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Cost to Build


dboisclair

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We're looking at different options and may consider having a home built vs. buying an existing home. I know it's very subjective but what is the approximate cost per square metre to build a mid-level, single-story home? Even a ball-park figure will help. If we build we'd like NOB type plumbing and electrical but after that we like Mexican style finishing ie: tile counters and floors - not granite or marble. 

Thanks

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like $7000 pesos m2, plus permits, desing, perito and imss, some architec or contractor they pay permits and imss!! and the best is build youre dream home, and you can see the procest and now you have a good foundation and quualiti material and labor!! because if you buy a home you never now how qualiti materials and foundation that home is!! or how old is the property!!

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8 hours ago, vista lake said:

like $7000 pesos m2, plus permits, desing, perito and imss, some architec or contractor they pay permits and imss!! and the best is build youre dream home, and you can see the procest and now you have a good foundation and quualiti material and labor!! because if you buy a home you never now how qualiti materials and foundation that home is!! or how old is the property!!

As long as you spend the better part of most every day at the job site, know what you are looking at (the different kinds of sand that are used for instance) and can spot a mediocre brick job from a truly good one then yes, you will "know" you have quality construction. Since most newbies have lots of experience in this type of construction, it's very simple, although time consuming, to assure you get a great house built.  LOL  :lol:  Just don't be afraid to tell the Maestro it's not right and yes, you will pay extra to have it done over again. Been there, done that and once was a lesson of a lifetime. You do know the proper proportions that should be mixed into concrete, right? If they tried to save money by adding more cal and shorting the cement, you would notice and correct them, right?

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Right on Pappy! And, if the architect is paying IMSS and permits, you will want to have the Official Receipts for those IN YOUR HAND for every single payment that takes place. The IMSS payments are very important. Without them, a finiquito for the house will not be issued and you will not be able to register the house.

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Right on Ferret, we had to track down the Maestro after the fact and force him, nearly at gunpoint, to pay the IMSS so we could register the house. The "old way" of doing things had recently been changed. Imagine that in Mexico!

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1 hour ago, pappysmarket said:

As long as you spend the better part of most every day at the job site, know what you are looking at (the different kinds of sand that are used for instance) and can spot a mediocre brick job from a truly good one then yes, you will "know" you have quality construction. Since most newbies have lots of experience in this type of construction, it's very simple, although time consuming, to assure you get a great house built.  LOL  :lol:  Just don't be afraid to tell the Maestro it's not right and yes, you will pay extra to have it done over again. Been there, done that and once was a lesson of a lifetime. You do know the proper proportions that should be mixed into concrete, right? If they tried to save money by adding more cal and shorting the cement, you would notice and correct them, right?

Why so sarcastic? Apparently you believe that most gringos know nothing about proper construction techniques and are congenitally incapable of overseeing the construction of a house here. 10 years ago I hired a crew to build my house, acted as my own contractor, was on the job site every day and dealt with building permits, social security, etc. I got a house that did not require redoing anything, and that has held up perfectly well.

I won't say it was easy, but all gringos are not $%&/()s who need to hire other people to do everything for them.

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6 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

Why so sarcastic? Apparently you believe that most gringos know nothing about proper construction techniques and are congenitally incapable of overseeing the construction of a house here. 10 years ago I hired a crew to build my house, acted as my own contractor, was on the job site every day and dealt with building permits, social security, etc. I got a house that did not require redoing anything, and that has held up perfectly well.

I won't say it was easy, but all gringos are not $%&/()s who need to hire other people to do everything for them.

If you reread my post, isn't that exactly what I said? Now why would you think I was being sarcastic?  Having a bad day?

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Come on now Mudgirl. Fess up. How long had you lived full time in Mexico before you took the undertaking to build your own house?

The reality is that construction here is TOTALLY different than construction in Canada and most of the U.S.

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Come on Mudgirl. From what I have seen and heard very few gringos know much about proper construction techniques and they are totally unprepared for what it will take. Please note that I said most, not all. It is important that people know what they will be facing, are capable of dealing with it all, and willing to devote the time and energy it will take. You have the “Wonderful Experience, Turned Out Great” side of the story. It was not that way for everyone. People need to hear both sides. It is not mean or sarcastic to point out reality. Many people have no idea they will need to be on the job site everyday, deal with building permits, social security, etc. or track down a contractor that was supposed to do it and didn’t. Don’t know why you got so upset because someone pointed those things out.

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34 minutes ago, Ferret said:

Come on now Mudgirl. Fess up. How long had you lived full time in Mexico before you took the undertaking to build your own house?

The reality is that construction here is TOTALLY different than construction in Canada and most of the U.S.

Lived in Mexico for 6 years before building my house here and was experienced with cement and concrete construction for many years before that. I realize that not everyone is, but one can inform oneself about anything these days via internet if one has the interest and motivation.

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3 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

Lived in Mexico for 6 years before building my house here and was experienced with cement and concrete construction for many years before that. I realize that not everyone is, but one can inform oneself about anything these days via internet if one has the interest and motivation.

You really think using Sr. Google can equip you with enough knowledge to oversee the building of a masonry house in Mexico?  I don't.

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8 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

Construction techniques aren't rocket science or brain surgery.

You really did not answer the question. Do you believe that the average expat with little or no knowledge of masonary  home construction in Mexico can get enough information from the internet to successfully oversee the construction of their house?

