It's always heartening to hear stories of people achieving successful and great value outcomes. My comment above was however not for standardised design or DIY scenarios, rather responding to an urban scenario with split level. The work we do is by nature customised and we deal with this sort of thing regularly & yes it (usually) involves a lot of money..as a flagfall and the sky's the limit. It's not however necessarily about bells and whistles and being fancy for the sake of it either. Rather it's about quality and long term value. You can spend a lot of money that lasts a long time which ends up being a more cost effective option than spending half as much but not lasting nearly as long. It's all relative and it depends of course also on land value, what is being proposed and the capacity for a proposed project to be financed. It's always a balance across a number of factors. We can rarely pin down a specific number either. It depends on specification and the design detailing. DIY construction is a completely different kettle of fish to a contracted build, as is a more simple, standardised design & construction/ specification to a more complex and customised multi/split level scenario with intricate/unique detailing...as is also rural scenarios to tighter inner urban situations. It really is a case of how long is a piece of string and it will range dramatically depending on how you are going about it. I had a client once who similarly was a DIY Owner builder with a trade background who did most of the work themselves. They similarly achieved the construction for a dollar amount far less that what it would have otherwise cost in a commercial contract. The design was also for mirror imaged connected townhouses so there was an economy of scale there as well, as well as being a compact and efficient design with certain details standardised to make the construction more efficient and materials relatively minimised with essentially 2 houses fitting within the size of a standard house, so they got 2 for the price of 1 essentially (good result!). BUT when you factor the practical hours "donated" or performed on the project for "free", including every hour of labour, construction management etc, supply and handling etc and apply a reasonable dollar value to it, as well as GST and builder's margin (or a construction management %) on top of the total, it's pretty much a resulting cost in the ballpark of what I was indicating.

60 sq is a big house. We recently built a 20 sq house, and the cost was within Vy's range, closer to 3 than 5/sq m but well beyond 2. And we're not talking top end finishes, either. . So, for the size of house you're talking about, I agree, you're probably looking at a million plus not counting land, architect fees, and whatever extra you might end up paying for all sorts of odd and interesting requirements imposed by local councils.. And trust me, the local councils can impose costs you never imagined.

try not to panic, is the house safe and weatherproof with a kitchen sink, shower and toilet? if so, it should be OK to live in for the time being and everything else can be broken down into manageable projects ...renovations done after a period of living in the house will often be much better because you'll understand the house better and many more experienced HOUZZERS will have lovely romantic funny memories of living in houses while renovating..As previously advised, first make a copy of the existing floorplan with measurements, add a few photos inside and out (including back, front and the roof) and include a list of what you would like to end up with and we can make some suggestions with rough ideas of what would be most cost effective...You should be able to get something done for $250,000 but it will need very careful planning and the best place to start is to understand what you already own

Hi Kristin, Unfortunately there's not a simple answer for this one way or the other. Generally 2 storey will cost more, but the cost of a simple two storey design compared to a complex/high quality single storey of similar floor area could be less. It really depends upon the design and level of finish/detail. Cost/m2 rationalising really only works for volume industry where there is relatively quantifiable correlation in this regard. As soon as you get into custom territory things change and can vary dramatically. Good luck! PD www.pauldistefanodesign.com