Total noob needing ballpark numbers

[noobie290]

First I would like to say hello to all on the forum and thank you in advance for any advice. Everyone seems to be super nice and I figured this is a great place to get some answers I am looking for.

I have 1.5 acres of land that I own outright. I have a power pole, water well with pump, and septic system already on it. I would like to build a small bachelor's home and after digging around on the internet I came across this website and their floor plans.

I really like the universal cottage plans, but I don't need all the bells and whistles that are on it. I am looking to build a 20x24 2 story cottage with no attic or basement. I would like to have both levels completely open except for the bathroom. The down stairs would be the living area with a very small kitchen setup and no walls separating anything or closets, and the upstairs would be the bedroom with no walls or closets. I would have an aluminum outdoor utility shed for washer and dryer, which is pre-existing, so no need for a space for that.

I have seen cost estimates from 85$ per sq ft to 200$ per sq ft, but I am thinking that since my plans are so much more simplistic than what I've seen others building that it might be lower. Also, I am not exactly sure what is included with that when I see x amount per sq ft. Is that a finished product or just to build the bare bones and to finish is another matter?

Well I hope I have put in enough info for someone to give me some advice, but if you have questions PLEASE ask and I will do my best to answer to get the best advice possible.

Thanks to all.

[n74tg]

Welcome to the forum.  I'm sure you can get several answers here for what you need.

First off, I'm building a full size house (30 x 57, 1 story, over a crawlspace), not even close to what you're trying to do, but I'm sure I won't exceed $85 per sq ft.  So, based on what you have said, unless something bizarre happens, you should be able to finish for way under $85.  If you can scrounge well, I think  even $30 or $40 per sq ft is within reach and you might even do better than that.

Go to building-cost.net on the web and put in the info they ask for.  I used them to do my cost estimate and they were a little high on materials.  As I have built the house by myself, I have no labor charges, or builder profit charges to worry about.  So, if you build it yourself same will apply to you.

Good luck with it, I'm sure others will weigh in with opinions too.

Edit:  I was playing around with building-cost.net and decided to input a 20x24, 2 story (480 sf).  While I didn't spend a lot of time on it, using average quality (category 5 for everything) materials, here's what I came up with:  materials about $24k or $50/sf, labor about $13k, about $27/sf.  Now, they don't give you the option of the no walls, bare-bones building like you described, so these numbers should be way up on the high end.    

For comparison: I'm 99% finished on the outside and am at $14/sf.  I have all my flooring and toilets bought and in storage.  So, even if the inside doubles what I've spent so far, I'm only at $28/sf total.  If the inside triples my outside cost, I'm only at $42/sf.  Take a look at my house blog to compare mine to what you want to do.

Edit2: I think my example calc above was for a 480 sq ft house, not a 960 sf, like your two story will be.  So, my building-cost.net estimate is likely off the mark...sorry.

[John Raabe]

Here's an article I wrote for the main CountryPlans site. It has some simple ways to estimate your owner-builder savings on labor.

http://www.countryplans.com/costs.html

[ScottA]

Mines almost finnished. It's going to come in at right at $50 a foot. That's finnished with me doing all the work. Note this number does not include utilities.