"The builder that I'm considering has quoted me a price of $113 per sq. ft. of living area"

Or did he quote you:

"$262,000 for the entire build, which would include lot clearing, leveling and site prep."

There is a difference. Impossible to tell without more info.

Are you buying the land?

If the builder gave you a written contract for construction with the $262,000 in it, then you have a valid cost for construction (read carefully, very carefully, all language about what's NOT included, and especially any allowances which are included, which are almost always too low).

If all you have is a verbal "quote" or estimate, that's worth what you paid for it...

Off the cuff estimates are based on builder grade materials. Everything that you actually want will be an upgrade to the allowances. It's how builders make homes seem cheaper to those who don't understand the process.

If you want a true custom home, you hire someone to design it and write the specs for it, and the exact products used. You get no surprises then. Other than the bottom line being at least 100K above what you ''think'' it should be. If not more.

Every builder has his/hers own price per sq ft. Prices are sensitive even by Zipcode.

While prices are different, $113/sq ft is a good price.

>The builder has quoted me $262,000 for the entire build, which would include lot clearing, leveling and site prep [All wood cabinets, granite counter tops, carpet in bedrooms, tile in wet areas, and tile or laminate flooring everywhere else, radiant barrier, all brick and/or rock exterior, fireplace]

I would sit down with a builder and price out full spec. Including brick, cabinets, fixtures, select windows (spec "energy efficient double-pane windows" are meaningless IMHO).

Are you happy with the house floor-plan?

Most builders plans are optimized for material usage and cost, and I doubt that with the architect and on truly custom build - will make it for $262k.

This is not a truly custom built home. Yes, he's building it for you - it's not one he has already built "on spec" but it's far from custom where finishes are concerned. This house will not be a good investment as it's all "builder grade", which is always lower quality. When it breaks/wears out (and it will!), then you will be stuck having to spend money to fix it but it's in a subdivision where doing upgrades will never pay off - you will be over-building your neighborhood.

A true custom built home is custom designed and has very high end finishes. It is NOT $113/sq ft!!! If you're on a tight budget, you'd be far better off with a house that is 50-80 years old in the best neighborhood you can afford, and then remodel it as you can afford to do so.

What brand of appliances?

What type of carpeting?

What type of tile?

What brand of brick or stone for the exterior?

What brand of "wood" cabinets?

What level granite?

Somehow I doubt very much this is a custom built home. Are you sure you're not talking about a tract home in a subdivision where you can choose between red brick and beige stone for the outside and between beige, black or white granite for the kitchen?

Pretty cheap! Devil is in the details...

Details details and details and for that price, more likely than not is not "custom". Read every single item in your specs and plans and you may well find you ate not getting what you think.

If you want a true custom home, you hire someone to design it and write the specs for it, and the exact products used.

This. I also agree that zip code matters.

I don't understand how some posters that have been here for a very long time still don't understand pricing in Texas (and a few other states) are FAR less expensive.

$113 per sq ft is a very normal price here, and YES, that is for a CUSTOM home.. There has got to be posters from Texas here that can/have chime in on their pricing. Because for some reason when I mention it I'm asked if that's for a "truly" custom home. Yes, yes it is. Sure anyone from Texas can build a super super high end on all finishes with gold plated bling for $140+per sq ft, but that's not close to what most people spend unless there is extensive site work, 200 ft driveway, etc.

Now I don't know with the info given if this is for a custom design or purchased plan. Are you picking out each finish you want and not from a list of only these items are offered?

I live in Texas, and we will be spending a minimum of $200 per square foot.

What area are you building Mark, if you don't mind sharing? And what type of house are you building for that?

We will be building a custom one-story home on acreage in the Hill Country.

Does the house include the land? I assume Hill Country is more expensive than North Dallas. I'm jealous because that's a beautiful area! Although I am sure a few parts of Dallas in which we call the "old money area" could be pricier like yours as well as a few other certain areas, although I still believe for the most part prices are not that high around the state. As stated in these forums over the past year I've been here, that made me respond with a little passion. :)

No, the price of the land was not included. I wish it were though! :)

Whew! Thanks for all the responses. I will try to address as many as possible.

