Affordable modern?

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone know of a local builder who is willing to build a modern home in Wake County for a reasonable price? I would be interested in a modern prefab/modular also, however it appears none of the modular builders in NC offer a modern design/floorplan.

What's an affordable price for you?

sorry, I meant reasonable.

Yes, I too prefer reasonable. I have two lots to choose from. One being much less in price than the other. This of course will play a big part in what my budget will allow for the actual cost of building the house. Therefore, I would have to estimate between $140,000 and $155,000 at this stage of the game.

Well, that is going to be a tough price to hit, especially if you want something over 1200 square feet, but not impossible. Spec builders around here can get close to $100/sq. ft. but that's with no details and very basic finishes, and definitely not modern. I suggest investing some money in an architect to help you get what you want. It will cost you some money in design fees, but will save you money in the long run and you won't have to settle for the norm in terms of design. The architect can also help you find an appropriate builder.

Shameless Self-Promotion: I would be happy to talk to you about this if you are interested. I am an intern architect in Chapel Hill/Durham. You could hire the firm I work for, Dixon Weinstein Architects, or just me. The fees are going to be a lot higher if you hire my firm, but we could talk about the pros and cons of that. www.dixonweinstein.com

Other idea: if you really want modular/pre-fab I'd find a builder to put together a LV home from Rocio Romero for you--its been my experience though that site-built sticks is still the cheapest way to build.

DWAwill

Thanks for the info. At $100/sq. ft. it's tough to come in under $200,000. I need to come in around $180,000 to $195,000 total, land and house. I will continue to explore options. I am not ready to give up yet. The word defeat is not normally a part of my vocabulary.

think small.

If you have the eye for what CAN BE their are alot of homes with good bones you can afford to remodel and make your own! I would check into the Hillsbrough areas for mid century properties in your price range. You'll have land and home!

The target construction cost for the attached 1780 SF design, currently being developed by Context, is under 90SF or 140-160K. We are developing 2 and 3 bedroom options to be constructed on a crawl space or slab foundation.

Context is a full service design and development studio committed to providing
environmentally sensitive architecture. It is our belief that most contemporary architecture
is too often overly complicated and over priced. It is our goal to articulate comfortable, humble living
spaces connected to site, and filled with light at a reasonable cost.

We have affiliate offices in Atlanta, Seattle, Wilmington, NC, and potentially Boston.

for more information contact
www.contextcarolina@yahoo.com

more images

DWAwil - please email me your contact info. I'd like to discuss the designing and building of a modern home. I went to your company website, but did not know which contact was you in the about us pages.

post50modern@yahoo.com
(pete)

Well, I'm Will of course. :grin:

Affordable Modern is Context's passion
visit our website for more information

www.contextmodern.com

I'm considering building a modern house in Charlotte NC. My biggest concerns are

1. avoiding a look that's so harsh that the house won't sell if I need to move some day (I'm hoping for a "stylish" modern)
2. compounding the usual headaches of building a house with the added complexities of asking a builder to try something new
 
Plan A:
Build in a (specific) neighborhood in transition, ideally buying an empty lot. This neighborhood consists of mostly .1 to .15 acre lots, some of which are empty and others which have houses in the 900-1200 s.f. range. I believe I could probably get a lot for $75k (the last sold at $60k), though the only lot currently listed is asking more than $150k. Assuming I could get a lot for $75k, I'd like to shoot for a $215k construction budget (including architect fees, finishes, everything) for hopefully maybe 2100ish square feet.
 
Challenges would be
1. Budget
2. Privacy in a modern house on a tiny lot
3. Balancing size with the existing houses
 
Opportunities would be
1. Emphasis on space/light and design, rather than expensive finishes
 
Any comments, suggestions, cautions, etc?

Anyone ever move into an iffy neighborhood in a great location and school district, in the hope that it might get better?

Patrick, Not sure where you are planning to build but the prices that you are talking about are definitely on the low side for Charlotte. We added on to a ranch about three years ago with a modern addition/renovation and pricing has gone up quite a bit since then We are getting ready to add on again and it looks as if construction costs will be $200-$250 a sq ft on the low side. This is specing middle of the road materials with some high end fixtures thrown in. Not sure which neighborhood you are looking at but you would be surprised at how much interest there is in modern in Charlotte. We have quite a few people that stop in to ask about the house and they all seem to be looking for a modern home of their own in town. With the banks drawing in a diverse population from larger banking cities not everyone is after a georgian or colonial. We have a great architect here in town that we are working with who shares a passion for things modern and who has a real world sense of what people can afford and what things cost.

Christian--thanks for your reply. I had been told by my realtor that $120/s.f. would be a reasonable budget for the usual granite countertops etc. (which I wouldn't be planning on), but I don't know how competent he is. Probably an addition is more expensive per square foot than a whole house, though, right? But I'm still trying to find someone more knowledgeable to talk to... Would you mind referring me to your architect? (Or better yet, get him/her to join Livemodern?)

Previously Patrick Keenan wrote:

I'm considering building a modern house in Charlotte NC. My biggest concerns are

1. avoiding a look that's so harsh that the house won't sell if I need to move some day (I'm hoping for a "stylish" modern)
2. compounding the usual headaches of building a house with the added complexities of asking a builder to try something new
 
Plan A:
Build in a (specific) neighborhood in transition, ideally buying an empty lot. This neighborhood consists of mostly .1 to .15 acre lots, some of which are empty and others which have houses in the 900-1200 s.f. range. I believe I could probably get a lot for $75k (the last sold at $60k), though the only lot currently listed is asking more than $150k. Assuming I could get a lot for $75k, I'd like to shoot for a $215k construction budget (including architect fees, finishes, everything) for hopefully maybe 2100ish square feet.
 
Challenges would be
1. Budget
2. Privacy in a modern house on a tiny lot
3. Balancing size with the existing houses
 
Opportunities would be
1. Emphasis on space/light and design, rather than expensive finishes
 
Any comments, suggestions, cautions, etc?

Anyone ever move into an iffy neighborhood in a great location and school district, in the hope that it might get better?

Patrick,

We recently built a home in Charlotte in NODA.  The primary reason we built here was that there are no restrictions.  This can be a good thing or a bad thing, but it was one of the few areas of Charlotte where we could build this type of house.  We bought one of the last vacant lots here that was not in a ravine or on a hill.  We have 1/4 acre.

We paid approx. $160. sf which included architect fees, engineering fees, contractor, pretty much everything.  Our house is about 2600 sf.  We are the largest house in our neighborhood, but with the changes in NODO we feel the homes here will either be sold, torn down and rebuilt. or they will be remodeded shortly.  Several homes on our street are rentals and as soon as someone offers the owners the right price they will be gone.  Sad but true.

Our home has lots of concrete including stained concrete floors, concrete tub and walkin shower, concrete countertops.   We have few interior walls and lots of huge windows that I love, but these past couple of months have been rough with Duke Power.  We are working on coming up with some type of shading system.

We have definately taken a huge financial risk moving here, but we feel that this area has great potential.  Read the Charlotte Observer, every week there are articles about something new here.

Good luck

We'd love to see more modern in Charlotte

Pat