Builders know more about current construction costs than draftsmen do. Ask each builder for a ballpark. It will be a more reliable ballpark if you will give them a list of your tentative specifications and selections for the house, because that makes ALL the difference.

Not only that, but it will help you begin to think through the process of choosing and seeing the impact on your budget for each choice.

We had the same problem. We actually couldn't get anyone to give us a ballpark figure based on our own drawings. We needed specific plans from an architect or designer or draftsperson before we could talk costs with any builders.

In the end we paid for a set of plans that came in over what we were willing to spend. The designer was willing to work with the plans with us but I felt like we were getting further away form what we wanted and they were less concerned with making it work for us and more concerned with getting a final plan.

In the end we went with a designer/builder and knowing our limitations made a plan that is what we like and withon our budget.

I'm not really sure what we could have done to avoid that first mistake. It might be that with the building market so busy here that no one is willing to take any extra steps. They can find a new customer tomorrow that is ready to go ahead now. Maybe in a different market the designers would be more willing to work with us?

I also suggest meeting with builders in your area and discuss your plans. Be sure to have detail of what you want in materials and finish. The same house design in cedar shingle will be more expensive than in T1-11. Bank loan officers may have some numbers showing the cost of building in your areas. But it's still all educated guessing until you give a plan to a builder and get your bids. I'd wait on the designer until you have some cost ideas from builders. This is one of the most important phases of your new home construction and is more work than I ever imagined. Good luck. Tom

A builder probably shouldn't try to guesstimate construction costs based on an amateur (no offense- I'm designing my own house too) design. A couple of feet extra span could make a huge difference in cost, due to having to use different construction methods. Many of those dramatic houses you see in magazines are insanely expensive and technologically challenging to build. I'm trying to keep my design within what is essentially a simple ranch (albeit timber framed), and I've already researched things such as floor trusses to determine at what point the costs start to soar. Although I'm going to do much of the construction myself, I will probably consult a designer and/or an engineer to make sure what I have planned is feasible and economical to build.

It is wise to get some average square foot prices from local builders for the scope of the work and level of finish you desire. Then determine how big the house can be. Then design to that program and have preliminary drawings prepared with an outline specification. Builders can give you budget price for the work if they are not too busy to bother with a project that hasn't been fully developed.

If you are in a hurry it might be necessary to select a builder at this time and hire him to help you develop the project. He can give you a Cost of the Work with a Guaranteed Maximum Price with a Fee contract. If that price is too high you can pay him for his consulting services and bid the job with other builders.

I agree with mightyanvil - try to determine what the average cost per square foot is in your area. We met our builder at a Parade of Homes - we really liked the house he had built, as well as his personality - and figured he would be good to work with. We asked him what he generally charged per square foot for an average house and went from there. Unfortunately my tastes are "expensive" lol! and our house is ending up being quite alot more than his average.

We ran into this problem too. We tried asking several builders for a ballpark figure or even a average square foot and not one would even give a verbal estimate. We even asked about homes that they had built (framed photos) and they still would not give estimates.

And when we received estimates that were over our budget we went back asking for plan suggestions that would cut cost (i.e. removing a dormer would save how much, just a patio instead of a covered porch, etc) and even then we did not get any suggestions.

It was so frustrating and such poor business practice. I'm sure not all builders are like that but in our area we ran into this problem consistently with every builder we talked with.

deanie1

Can you tell us the region of the country where you live and something about your house design (style, number of floors, covered square footage, basement?) and the lot (wooded? mountain? well/setpic needed etc). There might be people from your part of the country that can give you ball park sq footage costs for your project.

I am from the mid atlantic region - northern VA. The cost to build around here ranges from 165 to 185 per square foot for a very good quality, custom home. This ball park does not include the cost for the land but does inlcude design and site development (architecture fees, driveway, well/septic, lot clearing/excavation, etc.). The structure by itself would range from 135 to 150 per square foot. Note - use covered square feet in your ball park estimate - not just interior space. Closets, garages, decks, porches - they need to be included in your ballpark. These ball park numbers are for paying a custom home builder to build the house - not for a owner managed project.

Realize that the region of the country and the quality of the home will dramatically change the cost estimate. The structure costs can be done reasonably with average sq footage costs from your area. However - the site development and architecture fees may be harder to ball park.

In my case - the structure was only 80% of the total cost (not including the land). The other 20% went to architecture fees and development of the site. My lot is in a dense forest, at about 1300 ft elevation, house set back 700' from the main road- but it already had been perked and had a well on it. My lot clearing and excavation costs are higher than average for my area.

When we started - we did the same thing you are doing. Found average, low, and high square footage costs in my area on eplans or someother site that sells home plans. Even got sq footage costs from builders we talked to. The calculators online and the builder estimates were about 20% below the true cost to build our home.

My advise is 1) try to estimate total project - house, land, design fees, site development, 2) have 10 to 20% managemanet reserve in you budget, and 3) be mentally and financially prepared that the true cost for the project will be more than anybody - even the builder - can predict before the project starts.

Hope this helps.