Regarding the price, as I mentioned in my original post, the builder quoted me $113/sf for the LIVING AREA (2170 sf) and an additional cost of $24/sf for the garage (700 sf). That comes out to $262,000.

I already own the 2.3 acre lot (I bought it last year) and it is free and clear. Yes, the builder gave me a written contract price of $262,000 but I have not signed anything yet. I'm still reading through the 28 page contract very carefully.

Maybe my idea of a "custom home" is different than everyone else's. When I say "custom home", I mean that I hired an architect and told him what I wanted. I gave him ideas for a floor plans and told him how I wanted things laid out. He worked with me on the exterior and interior finishes and many of the finer details. I took my finished plans to the builder and the builder priced it and wrote up a contract. It specifies details on many of the construction materials and techniques. Yes, there are some items where it is not truly custom and my choices are limited to a few styles/colors, etc. I obviously cannot list them all here, but here are some of the highlights:

Foundation - Engineered foundation by engineering firm in San Antonio, Texas.

Plumbing - Moen faucets (Eva or Brantford collection), black silgranite or stainless steel kitchen sink, white elongated toilets, 50 gallon electric water heater, septic system.

Electrical - Ceiling fans in all bedrooms and living room, decor switches, smoke alarms, floor plug in living room. All 20 amp breakers except for the larger appliances (stove, oven, dryer, A/C, etc). Many outlets throughout the house.

A/C and Heating - 14 Seer RUUD electric heat and air condition system to be engineered and sized to house.

Framing - Framing materials to be #2 grade or better. Treated base plates and termite protection. Roof decking is 7/16" Tech Shield Radiant barrier, wall sheathing is 7/16" OSB wrapped in Tyvek wrap and taped.

Roofing - Malarkey Highlander CS 30-year shingles with synthetic felt paper underlayment (EasyLay UDL 15).

Exterior doors - $730 allowance for front door.

Windows - Vinyl, double-pane, insulated, Low-E glass by Cascade or Equal

Insulation - R-38 in ceilings, R-13 in walls, poly-seal on all doors and windows

Drywall - 1/2 inch on walls, 5/8 inch on ceilings, textured (Monterrey) and painted. Water repellent Sheetrock at tub and shower surrounds with Hardie backer board for tile.

Paint - Premium grade washable latex paint on exterior and interior. I get to choose the colors.

Masonry - Rock and brick as illustrated on plans. Rock to be selected with allowance of $130 per ton.

Interior Trim - Interior Masonite doors, Interior and exterior doors to be 6'8" in height except front door which is 8' in height. Baseboards to be 5 1/2" Colonial wood, paint grade.

Hardware - Oil rubbed bronze or satin nickel Mason series batch accessories. Kwikset, Polo series door hardware.

Cabinets - Custom made, all-wood construction (Alder wood), stained (i choose stain shade). Crown molding in all cabinet uppers.

Flooring - Ceramic/porcelain tile at bathrooms and utility room ($1.70 per sf allowance). Laminate or carpet (my choice) at all other floors. No brand specified.

Counter tops - Granite counter tops at kitchen and all bathrooms. Color chosen from Builder's Level 1 options.

Appliances - Black, Whirlpool appliance package to include dishwasher, 30" cook top, 30" vent hood, single oven, built-in microwave and trim kit. Option to upgrade to Stainless Steel for $500.

Garage - 2 1/2 car garage. Sheetrock, taped, floated, and textured. One 18' 2-car door and a 6' door for a lawnmower, ATV, etc.

Driveway and Flat work - Sidewalk from parking pad to front porch, concrete driveway and approach included along with a 200 foot long 12' wide driveway.

Warranty - Standard 1-year warranty, 2-year warranty on plumbing, mechanical and electrical delivery systems. 10-year structural warranty.

I hope this answers some of your questions. As Lindsy mentioned, it is possible to build custom homes in Texas for WAY cheaper than most other states. If anyone has additional feedback or things I should look out for in the contract, please let me know. I'm a first-timer at this. Thank you!

A little explanation from my viewpoint.

