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South Dakota couple builds 3,600 sq. ft. home for about $410,000
The DIY project came in about $400,000 below contractor estimates they received earlier, after they started building in April 2025 and finished about a year later.
A South Dakota couple, Allison Brown and her husband, built their own 3,600-square-foot home for about $410,000 after contractor bids came back between $650,000 and $800,000, Yahoo Finance reports.
They began construction in April 2025, managing the project themselves while taking on tasks including rock hauling, siding, insulation, flooring, and masonry, along with shopping for decor deals and working weekends and holidays to complete the build.
In addition to the satisfaction of building the home themselves, the couple said the approach helped them beat the earlier quotes by roughly $400,000, and they tied the outcome to determination and perseverance in the face of potential issues.
The article also notes broader context for readers considering DIY builds, including Angi data that places the average cost to build a new U.S. home at $322,924, plus a Hippo Insurance survey warning that DIY mistakes can cost homeowners extra cash and that many underestimate the time required.