Building in Juana Diaz

Hey Guys,

I own 3 acres of land in Juana Diaz and considering building a home it.  I'm working with an architect in san juan for the design but til then I have no idea what the average cost per sq meter to build in this area.  I've searched online and haven't found any information.  So does anyone know what the current per sq meter cost is to build in the south/ponce area?

I've had the same question for some time now.  Best estimate that I've found is that price per foot (or meter) is 80% of the mainland average.

The problem is that there are a host of factors that will go into the estimated price.  What building materials?  What method?  Gradient of the lot?  Accessibility to the lot?  Quantity and quality of fixtures?  Flooring?  Windows?  Doors?  Appliances?

Estimates are usually based on whether these last items are stock or custom, and at what level of quality (low, medium or high) for each.  This gives a range of six cost estimates per unit of floor space, for each type and method of construction.

So, my sense is that you are best off chatting with your architect about these issues, and he or she should be able to give you a rough estimate.

One last bit.  I've found a construction company in Rincon, Costa Brava Construction.  I haven't any experience with them, but I note that their website claims,   "We are happy to provide you with one free hour of our time to give you a project estimate. All our estimates will be verbal. "  When you have a bit more information, you might want to contact them, or another builder.

I can tell you that it will depend who you ask and what you want. Our house in Sabana Grande cost us to build around $130k. We have 2 bedrooms upstairs with a custom bath 12 x 12 an open kitchen/living area, our master is 16 x 19. This included our guest room with its own bathroom separated from the main house. Main house is 36 x 45 with the additional guest room of 15 x 15 and it's bathroom is 10 x 10. Patio is 10 x 46.
All the doors and windows are security build and bay windows in the living and kitchen area. Wire for cat5 in all rooms, electricity is wired for generator connection and solar power. Plus plumbing is designed for in line and solar heater.
We did it custom built, we used a local contractor and have all the plans and permits done by a local guy.

I will recommend to get the plans and permits done and then ask around for a contractor. Permits are expensive and if you have the contractor do them you are stuck with the contractor. We had to fired the first guy and if we would had not done it this way we would had end up having to pay again for permits.

One major important thing, be in no hurry!!! The contractor will tell you a week, plan on 2. It took us almost a year to finish the house.

But is was well worth it!!!

PM me your email and I can show you our house pics.

Also, the guy that finished our house build houses all over the island. Not a big company just he and his sons. I will recommend him anytime, he did a great job fixing the errors and fuck ups of the first guy.
He doesn't speak English thou.

Thanks for your reply.  I understand that the cost would vary depending on many variables.  I was just wondering what would be a rage to use as a base...... like low being let's say $30 per sq meter and high being $50 per sq meter.

I calculated ours at around $80-90 square feet. But we got higher grade custom doors and windows, archs on patio, reinforced rebarbs for floors and roof. Did custom on plumbing and electricity. And tiled floors all around and bathrooms. High end fixtures. It will be our last house so we did it to last.

Wow!  If I've done the math right, Adlin's costs come in around $37/sq ft.  That's a tremendous bargain!  Costs in my area (and housing is not terribly expensive here) are about $90/sq ft. for traditional stick-built homes.

We didn't let the contractor buy the materials. I purchased all the raw materials from local hardware store, shop around for custom built windows and doors, negotiated prices with cement companies and even did some of the electricity and plumbing work myself. Worst vacation ever!!! Lol

At the end, we love our house. Right now we spend about a week every 2 - 3 months in the island and cannot wait to fully retire and go back.

I did the math, for around 2,000sq' between the house and guest room it came to around $65/'. Still not bad considering it is a concrete house custom built.

I spoke with a reputable architect in Ponce who is now an instructor at the architectural school in Ponce, He quoted me $65 a square foot for a concrete house.

What do you think the home was worth after you built it?

I'm looking for a Flip opportunity or building from the ground up

Thanks,

Jeff

Tom the above is 2-3 years old. Prices per square feet are a lot higher today.

I guess the main question is,

If you build a house for X dollars

What % increase in value, on average can one expect to have soon after it's built?

20% return? Or increase in value
50% return?

I would be looking to make enough money to make building a home worth the effort?

I other words, I'm looking to sell the property after it's built to make a profit.

Thanks

TomDog wrote:

I guess the main question is,

If you build a house for X dollars

What % increase in value, on average can one expect to have soon after it's built?

20% return? Or increase in value
50% return?

I would be looking to make enough money to make building a home worth the effort?

I other words, I'm looking to sell the property after it's built to make a profit.

Thanks


Due to labor shortages and low inventory of materials, On average very little profit if any, maybe even loose money.

There are tremendous amounts of inventory today, it is a major buyers market in PR. Today you are looking at about 125 per square food, but you can buy previously build homes for about 45 square foot.

One thing is to buy a place for 40k that is falling apart and fix and sell it foward and another buying land, and building at the higher cost that exist today.

Hello,
Thank you for sharing.  This is great information as I am looking at a lot similar size for purchase and custom build.  Can you please provide me with the contractors name and if you know of a land assessment service in the area, that would be awesome.

Thank you,
Roberto

Hello, how soon  do you need

Thank you! I have located an empty lot and sent an email to a local property assessment in order to determine value.  I am able to start right away. 

Roberto

prices have uncreased dramatically recently. cost of building materials and labor have skyrocketed with covid. I would expect to pay $150-$250/SF depending on how high end the build is. condo/apartments get built around $120-$150SF right now

I agree. I am building a larger custom home, the cost of construction, not architect, land, permits…. Is now estimated at $275 per square ft. When you add , permits, professional fees…. Add another 12-15%.

Then the land, a lot in Dorado or Rio Grande can run $4mm or another $1,000 per square ft (4,000 sq ft home).

So asking for a price per sq ft can be very difficult.

Hello,
I am having difficulty in getting responses from property assessment services.  Can anyone recommend an assessor than can assess a land that I found to determine fair land value.  This would be in the Juana Díaz area. 

Thank you ,
Roberto

Axel Ramos -  (787) 710-4872
Henry Shetini -  (787) 688-6082