Hi All.
I could really appreciate any approximate build cost from any one who has built their own home, when moving to Canada.
I am keeping my options open with both Vancouver and Ontario being viable relocation venues. All advice gratefully appreciated.

Do you have a house design yet?

It's roughly CAD$200 a square foot (maximum at higher end of the market) - & that should be a complete house.

Thanks for that Arris. I havent chosen a design yet. but am trying to consider all options. Can I ask if you built your own place?

Search Gooding's posts - she had a house built but on Vancouver Island.

We're still in the UK, but hubby is in the building trade & has researched it & also we have a friend who is a builder where we are moving who has helped us with information.

Hubby has designed a house & when we are over for 2 weeks in the summer we are seeing an architect to get the plans drawn up professionally.

We're 50% into our build and are paying $200 sq/ft. The lowest quotes we had were in the $150-175 range, but offered a lower spec finish.

At $200 we're able to fit high quality European appliances, have geothermal underfloor heating and not penny pinch on any fixtures and fittings.

Our build process is documented in pictures here: http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fie...OTzbGBOAaK5v6b

Hi Rich,

Great pics, very interesting to see - looks like a great location.

When did your build start & when do you plan to move in? Hubby is planning to do alot himself - apart from the ground works.

Arris

The place you're building looks very 'rural', presumably the land was relatively cheap. How close to Kamloops is it? Does the price per sq/ft include the basement or only the upper living area?

We started ground works in early Jan, whilst waiting for building permits. Foundation work began early Feb.

Estimated build time is between 4-5mths, so should be complete around June. We're in no rush as we live in another property 200 meters away, so it's easy to oversee what's going on.

Building codes and planning regs are very different from the UK - your OH will obviously need to become familiar with everything before starting.

We're in city limits, just under 20mins drive from the heart of Kamloops. We've 32 acres, so no immediate neighbours, and Barnhartvale (our area of the city) is mostly made up of smaller acreages, so it can feel quite rural. Being in city limits has the advantage of all the services one can expect, but the disadvantage of city taxation levels.

Ha ha! I wish it was cheap. There's no such thing as cheap land in Kamloops anymore. Once the house is complete I wouldn't consider selling for under $1.5m (we do have our equestrian business here too though). Standard urban plots cost c$100k upwards in the city, the further you move away from downtown plots become relatively cheap, but they tend to be larger too, so the purchase price isn't often under $150k. Reckon on $200k upwards for several acres of useable land. Steep, north facing hillside and poorer plots fetch relatively little. Most plots are snapped up by developers, it's getting hard to find plots available for private development, unless you're happy to look outside of city limits (and therefore at least 30mins from town) - there's lots of lovely land available to build on if you're prepared to dig wells for water, install propane tanks, and/or have the expense of hooking up to hydro, which could be quite a distance away.

$220 sq/ft is the price of any heated, finished area. Unfinished basement (ie not drywalled), or garage space is c$125-150 sq/ft, depending on window/door/fitting requirements.

Thanks for the info rich, pretty much echos the other rich's experience in Kelowna. If you have a couple of million to hand, buy land, build and make it a long term investment. Otherwise, not advisable for immigrants on a shoestring in the present climate. Still would prefer land and property though, ie. at least 1/2 acre but nore more than 2. I'm out there in the summer anyway so I'll do some homework before coming out and get a lay of the land, as it were.

Just wanted to throw this link in for any parties interested in building a cottage - I came across this on Home Depot (Kind of like the Canadian equivalent of B&Q) 4 years ago when I was still living in Montreal and was looking for an air conditioner..... don't ask me how my searches on the site brought me 'build your own cottage' stuff!! *lol*

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...buying_norpine