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 The most asked question we receive from
our online visitors is, "How much does a certain plan
cost to build?". I think it wrong that some web sites
actually give a cost to build a plan. How do they know the
cost of how you want to build your home? There are
professional Estimating Companies (some in the advertising
banner above) that can give you a close idea but with a lot
of margin for error. This is a tough question
to answer because construction cost varies so much from
one geographic area to another. For example; a home built
in San Jose, California will have a different cost than
other areas of the country because of what has to take place to the structural construction
due to the fact they sit on top of an highly active seismic
zone. The same plan would cost differently being built in Fargo, North Dakota where the builder has to consider
the extreme cold climate in the winter. Additionally, take
the same home plan to Beaumont, Texas where we need to consider
high heat humidity factor and an occasional hurricane. On
top of all this, labor and material cost vary greatly from
one area to another. I sold a plan to a customer who built
his home in a ski resort town up in the state of Idaho.
He told me that it was a two hour drive to the nearest
lumber yard. Needless to say, his builder had to pay extra
for construction materials delivery. The best answer I can
give to this question is that the national average of construction
cost range from around $95.00 to $135.00 (and beyond) per square foot*,
and this all depends on how you plan to finish out your
home. Do you plan to have your Kitchen counters built out
of granite or plastic laminated (Formica) ? Do you plan
to use a high grade roof material like slate or plan to
build your roof with a light weight composition shingle?
The questions are almost endless. A good number to start
with is a construction cost of $100.00 per square foot* of
Living Area for most areas of the country. And of course,
this does not include the cost of the land.
The best way to determine the construction cost of one
of our plans is to consult with a Home Builder in your area.
Your builder could have a speculative model home open to
give you an example of the materials they prefer to use
along with the cost per square foot it took to build that
home. Feel free to print out a copy of the plan you like
from our web site and take it to a builder. Most builders
would be happy to discuss how much it would cost to build
the plan.
You need to be aware of expensive items
that could drive up the price of a new home. Consider these;
Bath Rooms, the type of Kitchen appliances, expensive floor
coverings such as wood or tile, fire places, built-in cabinets, etc.. These are all items that will have a
large effect on the final cost of your home. Those rooms
with tall two story ceilings cost almost as much as if that
upper area was floor space. Wood, Aluminum or Vinyl window
types can have a large effect on the cost of your home.
In the south, many home builders use aluminum or vinyl windows
where in the north, extreme cold temperatures demand the
use of wood windows. Wood windows could easily cost up to
three to four times that of aluminum or vinyl windows.
 Remember this, nothing is given away for
free. There is no free wood fence for your rear yard, garage
door opener, upgrade to a whirlpool bath tub, etc... Most
Home Builders are professionals and they will treat you
that way. A real Professional Home Builder will give you
an item by item cost breakdown including those non-tangibles
such as insurance, interest and professional fees. Don't
leave out the fee your builder hopes to earn while building
your home. This is often called the "Builder Margin" and
could be from 15% to 25%. So if a home cost $300,000.00 to
build, the margin could be $45,000.00 to $75,000.00 and is
part of that Cost Per Square Foot.
Choosing the right Home Builder is
also very important, but that's another discussion.
* This is for a home with
no more than 10% of the living area in covered porch and
patio areas, IE, a 2,000 sq. ft. home might have 200 sq.
ft. in porches. So those homes with wrap-around country
Porches will expect to cost more per square foot. Also, a 2 car garage for homes up to 2,500
sq. ft. and 3 car garage above 3,000 sq. ft.. But keep in
mine, this is just a non-scientific method of guessing about
how much a home might cost to build. The bottom line is to
consult with a
Professional Home Builder
who is building homes in
the same area you plan to build in.
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