My wife and I built our forever home back in 2004 for $60K (Washington State). We did all the work ourselves; crawlspace foundation, framing, roofing, windows, plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, flooring, built our own cabinets, tiling, etc.
2003 - Building Our Own House
Granted, not everyone has the time or resources to build their own home. We also had a few things going for us, as we already lived on the property in a mobile home. So there were no impact fees, septic system, or well to contend with (we already did those when we first put the mobile on the property). However, doing it ourselves saved us a ton in labor costs, allowed us to upgrade to nicer hardwood flooring, tile, better window coverings, etc. Best of all we paid out of pocket and a little bit of savings so we had no mortgage when we were done.
Still, there are many things in that chart I would not consider "must haves". For starters, just because the average home size is 2500 sq/ft doesn't mean you need that much space, especially just for two people. Our home is 1495 sq/ft and feels like a mansion to us. We both grew up in homes less than 800 sq/ft and lived quite comfortably. (At $150 sq/ft a 2500 sq/ft home would cost 375K compared to only 225K for a 1500 sq/ft home). More space just equals more junk to fill it, more materials to build, more to heat, more to clean, higher property taxes, etc. Luxury items like granite counter tops, exotic wood cabinets, paved driveways, expensive light fixtures, high end plumbing fixtures, and so on are not "must haves".
$8K for painting? Please. A brush, paint roller, and a couple hundred bucks in paint at most. It's not rocket science and doing some work yourself could save you thousands.
