How Much Will Your Home Cost?

Square footage of the home. How busy and how much in demand the builder is that you want. Roofing surface you want. Mainly: the Quality Level you select. Where your home is to be constructed: Region of the World/Country/State Steepness of your site (affects foundation costs tremendously) Amount of detail you desire in the Exterior and Interior of your home. Appliances you select (make and model). Light fixtures you desire. Earthwork required/desired. size of garage. Finishes you select. Driveway surface you want. Landscaping: formal or natural. Siding materials desired. Interior wall finishes. Interior flooring desired (hint: 11” wide heart pine will cost a lot more than Lumber Liquidator’s $0.99/sf prefinished remnant 12” long blond oak cabin grade). Electronics/Smart home features. Amount and size of windows and doors both interior and exterior. Size of outdoor living spaces/porches/garage If there is to be a basement level, how it is constructed, whether or not blasting is required, amount and type of waterproof coatings/systems, amount of finishing desired, amount of windows desired, etc. And many more factors.

We actually have people send us e-mails before we know anything about what they want and they ask us “How much does it cost to build a mountain home?”  That’s like phoning an automotive dealer and asking them “How much is a car?”  That’s why we say above: “It depends.”  When you come to visit us to discuss us designing your home, we listen to your objectives and make notes.  We note the features and quality you want to achieve.  We recommend that you involve your licensed General Contractor as soon as possible, to give you real-world cost input for the developing design.  We are used to coordinating with builders in a design-build association, to help you achieve your goals.  We feed your builder design drawings as the design progresses, so that they can give you the implications of the developing design.  It is your contractor’s responsibility to provide these in-progress estimates to you and it is your responsibility to get your contractor on board to facilitate this process.  You will need to align your expectations of materials and other items affecting the quality of your home with the cost(s) related to that and your contractor can give you that cost information.  We have seen costs vary from a low of $65/sf of heated area for tract housing in Arkansas which is about $150/sf heated in the Western North Carolina area (once again, for tract-type lower-end housing), to $190/sf of heated area for a nice Arts & Crafts style home west of Chicago in the countryside of northern Illinois, to $1,000/sf for high-end custom Colorado homes near ski resorts.  The project location makes a big difference!