calculating your various recurring expenses.
Estimate Your House Construction Cost
The estimation of the house construction cost will basically have two major factors to consider—–Land Cost and Construction Cost.
Land cost is not a fixed cost. Factors like location and development potential can significantly impact land costs. It fluctuates from time to time. Land costs shed their fancy clothes near city limits and in undeveloped areas, offering bare-bones prices. Well, if you are lucky and you have an ancestral land with a clear title that was bought decades ago by your father or grandfather then the land cost will go down drastically. This is because they must have bought the land at a far lesser rate than today. Since you already own land the only area of concern is estimating your construction cost.
The construction cost depends on various factors. From raw materials like wood and cement to labor costs and legal taxes, multiple factors influence the construction process. Therefore it is idle to appoint an experienced architect who will help you not only design your house properly and but will also help you figure out the construction cost and the time frame in which your house construction will be completed. Personally get the land measured by a reliable resource or through local government authorities who will measure and give you the exact area of the land.
Quality of Construction
A tentative construction cost can be estimated by segmenting material cost based on its quality i.e. Top, Medium, and Average.
Top class construction quality would involve buying top grade construction material. High-quality material will incur a construction cost of approximately Rs. 2000- 4000 per sq.ft. Consider the land cost to be around Rs. 10 lakhs. For the construction of a 2000 sq ft house, the total cost of the building @ Rs.2000 per sq. ft will be around Rs.40 lakhs to which adds 20 % more towards miscellaneous and unforeseen expenses which cumulates to Rs.48 lakhs. Though taking into account the total estimate of your house construction including land cost should be approx Rs.58 lakhs.
Respectively a medium-quality material will incur a lesser construction cost of approximately Rs. 1500-1800 per sq. ft. A similar land cost of around Rs. 10 lakhs. For the construction of a 2000 sq ft house, the total cost of the building @ Rs.1500 per sq. ft will be around Rs.30 lakhs to which add 20 % more towards miscellaneous and unforeseen expenses which will cumulate to Rs.36 lakhs. The total estimate of your house construction including the land cost should be approximately Rs. 46 lakhs
Average quality material will incur a cheaper construction cost of approximately Rs. 900- 1100 per sq. ft at a similar land cost of around Rs 10lakhs. For the construction of 2000 sq ft house, the total cost of the building at Rs.900 per sq. ft will be around Rs. 18 lakhs to which add 20 % more towards miscellaneous and unforeseen expenses the cumulative cost will be, Rs.21,60,000/-. Though the total estimate of your house construction including the land cost should be approx, Rs.31,60,000/-.
Know Everything About Your Plot
Once you have figured the budget for constructing your new house, the next step is to choose the right locality and its surroundings, which will suit you the best. Consider various factors before you sign the final agreement. Check if the land title is clear or not? Is there any pending legal case on the plot? Check infrastructure development in the locality such as electricity, water supply, sewage system, rainwater harvesting, waterlogging, etc.
Check accessibility of roads through your house, kind of neighborhood you will be surrounded with, amenities available nearby, soil quality of the plot, level of the plot to the road, if the level of the plot is lower than the road the construction cost will increase, as it will require extra filling materials to level up the surface, therefore always prefer a land which is at the same level as the road. It is wise to invest in a plot with lower prices where the probability of future development is high around the vicinity.
Gain Knowledge of the Complete Process
Before you take a leap ahead acquire a complete knowledge about the process of construction—
Land’s shape plays a vital role in reducing construction cost as it is easier to build it as per square foot, therefore preferably choose square or rectangular plot to build your house.
Constructing a double story structure is always a smart way to utilize your space and money compared to a single-story structure.
Gain knowledge about modern methods of construction, implementing latest technologies like prefabrication is known to be highly efficient in saving time and keeping the expense low, without compromising on quality.
It is highly recommended that you hire an experienced and reputed contractor, who is well aware of all the construction aspects. A good contractor or architect can provide an accurate blueprint of the design and structure of your house based on your budget and plot area, lack of knowledge and experience may lead to uncalled delays or expense due to restructuring or over usage of raw materials; an architect can even provide great assistance in finding good quality raw material at a lower cost. A good contractor will always utilize the space strategically by designing a more usable area rather than wasting it over unwanted design elements, which will effectively make sure you don’t burn a hole in your pocket.
Constructing your own house is an emotional affair but at the same time it’s important to create the right balance between beautification and usable area, as getting carried away by any means may lead to over expenditure and delay in construction.
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