Building a house myself

[eleanorcr 0]

You can build a small Tico-style house for around $12,000. You can also build a house for $120,000 or $1,200,000.

 

It's impossible to say in this forum what it costs to build a house. I live in a Tico-style house and it is fine. For others, it would not be suitable.

 

The only way for you to find out about Costa Rica, building here, how much, where and what do things cost is to come here and see for yourself.

 

I might not like what David had built and I am pretty sure he would not like my house. So really, it is of little value to keep asking without seeing things in person. Asking how much a house costs to build in Costa Rica is kind of like asking how much does it cost to live in Costa Rica. The answers are all over the map.

 

Be sure to read carefully the thread on this forum - First Rent and then Buy.

[costaricafinca 0]

eleanor, I think, $12,000 possibly for a 'slide together' home these days. The price quoted to neighbors last week was higher than that, but no windows, doors, toilets, ceramic, kitchen, etc., as David mentions. Everything has gone up dramatically recently.

We have just about completed a renovation of our house, by enclosing a back patio that got little use due to wind & rain. Only 2ft.x 23ft. was actually added. Some interior walls were built where the floor was already in place. Nothing major, except the difference, but the cost was over the $12,000 you quote.

Edited May 26, 2011 by costaricafinca

[Samuraj 0]

Well, you're right. There are dozens of variables and I won't have a firm answer before actually seeing everyting in person. My russian-speaking friends are asking me same questions like "how much money do you need to live in Canada?". It depends what kind of life you're planing to live (duh!). But we ended up with some "average" numbers. Say, for a small family you need around 3k/month (1k for food, 1k for rent and 1k for anything else). This is probably the minimal amount you need, though many people can live on 1,600 and some think 5k in not enough. But there's some average number which suites 80% of population.

 

Same thing with CR, I'm asking these silly question just to hear different opinions and to make up some idea of "average" house . There are zellion things to sort out before deciding what (and where) to buy. As costaricafinca mentioned the living price in CR has increased (due to its popularity of course) and nobody can guarantee that I will build/buy the house for the same amount of money in 5 years. It is very good to have this kind of discussion with many opinions to get somewhat prepared and to ask right question when arriving on the ground.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Samuraj

[costaricafinca 0]

We are Canadian ex-pats, too, although we emigrated there, many years ago from Britain.

In the ten years we have been here, prices have risen, as has it done everywhere in the world. If you move here and have a young family and wish to provide them with a good education, which means at a private school, you will need $2000 per month at least(depending on how many children, of course and where you are located)...but this will change if you have a car and/or rent a home.

[TiredofBigBrother 0]

If you house is going to be somewhere where you have to worry about streets and neighbors, I wouldn't risk not doing it legally. We are personally building our own house. However, our farm is in a place we can not even currently GET to without a horse (we've been putting in a road but it's not quite there yet) and an hour away from the nearest town. There is pretty much zero risk of people seeking permits finding us. And it was about impossible to get a builder to agree to come there and build (we tried). So, my husband is building it himself and hiring a few locals to help him out. However, he was a builder/ architect in the states so he knows what he is doing. The hard part is trying to adjust to the costa rican way of doing things. LOL That and hauling lumber to a building site that currently has no electricity or road.

 

Building materials are more expensive here than in the states we have found. Our home is about 900 sq. feet with a large screened in porch for extra living area bringing it up to 1,200 sq. feet. I can give you the cost of what we are paying for all the materials just know it doesn't include permits, hiring a builder, etc.. If you'd like to ask costs of building supplies send me a message

Edited June 21, 2011 by TiredofBigBrother

[T&VSmith 0]

We are just entering the planning stage of our house so I can tell you what we have encountered and the direction we are going in. We purchased three acres on a hillside so our first order of business was to establish the building lot. There was a natural bench so with a week of tractor work we had a solid setting to see what sort of house footprint we could have. We have an architect who has done a lot of work in the area, (Puriscal) and we toured six or seven houses that he had designed and based on his work we went with him. In Costa Rica most architects do not have a menu or a selection of plans. We entered into the antiproyecto stage which means pre-project. We met with him and gave him a verbal description with a close floor plan and the building site plan. We staked out a basic footprint on the building lot with him so that he could see that what we wanted is feasible. He draws up the floor plan and sends it to us and we adjust it. We send the plan back and forth until we have exactly what we want. It includes the floor plan, soil movement permit, building site excavation plan, electrical and water connection pre-approvals and soil stability studies. It can include 3D models for about $800 more. Basically everything is in places to start on the construction plans and submit them for approvals. This cost is 1% of the expected house cost based on the square footage of the house plan we developed.

 

Cheers …. Terry

 

 

[costaricafinca 0]

Another recent requirement, is that the municipality will require a 'special permission letter' only given in San Jose regarding the entrance from the roadway to your property.