Different ways of building a home
Hire a luxury builder and use a customized design, $250/ft2
Hire a custom builder, $200/ft2
Hire a builder and select one of their designs, $160/ft2
Owner as builder to manage the project, ideally $120/ft2
DIY, owner and friends do most the work (sweat equity, without pay, labor hours 1-2hr/ft2), $70/ft2
Numbers are for illustration only as actual cost varies. Land cost not included.
DIY home building
DIY build potentially could be lowest cost. Optimal design should target:
Low cost material
Low expertise requirement. For example, drywall no mudding but use quarter round and 1x4 boards to cover the seams, and use pre-fab bath enclosure to avoid laying tiles.
Low labor hours. Target 1hr/ft2
Minimize weather exposure. For example, build panels indoors to reduce onsite assembly time. With incremental construction each phase small, it may be feasible to cover the site with canopy to keep rain out.
Use economical machines and robots to increase productivity.
Incremental home building
Phase 0: buy land say 1600 ft2
Phaes 1: build 200 ft2 home. Building coverage ratio 12.5%. Floor area ratio also 12.5%.
Phaes 2: add 200 ft2 next to it, in this case as a garage without air conditioning. Building coverage ratio 25%. Floor area ratio is still 12.5% as a garage is not included in conditioned floor area.
Phaes 3: add 400 ft2 2nd story, to 600 ft2 floor area. Building coverage ratio 25%. Floor area ratio 37.5%.
Phaes 4: add 400 ft2 to the side, to 1000 ft2. Building coverage ratio 37.5%. Floor area ratio 62.5%.
Phaes 4 alternative: add 400 ft2 3rd story, to 1000 ft2. Building coverage ratio 25%. Floor area ratio 62.5%.
City of Houston code requires one parking space for 1000 ft2 single family dwelling unit when parking is required.
Incremental construction reduces time and money required for each phase, making homeownership easier and earlier.
More efficient use of space for lower cost
Multiple or flexible use
Bedroom used as living room or office during the day
Roof as garden
Above driveway or parkering either trees or building
Time sharing building use
Dual use commercial buildihng, such as weekday 8 to 5 as office, rest of time as retail
Dual use office and residential, such as 10% residential, 10% office, 80% of the building as office weekday 8 to 5, rest of time residential
Dual use school and residential, such as 10% residential, 10% school, 80% of the building as school weekday 8 to 5, rest of time residential
Flexible use of single family home
Used by a single family
Ground floor for light commercial like retail, restaurant, clinic etc. while 2nd and 3rd floor residential
As a duplex with a small unit like 200 ft2 and the other unit 800 ft2. If a single family bought the home with mortgage and paid 20% of the home's equity, the 200 ft2 unit is paid for so that if they defaulted on the mortgage they can still keep the 200 ft2 unit and no need to move out
As a duplex with two units of 500 ft2 each
As a co-housing or single-room-occupancy so that each person or couple owns a separate room of about 200 ft2
Used by a single family on week days while renting out rooms for weekends.
Starter home community and courtyard style option
25'x50' is close to the smallest size lot in the city of Houston. To maximize single family home width in 25' width lot, side setback may be 1' one side and 3' the other side for 21' width of building. 1hr fire resistance rating is required for the exterior wall as setback is less than 5'.
Shared courtyard among several homes allow big yard when land area for each home is small.
5' private backyard is an option with up to 4' see-through fence.
Kids can play in the courtyard and adults in the homes or backyards can watch.
Construction loans
Some lenders provide construction loan, including buying the lot, some automatically converted to permanent loan after construction is completed, called one-time close construction loans. An approved builder and detailed plan would be required.
Down payment could be as low as about 4%.
The difference between buying a home built with investor money and built with construction loan on the home buyer is about 30%, as investors need the 30% markup to cover profit and risks. Risks include construction delays, cost increases if passed to investor, builder failures, failure to sell in the expected time and price, etc.
Self-Help Homeownership grants and loans
The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) awards grant funds to eligible national and regional nonprofit organizations and consortia to purchase home sites and develop or improve the infrastructure needed to set the stage for sweat equity and volunteer-based homeownership programs for low-income persons and families. Link here
USDA grants to qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction projects. Link here
The Bootstrap Program is a self-help housing construction program that assists low-income households (Owner-Builders) purchase or refinance real property on which to build or repair housing by contributing the labor themselves. The maximum Bootstrap loan is $45,000 per household and 0% interest for a term of up to 30 years. Link here
Texas high school students building tiny homes
Humble ISD
Spring ISD Wunsche high school
Northside ISD
Splendora High School
Temple high school
Comfort ISD
Joshua High School
Help build more starter homes
High school Career & Technical Education, Architecture & Construction, especially programs building tiny homes
Non-profits helping construction education and mentoring, and organizing sweat equity programs.
Examples like ACE Mentor Program Houston ,
Houston Habitat for Humanity
Construction company offering starter home construction within $120/ft2
Construction company offering mentoring and technical assistance for $10/ft2 if home owner provides material and most labor as sweat equity
Construction company offering hands-on summer camp or hands-on internship
