Prices are local. But, short of a diy rural home, it will always be more costly to build from scratch than buy an existing home or a tract build.

It's possible to save a ton of money on a build. But it requires a lot of time and effort. A rural location isn't necessary. The first step is to buy a piece of property. This takes research and a time commitment.

I have no idea ,where I live right now 350-500 a sq ft for a custom build and there is no way anyone can tell you from the info you have given.IMo to build a custom home and cheap out for finishing is just not sensible. Have you looked at getting something you could live in now and change over time to something perfect.

There are many postings on this forum from people who are building who become overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices you have to make when building from scratch. So do you have the time and are you willing to have this totally take over your life for about a year? If you're picky this is the only way you'll get what you want, but it's also fair to say that unless you have a sky's the limit budget you won't really get everything you want. Compromises are always required. I realize it's a very challenging real estate market and that must be disheartening. But doing a custom build can be very stressful. If you do end up going that way, I suggest you engage an architect who is not employed by the builder, and wait as long as you need to in order to get a quality builder. Then also engage an interior designer to help you through all the choices you will have to make so you don't get decision fatigue and lose track of an overall vision.

Double the price of the existing homes you're looking at and be happy if a new build actually ends up less.

One million is a best guess, but no one can quote you a sq ft cost on a Custom build, because you will be driving the check book bus. You buy the land...best to do that transaction with cash. Banks don't like giving loans on raw land. Now, you own the land...you need water, electricity, gas, (septic) etc. Next, factor in the cost of an engineer and an architect for plans. Then you hire a builder. Good luck with that job. What is his quote to get the house built? Because this is where "custom" comes into play. You choose all the finishes and the cost of each. No discounts for you.

Production build? You can have a lovely home (do your research on the firm) for much less than custom. Why? The builder is buying in bulk. That doesn't mean that you won't have choices. The better the builder, the more choices you will have.

Either way, get your financing in order. At some point, you will need a lender (unless you have a bottomless pit of cash).

https://www.newhomesource.com/learn/custom-or-production-builder-right-for-you/

We have done it all. Which adventure did I like the best? Buying a home I loved, one where I saw potential, then investing in it and renovating to make it ours.

I disagree with a lot of these comments. You should be able to meet with a few builders and get a range of prices at least so you can see if this is even in the realm of reality for your budget. That’s at least a starting point and a reality check but needs to be done locally. Once you have that then you need to decide if you can make it work and what side of the range you will end up on. You only have so much control and it’s often things people don’t want to be flexible on like size or house and location. In reality a cheaper flooring won’t make or break a custom home. Size of house could. Whatever you think it will cost add at least another 20%

I also find the comments about how expensive home building is vs but if ready built interesting and not consistent with where I live. If we sold our custom build when it was done, in the market that existed at that time we would have made 200k minimum. 3.5 years later more like 5-600k. So again this is very location specific and will require you finding out more about your area. It’s irrelevant what my experience is in this but I share it because it’s different than the absolutes shared in other comments.

First question is what area? The price of your lot will be tremendously different depending on the county, school district, inner suburb or further out. Do you want to go upscale in Evanston, Downers Grove, Naperville? Or more middle class areas in Aurora, Mundelein, Algonquin? Northern Kane county new construction starts at $400K for 4 bdrm, 2.5 baths with 2 car garage with large tract house builder. I can't see a custom house getting built under $600K but vintage houses are my interest, not new builds.

Step one: meet with your banker and pre-qualify. They can answer some of your questions, but Step two is sit downs with the builders you are interested in using. Be sure to ask about experience, guarantees, insurance, etc.

Trying to infer the cost to build a home using a cost/SF metric is risky business--particularly when construction material prices are so unpredictable.

A better approach is to determine your budget and then see what that budget will buy in a particular market. Touring homes under construction and asking builders about the cost to replicate a home on your lot is one way to get calibrated. I suggest you hold off purchasing land and doing any design work until you've done some cost calibration. Otherwise you may be spending money on a project that never gets built.

Agree with @Lyndee Lee . Which part of Chicagoland you're looking at is going to make a difference. The further out the location, the lower the pricing will be for the house/ land. Adding to those examples, are you considering to buy closer to or in the city and doing a teardown in an existing neighborhood as many others have done? In that case, you'll have additional expenses to consider beyond the new construction cost.

I am based in the Western Suburbs and design for custom new construction homes. The average cost/sqft right now in this area for a completely custom new construction is $300-$500/sqft. This does not include the cost of the land. In my area, clients are paying between $400k-over a million for the land only.

There are still a number of semi-custom or spec homes available. If you can find one that is not finished yet, you may still be able to select the finishes, but you cannot change the floor plan. So if you think you are pickier about the finishes than the layout, this may be a more affordable option.

Again, OP is asking how much a custom build will cost. The operative word is "custom".

OP doesn't own land and is comfortable with mid range materials.

OP should just go for a lovely production build. Builder owns the land. Win, win there; has several plans from which to choose; has done the engineering, water, electricity, gas, septic; and the town/city has approved everything.

Otherwise, just put a million dollars on the table to buy the land. From Bloomberg:

"The average price per acre is just $663,000 in Chicago." What to do with the change?

In my area of FL the price of a lot doubled in the last 18 months. Some existing homes too. Who knows what will happen down the road? Plan for the worst and hope for the best!

In Phoenix, my estimate is about 1.2MM build + land. I paid $90k for my lot about 18 months ago, but becuase the market has changed so much, that lot today would be between $250k and $300k. So, to build about 4300 sq ft, single-story in Phoenix, I'd say that you'd be around $1.5M + pool costs on a reasonable flat lot with utilities at the street and I think $1.5MM is probably on the low side. I exceeded my appliance budget by $15k and my plumbing budget by $4k. I initially exceeded my window budget by $84k, but managed to change window/door configurations to reduce the cost about $75 without (leaving me $9k over) sacrificing window quantity....all this considers that I get the builder's discount.

If you're considering building custom in a few years, then once you understand the costs involved, you should talk with a builder who can help you select a lot to purchase a lotand start having discussions with architects and the HOA Design Review Committee, if any, to understand community guidelines what's involved in terms of time, commitment, and most importantly, money.

In my neighborhood, it takes three years and I've spent $150k++ before breaking ground on land, design fees, HOA fees, overage fees and I suspect that amount is small compared to what others are paying. Extraordinary patience and cash-on-hand (becuase you can't tap loan money until you close on your loan) are key.

If you take the plunge, you'll be making every design decision from architectual style, colors, mortar color/texture, exerior finish texture, window depth, roof pitch, appliances, every faucet, disposal, sinks, flooring and all of these decisions bounce up against a budget...and it'll be no cheaper to purchase than today's price.

As for the cost to build, all I can say is that it'll cost what it'll cost.

Thank you all! I guess a custom house is not for me, at least not now.