Custom - made to order specific for a customer, often times different from the norm.

Custom home (to many) - high end finishes in a custom manner. Level 1 granite and Whirlpool appliances would not apply. Vinyl windows wouldn't either.

Somewhere long ago, custom meant high end. High end of course means different things to different people and in different areas of the country. But there is a good argument that this isn't truly custom since you are limited to certain granites for instance.

Honestly, the price seems a little high but there is site specific work in there that is hard to price. Septic is a variable. Well? On a slab I presume? Single story? 2 HVACs? Siding material?

Sure Texas is cheap to build. They also do things in Texas that wouldn't be done in other areas and those things are cheaper. After 2005/6 of course, some of those cost cutting moves have spread outside of Texas.

Since the act of doing custom costs so much more than tract building, in most areas of the country, it goes along with higher end finishes and products than you have specified. In my market, if I wanted those specs, I'd usually buy a production built house. I did build a $240k, 2000 sqft house on the ocean because custom was the only way to go there. But I don't call it custom even though it was. No garage or 200 ft driveway there. Thermafoil cabs and vinyl siding but otherwise comparable to yours. Expensive septic.

The idea that "custom" only means high end finishes is incorrect. If you can't choose what you want where you want it, then it would not be custom, perhaps semi-custom. But if you design the home and choose what you want where you want it, that is a custom home. I agree with David Cary saying that custom is built for a specific customer, often different from the norm. You might be able to afford the highest end finishes, but not choose them. Plenty of people do not spend all they have just because they have it. You might prefer rustic, or beach house casual. You might prefer to choose a low maintenance product rather than a high-end, high-maintenance trendy finish in certain areas. Custom means you get what you want. If you are fortunate, you can have the house built that you want, not worrying about some other future buyer or the opinions and judgments of others.

Andy with regard to your contract, it would be key to know what kind it is. Your ability to control costs depends on the contract type and allowances. See what type it is. Since it has allowances I would take a separate piece of paper and define two types of allowances, those you control and those you don't. For example if well and septic are allowances, you would not be able to control those costs, you don't know how deep the well might have to be. But, you want those items identified because they are areas where costs could increase. Then there are all the allowances where you control the costs - appliances, flooring, etc. For these areas you must do your research up front to know if the allowance will cover what you want. Do this for every allowance area. Doing this on separate paper allows you to have a better understanding of the total "risk" of cost increase you have with your contract. We have used a cost plus contract and a mixed fixed price contract with
allowances. Both of our builds came in on budget because we understood the details of every allowance area and we had no change orders. So the upfront work you have done with your architect is good, take it down to the detail level.

So all of those specifics you typed up are what the builder will give you without changing the price. However, you need to look at what his granite level 1 is in person so if you want something different you get that noted and the price changed to reflect it. Ideally you want to do this on all items.

Its obvious custom building is done differently around the country. The list of your included options is what people balk out and say that is only semi custom. Which I can see, but I've found that builders here have this as a starting area, but you obviously are not stuck with getting only those options. You could change everything outside his "included list" and resubmit for a new price. At least that's how my builder works. Those listed are just starting points, as it gives the customer an idea of what kind of materials they can get in their house without driving up the costs. I find it helpful, but I can't look at two kitchen faucets be able to tell one costs $100, and the other $400 if it wasn't labeled..

David Cary - can you go further into detail about what you mean that in Texas they do things differently that are cheaper? Genuinely curious.

The correlation between the level of customization in a home and price is pretty substantial.

It helps to add the adverb "more" to really understand it. One house is more custom than another when it is more unique. The more unique something is, the more expensive it is. The reason that this is so closely associated with high end finishes is that it doesn't make sense to spend $300 per square on a unique design and then finish it with builder grade materials.

Because of this, the meaning has largely changed to mean expensive. Unfortunately, words develop meanings very different from their literal definitions. I don't think the absence or presence of any one thing makes a home custom. A case can certainly be made that there is little custom about a house that is uniquely designed and then filled with mass produced finishes, and a case can be made that unique finishes make a mass produced house custom.

To me custom has come to mean the effort, or amount you were willing to spend, to set your house apart from the others.

