Do yourself a favor and read up on the complaints on builders like Schumacher. You gain nothing from them if you're building on your own lot.

I don't know anything about that particular builder. We talked to a larger builder and several smaller ones. We found that there was more flexibility in decisions for suppliers with a smaller firm. However, it will really depend on whether it's someone you can work with and trust. Also be prepared to keep your mind open. You could be in the early design phase and begin to see issues and need to switch. Yes it costs money and time. It'll be less in the long run.

Thanks for the responses. I guess I’m just really trying to figure out by going with a small local builder, am I going to see similar pricing...this will just help us more or less narrow down floor plans. My husband seems to think we could build for about $120 per sq ft or maybe even less with a small builder, but not sure if that’s realistic or not. Schumacher seems to be priced in the 130s for basic packages, but not sure if that’s because they use more upscale finishes, or if that’s kind of low for this market. I would prefer to use a small builder so we can get what we really want, but just sort of trying to determine what sq ft range we need to focus on looking at as we search through floor plans.

Well, it's not too difficult to take your design to a couple of local builders that you've vetted out and get a quote from them. You might be able to talk to them and get an estimated $/sf for comparison.

I'm using a local builder and being able to work closely with him on every aspect of the house is great. A big builder would have likely fired us by now after telling us "no" to everything a few hundred times. :)

We also priced out local builders and the “chain builders”. The local builders were way more expensive and I found out they use a lot of the same subcontractors for things their crew doesn’t do. My local township requires all contractors to register with the township and all the companies they work for- many of the subs were under local builders and the chain builders. We ended up going with a “chain builder” but a smaller one that is only in 3 states. We probably would not have been able to build if we went with a local builder. We know there are downsides to this, but with the added cost, it just didn’t seem worth it to us. Good luck!

A lot depends on the vision you have for your home. If you are looking to pick a plan and plop it on your site, the big builder may be for you. If you want something special that will accommodate the life you want, a smaller builder may be more equipped to accommodate you.

That said, not all builders (big or small) are the same.

Large-volume production builders and small-volume custom builders are, by definition, not in the same category. Comparing costs, quality, schedule, etc. between the two isn't valid, in my opinion. In fact, it's a silly undertaking. You're wasting your time and more than one builder's time.

Large builders will produce a limited number of plans faster, with fewer opportunities for personalization/customization, at a lower cost, and generally at a lower level of service and quality than a small-volume local builder. If you're shopping on a $/SF basis, don't waste time with the little guys, go straight to the production builders. If you want a higher level of personalization/customization, higher level of service, some regular hand-holding, regular meetings with the builder, etc. don't waste time with production builders, go straight to the smaller-volume local builders.

Have you checked the local builders' pricing? I don't know how's the situation now, but some years ago, they had lower prices than large building companies, though they don't deal with projecting and designing the interior. Anyways, our goal was to find a company to build our house from beginning to end because our baby was on the way, and we were in a rush. Therefore, we turned to this team https://masterton.com.au for help. My wife and I really enjoyed working with them because we never felt forced or pressured into making decisions, and they managed to make the building process stress-free and exciting at the same time. So, if you haven't started the works yet, check out their page for more info. Good luck.

Claire, since this post I have contacted several local builders. All if them seem to have standard finishes that are on the higher end, so quotes are coming back a lot higher than what AHP’s starting prices are.