You did not indicate whether you have a lot. Assuming you do not, find an area that is similar to an where you want to live and go to new home open houses. Make mental notes of the type of finish (granite; hardwood; fixtures etc.). Inquire on the sq. footage and before leaving, ask the realtor if the builder does custom homes. Calculate the square foot cost of several similar houses in the area should give you a rough comparison. There are so many factors that can influence cost but major ones include: cost of lot (including special preparation, utilities); location (generall costs more to build in rural areas, especially upscale); plumbing and light fixtures (builder grade versus upscale); granite or marble versus tile); general style (curves and arches cost more). Even after we scaled back the square footage based upon the preliminary estimate, we still ended up going over budget. You will quickly learn that what you thought you could "live with" when you started never seems to be satisfied. I have yet to hear anyone say that they willingly built down from what they originally planned; it always goes the other way.

Your first step is to find out what amount you can get a loan for. Dreams are one thing, reality is a whole different ball game.

It is simple, you go to your bank. Tell them you have $X for a downpayment and that to be able to afford to eat and meet your other bills you can afford to make monthly mortgage payments at say $1000 a month on a 30 year fixed.

You don't have to take their mortgage offer but if they can't fit you into a loan that fits that $1000 a month payment, or they say you can afford more or less per month, you have an idea.

My suggestion is know what you can afford month to month and don't go over that and have back up in savings for non house things. Like a sudden illness. Sudden illness can change life in a heartbeat.

Thank you, all, for your responses. Here's more details: we have already purchased a lot--in an upscale neighborhood out in the boonies on a river in Tennessee. We will need to dig a well and septic. We are easily affording the monthly payments on the lot, but are nervous as to how much more the actual house payment will be.

Approximate square footage of my dream house: 2425 main floor; 1640 walkout basement, which includes a boat garage; regular garage 550; screened-in porches 375; upstairs 1260. We've decided that if we cannot afford an upstairs we'll just eliminate it. We don't really need the space, but it'd be nice to have the view. As far as flooring, surfaces, fixtures, etc. go, we are not picky. If we have to start with low-end stuff, we will. Thank you all again--you've been really helpful.

deanie1

I found a calculator online (there are probably others) by doing a search on "average building costs" then searched within resuls for Tennessee. Found this link:

http://www.ebode.com/us/calculators/cal_build_general.asp#result

I put in 3700 sqaure feet, Tenn, custom, rural, masonary, and moderate lot and it came up with $507,000 (I assume that is just for the structure).

You will need to add in your estimates for well/septic, clearing, driveways, architecture fees...stuff that the caluclators probably do not deal with very well becuase the costs can vary greatly from project to project.

I would be cautious with removing the second floor. You should consider your ability to sell the house, even if you plan to stay in it forever. Sometimes, plans change. Also - depending on the house design, building up does not cost as much as you might think. Most of the cost will be spent putting in the foundation and the first floor. You need a roof no matter what - so building into the roof to add rooms doesn't cost the same (per sq ft) as the floors below.

You might bet better off cutting back on cosmetic stuff that can be added/replaced easily by you over many years - but again you need to think about the possibility of selling. As an example - our friends had a house built and they used vinyl siding just so they could get in - but they had the foundation planned to support stone. A few years later, they replaced the vinyl with stone veneer - looks awesome. You can play tricks like that to get what you want - but it takes time.

When I changed the ebode calculator by unclicking the masonary box, the cost came down to 474,000 or $128 per square foot.

Hope this helps.

We figured out a monthly payment that we could afford. That amount was actually much less than the bank would loan but it was an amount we knew we could pay and still eat! So the first thing we did was start to "pay" this amount every month into a house account. It was a way for us to make sure that no matter what happened each month we could afford the payment. And this money can be used towards the house (downpayment, moving expenses, etc). We're using ours to build an emergency fund in case something happens that effects our income (layoff, illness, etc).

Next since real estate taxes in our area are several thousand dollars a year we made sure that our monthly mortgage payment and estimated real estate tax did exceed the monthly payment we could afford. We won't actually know our real estate tax until we move in but we looked at nearby comparable houses to get an estimate. The difference between our monthly payment and real estate taxes told us how much monthly mortgage payment we could afford.

sniffdog,

Thanks for that ebode calculator....I tried another one, but knew it was pretty off for our area, even though it was calculated by zipcode. This one, if I plug in the worst case scenario, probably comes close to the Minimum that I need to budget for my house, based on talking to builders and people who've actually built around here.

Thanks, everyone. The advice here is invaluable. sniffdog, thanks for calculating for me. It was very helpful. But I thought you only calculated square footage based on heated and finished space. Neither screened-in porch, nor the garages will be heated. And what if the baasement is unfinished? Do I still calculate all this in because, regardless, it needs a footing and a roof?

deanie

For estimating the cost to build a house, you need to look at both square footage (HVAC conditioned space) and total covered space. Space with HVAC will cost more than space that doesn't have HVAC - but there is still a cost to frame, roof and trim non HVAC space.

Most of the free calculator engines that I have seen use cost averages for finsihed sq footage only. Some of them also include the cost for a basement foundation, but some don't (they assume slab). The ones that do include basement foundation estimates usuaully don't estimate the cost to finish the basement space. Basement sq footage finish costs (for a typical basement) are less than your other finished space above.

The reason I mentioned the covered space is that this is how we got fooled. We started using only the interior sq footage when we ball parked our house. Then I got the first set of plans and saw two numbers for sq footage: a square footage number for conditioned space and then a total covered space number.

When we met with builders - they looked at both square footage and total covered space to ball park the cost to build. Needless to say - we were way off on the estimate. Surprise! That other covered space costs money to build.

I drove around to new home open houses. I looked at homes with similar quality, style and square footage. Before I even went to my builder I knew how much my house was going to cost within $5,000.00