I couldn't agree more with bry's comments. If an architect draws up custom plans (as opposed to a builder's own plans or those purchased via the internet), it is clearly "custom". But most people who go the custom route want unique, high quality finishes - they would not have spent the money for an architect if they didn't.

What you are describing is mass produced finishes such as one might find in any tract house. The problem with these are that they are not high quality and that if one later updates these finishes, one may risk overbuilding the house or the neighborhood. Neither is ever a good idea no matter how long one thinks one is going to live somewhere.

So much depends on the age of the person building and the kind of home in which they grew up. If one grew up in a 70 yr old house with solid wood paneled doors, true oak hardwood floors, plaster walls, generous millwork for openings, then such a house as described would be awful for that person. On the other hand, if they grew up in a tract house and this is what they've always have, they many be thrilled to just have NEW builder grade instead of old worn builder grade.

cpartist has put forth some very good questions for you to have answer (acceptable answers!) to before you sign up for anything. Truly doing ones homework will always pay off in the end.

I would recommend going through all of the allowances, the rules around them (i.e. do you have to purchase from his supplier), and then seeing how far those allowances will get you. For instance, I don't think $1.70 would even cover the most basic 3x6 white subway tile from Home Depot. Also you want to understand what he will be tiling - I'm guessing this doesn't include bullnose or other finishing pieces, and no tile on the walls outside of the bath/shower (if he is even tiling those and not using a pre-finished unit). This should all be specified in the architectural plans, but even then you want to make sure he is clear that he is in full agreement with those plans.

And the still do not forget your 15-20% contingency fund that most often comes into play.

Wow. I never thought custom also included finishes. I naively thought custom mean the design only. I plan to have my house designed by a qualified architect, up here in Canada. I hope to GC it myself, but not sure...still exploring this and just talking to builders. Here, there are tract builders and and builders who just build for individual clients.

I plan to have basic finishes including laminate floors, (once had hickory 5" plank hardwood throughout, what a waste of $) but quality infrastructure...tight envelope, hvac, sceptic etc.. We are focused on having a well built energy efficient structure.

Does this mean my house is not custom?

P House, I'd consider your home custom. :-)

If we wanna get the most snooty about what constitutes "custom" from a purely finishing standpoint, I guess it's not *truly* custom unless you buy a rocky, heavily-treed lot with oil underground, and have every bit of your home outfitted using the clay, stone, wood, and petroleum products (is petroleum used to make caulk???) exclusively available on your land. ;-)

Better have mineral rights, too, and mine your own copper for the range hood and gutters, lol.

Does this mean my house is not custom?

Why does it matter?

"Custom house," is typically a moniker given to set expectations in the mind of others. I can't think of any reason it matters whether or not your house was custom. In the end, you got the house that you wanted, hopefully, for the amount you wanted.

While you could say that it is a quality indicator, it more often describes the level of cost. Which is only used when you are describing your house to others. If someone who was removed from the steps you took in designing the house would call it custom then it was an effective communication, if on the other hand they wouldn't call it custom then it wasn't. On these boards it helps set a standard for design and cost efficiency, that is all.

Price and quality are not always synonymous, but sometimes are. A masonite door cannot compare in quality to a solid wood six-panel classic door. And it won't last nearly as long.

There's price, quality and value. In building a home, there are two measurements for value - one is resale value (quantifiable), the other is owner enjoyment. For a house in this price range, the owner is never going to see any $ return on the thousands it would take to upgrade to solid wood doors from masonite doors (though I would recommend the filled doors vs. hollow for bedrooms and bathrooms - it's maybe $30 or so per door). Every decision needs to be weighed against what is expected for that particular market/price point. Anything above that (wood doors in this case) is purely for owner enjoyment. This is why truly custom homes (and most renovations) are a poor monetary investment.

freeoscar, your comments are exactly why I would nearly always advise an existing home and make it how one wants it. An older (at least 60 years old) is going to have things such as solid wood door as they were the standard at that time, even in the most modest home.

