I think you are mistaken in the sequence of cost. Brick is one of the most costly siding items out there. Brick will be significantly more expensive than stucco/eifs for a 3512 sq ft house than your bid of 20k.

Brick is definitely more expensive here in Florida. We went with stucco partly for cost and partly for the reason you did - we like how it looks. If you think about just the labor involved in laying brick vs. applying stucco, it has to be more expensive.

When we were researching building costs our banker gave us the cost break downs for several owner-built homes that they had recently financed in our area (Augusta, GA). One of them was a 3600 SF brick house. The line cost of the brick and labor on that house was $38,000.

Your stucco bid seems high to me. For our home which is 8600 sq ft under roof, it's $23k. We have some detail work too (ie. coining).

Lest there be confusion, are you talking about real stucco or the EIFS (which has had some bad press).

Our house is a combination of brick and stucco (real stucco).

Its EIFS (Dryvit). I know Dryvit has had tons of bad press in the past, but I haven't heard any recently. I feel as if everyone deserves a chance to make their product better. This is beside the point, but look at what Hyundai did to improve its reputation of making junk cars and now they are ranked among the top automobiles year after year. Anyway as far as real stucco goes, I haven't seen any homes around here that have a consistent texture to their stucco. I actually like the "flawless" stucco texture such as the ones on Best Western Hotels and Taco Bells. I don't like that old San Antonio adobe type stucco look.

Have you looked into Boral Brick's products called Pastecote or Recote? We are going to use this as we're in OK and Stucco/efis doesn't not have a good life here. You essentially brick your house in a cheaper brick then use thier textured paint over it. I couldn't find a good picture but here's the link to thier site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boral Brick Pastelcote

Check w/your insurance company before you build with EIFS. I know that if it is correctly installed you should have no troubles, BUT when it comes time to sell, you may have fewer buyers willing to take what they perceive to be a gamble.

Our stucco wasn't much less expensive than our brick. House is now six -- no troubles.

Oddly, EIFS costs about the same in Toronto as low end brick. Many buyers seem to perceive it as a "luxury" material. Done correctly, you won't have moisture problems. But you'd better bone up on proper technique. There's no guarantee your installer has.