We're in the process of building our retirement home. Doing our own general contracting and much of the finish work is saving us hundreds of thousands, so I can retire a couple years sooner.I’m a heavy DIYer. I’ve seen materials costs come down a good bit. Lumber was insane. April 2020 4x8 sheet of osb was $12. It peaked around $45 for me and is now around $15 again. 2x4 $3 down from around 2x that.
The problem seems to me largely labor. I saw a guy on Facebook today Who wanted a set of stairs installed on his deck and most people thought it was a two to $3000 job for a professional (I agree) and he got three quotes with lowest at $7500.
Seems to me the trades are squeezing everything they can out of desperate people in a supply limited labor market. I don’t blame them, but my DIY skills have never paid off so well: I finished a nice room in my basement recently for $1500 in materials only.
I’m in western ny and bought a new build in early 2020. I suspect it’s worth 40% more now—an absolutely unheard of appreciation rate for what is a very stubborn market most of the time.
Statistics: Posted by Morse Code — Thu Mar 21, 2024 9:42 pm — Replies 13 — Views 2532
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