Evening star., 1936-04-25
UNF|GURED COSTS
JOLT HOME BUYER
Editor Advises Talk With
Actual Builder Before
Forming Price Idea.

home buyers these days prefer TO Duy
a turn key job-a house complete
in every detail-from an operative
builder. as they know in advance ex-
actly what it will cost. Joseph b.
Mason, Eastern editor Of the American
Builder, points out.
THE highway to home ownership
for the individual who elects to have
q special house built on his own
lot Is beset with unexpected costs, !"
says Mason. He sees charming low
cost cottage in a home magazine,
which says the architect says it can be
built for only $4,000. Just a nice little
home of seven rooms, two baths, well
built, well insulated, with all the
latest kitchen and heating equipment,
Just what we want, the happy
couple says.
But when the local contractor adds
up the board feet, squares of roofing
and the cost Of all that lovely equip
ment, he usually gives them a price
that sends them straight into the air.
And usually they think he is trying
to get back what he lost in the de-
preston. so they get other bids.
Finally, they call the whole thing of,
or drastically revise the plans they
had worked over SO lovingly. From
then on when they see that phrase
the architect says it costs they
throw the magazine out the window.
Talk With Builder.
$50 the first advice a prospective
home builder should consider is, don't
form a preconceived idea of price until
you have talked with the man who
will do the actual building.
But there is more than this to
consider. The construction cost is
not the whole cost. Don't forget the
financing charges.
In spite of the current fanfare
about the case of obtaining F. H. A.
or other types Of construction loans
to build a house, it is still costly
business. Few people realize that it
costs from to 5 per cent to obtain
q construction loan. In the New York
area the average cost in connection
with obtaining an $4,000 loan is $3.50.
There is an appraisal fee. title
search and insurance charge, legal
fee, recording fee, inspection fee and,
to cap it all, survey to prove beyond
doubt that the house has actually
been built on the owners lot. All of
these come as shock and surprise
to the home builder, who has been
trying to save s43 by cutting down his
kitchen cabinets.
Then there are those trifiing items,
the landscaping, walks, driveways,
venetian blinds, kitchen stove, re-
frigerator and other items that so
frequently are neglected In figuring
the cost Of house If there is an
architect, his fee swells the total still
further. Quoted or published prices
frequently omit screens and storm
sash, or garage, or other very neces-
sary items.
Notes on Cost.
practical building men believe that
the i'll will and hard feelings created
by misleading prices is very harmful
to the industry. They say that the
theoretical price estimates of archi-
tectS should be given less publicity,
and the very concrete costs of financ-
ing institutions should be given more
public notice.
To prospective home owners: In
clude all of the COSTS and see that they
are figured by some one who is pre-
pared to back his figures with a con-
tract. The following table may prove
helpful in checking the total cost of
q house:
l. Cost of land.
2. Deed recording.
3. Engineers survey Of lot.
4. Architects fee or cost of stock
plans.
S. Contractors bid price on con-
struction. (Check to see whether 1t
includes screens, storm windows,
screen and storm doors, hot water
heater, light fixtures, garage, etc.
6. Building permit and local utility
connections.
7. Financing charges, including:
Appraisal fee, brokers commission,
title search and insurance, mortgage
tax, recording fee, inspection fee,
legal fee and survey fee.
8. Kitchen stove, refrigerator,
shades, special equipment.
9. Walks, driveways, walls, fences,
landscaping.