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No, it's not rocket science or brain surgery. But "knowing" something from reading about it and being able to actually see and understand what you are seeing are 2 WAY different things! IMHO.

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If the OP wants to be successful in their potential building project, the last 10 posts are extremely important. This is just another case of the cost of something playing only a small part in the value of the experience. We had lived in Mexico for nine years before building our home on the coast and had a number of renovation projects under our belt as well. It ain't just about cost per square meter.

 

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7 hours ago, Xena said:

You really did not answer the question. Do you believe that the average expat with little or no knowledge of masonary  home construction in Mexico can get enough information from the internet to successfully oversee the construction of their house?

I would never advise someone with no knowledge of construction techniques  and little or no Spanish language fluency to attempt to oversee the construction of their house in Mexico. I would advise them to read up about, though. I think it is always a good thing to understand something about what you are paying for that you are going to have to live with for some time.  Masonry home construction in Mexico is no different than masonry home construction anywhere. There's really little variance to properly mix cement and concrete and do the rebar skeleton and lay block or bricks.

And I realize that many, if not most ex-pats especially those of retirement age, would rather pay someone to do things for them than learn about how it is done, or get their hands dirty. However, these are a few of the things I have learned to do myself just from online research :

How to troubleshoot and repair my washing machine

How to adjust and repair my industrial sewing machines

How to troubleshoot my water system and replace the check valve

How to lay tile

How to design a workable kitchen

I enjoy being able to fix things myself- not only does it save $, but I don't need to get recommendations for tradespeople, track down their phone numbers when the number given is non-functional, nor wait around for half a day or more for someone to show up. And neurological research has proven that our brains, barring a physical condition like having a stroke, are endlessly able to absorb and process information, creating new synapses and preventing degenerative brain dysfunction.

 

 

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“I enjoy being able to fix things myself- not only does it save $, but I don't need to get recommendations for tradespeople, track down their phone numbers when the number given is non-functional, nor wait around for half a day or more for someone to show up. And neurological research has proven that our brains, barring a physical condition like having a stroke, are endlessly able to absorb and process information, creating new synapses and preventing degenerative brain dysfunction.”

You enjoy being able to fix things yourself. That is the key. For people who do not enjoy fixing things there are other ways to create new synapses and prevent degenerative brain dysfunction. Heredity helps a lot too. Thank you for responding to my question. I now understand you better. 

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Experience has taught me that many people do not attempt to fix things or understand how they work because they were given the impression, sometimes at a very early age, that such things were beyond their understanding, or that they were too dumb to get it. When we believe that something is daunting, we are not likely to try to do it, and certainly wouldn't enjoy it. I've shown many friends how to fix things that they were under the impression they had to hire an "professional" for, and they were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually a 10 minute job, requiring no specialized tools or training and one they could and would easily do themselves the next time.

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18 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

Experience has taught me that many people do not attempt to fix things or understand how they work because they were given the impression, sometimes at a very early age, that such things were beyond their understanding, or that they were too dumb to get it. When we believe that something is daunting, we are not likely to try to do it, and certainly wouldn't enjoy it. I've shown many friends how to fix things that they were under the impression they had to hire an "professional" for, and they were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually a 10 minute job, requiring no specialized tools or training and one they could and would easily do themselves the next time.

I am sure you are correct about why some people don’t attempt to fix things themselves. Don’t know if it is most people or not. Most people I know don’t fix things themselves because they do not want to, don’t enjoy it. In a lot of cases they used to fix things themselves and are very happy to no longer have to do it. I understand how things work and that I am capable of learning how to repair things. I don’t want to. It is not my idea of a fun time. This discussion has traveled a long way from overseeing the construction of a new house. Many people unwilling to take that on do the ten-minute repairs around the house. Again, the key is that you enjoy doing it. A lot of people do not. Not because they think it is too hard or because they think they are dumb. In many cases they have already done that type of work. They just do not want to do it. 

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As a trainer and technical writer, I wrote military manuals covering how to repair satellite dishes, firetrucks, Swedish skijoring equipment, portable kitchens, ILTIS vehicles, and deuce-and-a-half trucks. I taught people how to strip down a large-vehicle transmission and rebuild it, without making a single mistake.

It's not rocket science or brain surgery, but I dare you to find me a scientist or a surgeon who would be willing to take on those jobs based on Internet research. Come on.

Oh, I also wrote an entire training program for the Canadian Medical Association that taught graduating doctors of all kinds how to set up and run a successful practice. Believe me, they thought it was harder than brain surgery.

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OMG! Does it never end? Some of us have MUCH too much time on our hands!

All I wanted was a ball-park figure for the cost to build. It doesn't matter where you are; here or Canada. If you want to manage your own building project you have to be onsite and know what you're doing - neither of which I'm interested in and/or willing to learn at this point. Option two is hiring a contractor or architect to complete the entire project, and again, Mexico doesn't have a monopoly on unscrupulous or incompetent contractors. Canada is full of them and there are any number of examples of consumers running into all kinds of problems.  But to imply that there aren't any  professional, ethical builders available at all,  that will provide a completed project on time and on budget - here and elsewhere - simply isn't true. Of course there are, but usually at a price. But when it comes to building a home you get what you pay for and quality and professionalism rarely come cheap. The original responses seemed to indicate 7,500/sqmt and up, so if I push that to 9,000+ for turn key, I probably have a rough figure I can work with. All I want at this point is something in the back of my mind for comparison ,as I look at listings.

Saludos!

 

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