In my opinion, the only people who should be custom building a home are those with VERY deep pockets, in an area where high level finishes (solid wood doors) are expected as the price of the area reflects it.

^^^^^ that's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. It's good to have a wide variety of choices for prospective buyers. What only rich people have the right to build a house on some acreage to enjoy? So when all those rich people pass on, again it's only rich people that can afford to purchase all those houses? Good grief. I will love my nice house, on my land, which won't cost a freaking fortune, because guess what? I'm not loaded. But I think I deserve to live out my dream of building my own home. How dare less than rich people dream.

You can dream for free. Building costs real money. More than buying existing. If you're willing to pay the costs for personalization in lesser funding for one of life's other expenditures like retirement or college for the kids, then perhaps you have the wrong dream.

I think this thread became really ridiculous. Custom home not necessarily equal to high end finishes. I do not know if I would be upgrading light-weight construction framing either or build it to the current code. Exterior insulation - sure, foam @ rims yes, attic insulation yes. Everything else to code. Deflection

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Unless you are somewhere where high cost of living, I have a news for ya: 2000 sq ft "design by architect home" will sell and appraise at the exact same price as 2000 semi-custom, or may be even track. The custom design in my area only factors in when house is larger than 3200 sq ft.

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I am shocked that no one asked what brand of drywall paper tape the builder will be using. :grin:.

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These solid doors that suppose to be a sign of quality and outlast foam filled [presumably after OP death]- will warp. Honestly exterior look and upscale decor - what attracts the buyers. In my view - decent exterior, good backbones, everything else will be dated 30 years later.

Texas building that is less expensive than my area.

Slab - sure some of that is topography/water but it is cheaper than alternatives

Vinyl siding - rarely seen in my area

Vinyl floor.

Vinyl windows, single hung - being seen more and more here but never see in custom until more recently (still mostly spec)

Small brick in a large home.

Minimal landscaping.

Small trim and no trim around windows (interior)

2x4 construction, fewer windows (climate driven of course also)

Stained cabinets. Also with Alder wood (I think) - the look of cabinets is different than I see hear and I am guessing it is that wood. Painted being more customary around here or stained Maple.

I'm sure there are areas of Texas that build quite expensively. But in general (going to duck) since the RE costs are lower than most, builds are done using products and techniques that are more value driven. The RE taxes are relatively high in TX, so spending less on a home really makes sense. And building in a flat topo, warm climate is the cheapest.

To add to David's list.

Cheap site built and sprayed faux custom cabinets with bugs and dust. Yes, usually alder, the cheapest wood possible.

Textured ceilings and walls to allow low quality drywall work.

No crown molding. It's a "transitional" look.

MDF base and casings.

SEER 14 HVAC and flex duct.

And the biggie is cheap undocumented labor.

In the end, there are largely two types of people who comment on these threads. Those who are building houses and those who have built houses.

While I admit certain people who have built houses in the past are a bit jaded, I think you need to realize that experience does count for something. I advise those who are starting the process to not so quickly discount the advice of those who have been through the process.

I have built two houses in the past and was solidly into building the third when I decided not to do it. I had firm pricing to get it done and was pretty confident that I had an initial cost laid out, and my house came back more significantly higher than the OP's. Construction labor in my area is only 8% higher than Texas, but my house came back at almost 30% higher, and this price didn't include flooring, bathroom fixtures or cabinets. I do realize that it is possible for this to happen but become concerned that the OP is focusing on the wrong items.

I feel my concern was validated when he posted the specs of his custom build. A 14 SEER AC in Texas is a bit silly. In fact, it doesn't even meet the currently enacted future minimums. The marginal cost of 16 or 17 SEER is reasonable in North Texas, which has something like 3,000 cooling degree days. My experience tells me that this isn't the only questionable thing going on here. Someone who is willing to cut that corner is probably going to cut others.

The question isn't whether or not you can build a house in North Texas for $120 per square - the question is should you build a house in North Texas for $120 per square. In the end, labor and overhead are only so much of the build.

Please don't feel the need to answer that question for me. I don't need, or even care, to know. However, you might consider listening to some of the people who have completed their build, because it is tends to be a bit of a humbling experience.