Hi all, Just a brief update on the current state of affairs. Building material and labor costs have outpaced the growth in real estate prices since 2019, especially when accounting for the recent decline in real estate prices in Ontario and BC. Calgary may be an exception here. However, most builders are currently running on very thin margins, if not outright losing money on their builds. As an owner-builder, you essentially benefit from paying yourself as the builder and capturing the market upside of owning land in an appreciating market. When builders are profitable, owner-builders also have limited potential for significant gains. Cities like Peterborough have city councils pushing for 30-50% increases in development charges, effective January 1 this year, to make up for infrastructure budget deficits. This will likely be the final blow to significantly reduce building starts. It is my current view that your time and efforts in building your own property are better reserved for improved market conditions unless you already own the land from a prior time. If your goal is purely to build the home you desire, this may still be a justifiable avenue. However, if your goal is to create an affordable house, unfortunately, the prospects are not good. If your goal is to grow your capital/net worth through real estate, this is not the best avenue for that goal under current conditions. I hope everyone is doing well, and for those who had already started a build when they joined the group, I hope you are finishing strong and have a home you love!

Here is another question for someone... I am looking to build a home, a bit out of the norm though, really like the precast concrete look and love the speed it goes up with... I have pricing on the enclosed package, a wide open concrete interior ready for me to do interior finish etc. I don't really want to harass contractors though on stick frame since I am not going that route..... but looking for comparisons. So here is the question -- if I say a finished house is $350 a sq ft -- how would you split finished exterior to interior finishing?? Is exterior half?? More? Less? I realize this is loaded with variables, but high level comparison would be great.

Here's my story. We bought a home in South Burlington 3 years ago. There were tenants but the seller bought them out to vacate because our builder said we'd be building in months. We started working with a builder who is a build plus builder. After we took possession the builder said we'd be building in a few months. Never happened. They gave us the name of a planner who dropped the ball and never filed the minor variance (after we learned 9 months later). We disconnected all the utilities as per the builder's request. Eventually when we got the variance approved in December 2022 the butterflies in my stomach were saying that we can't continue with this builder. Things didn't add up to this point so we basically gave them notice (we're looking at our legal options but that's another story). We decided to put our property up for sale and rent simultaneously to maximize our options. We didn't get the offers I wanted. So we are back at considering build again but the quotes we've got are significantly above budget. I talked to a homeowner who got a custom build done that suggested I hire subcontractors to do the kitchen, bathrooms, tiles, flooring, painting and get a builder to demolish, pour the concrete, frame, drywall, doors, windows, plumbing, electrical, etc and to postpone building the basement for 2 years. He found significant savings this way (eg. painting for $3000 + cost of paint vs $30,000). We're not looking to have $600 taps in our home (frankly, from our experience proved to be far less reliable than many other common brand names). Above ground (2 storey) total square footage is 3800 square feet. Basement estimated at 2100 sq feet. I'm trying to get in a total cost of $1.4 million. Question: If we take the approach suggested above ie. builder builds up to the point of inside finishes what would the estimated cost be?

While I understand that the cost of construction can vary based on factors such as plans, materials, and others, I am encountering a wide range of price estimates for my upcoming project. It would be greatly appreciated if you could assist me in determining the average cost of building for a property like mine. The project involves a 1 basement + 3 floors wooden structure, with 4 rental units, each with a living area of 1000 sqf, totaling 4000 sqf. The objective is to use rental-grade materials without extravagant features. The facade will consist of brick with a metal covering on the top floor and a flat roof made of elastomeric material. The project is placed in am metropolitan area with all the permits ready to brake the ground (no soft cost).

Looking for a software tool that is free where I can throw my numbers on it to keep it together. Excel is okay. But would be nice to have an actual tool or app. Any ideas welcomed. Thank you