New Home Construction

Custom Homes are not like production homes. We believe the finishes and personal touches make the difference worth it.  Figuring out an acceptable budget for the home you want is normally the first thing we work on with you. Its important for you to understand the cost drivers. 

 

The cost of a new home is driven primarly by the Covered Square Feet (SF) of space.  Covered SF includes the garage and covered porches as well as the air conditioned(HVAC) SF. When you are looking at SF on HAR.com or Zillow, its normally the HVAC SF that is being referenced. Large garages and large covered porches and patios require material and labor also which is why the Covered  $PSF.  Let's talk about your home and we can give a $PSF range for the construction cost.  Most homes will take 8-10 months to build with larger homes taking 15-24 months to build.

 

If you have architect plans and want an Initital Budget Proposal, send them to us. The Initial Budget is based on takeoff items and unit costs derived from previous homes. If you don't have plans but a general idea of the size and style, let's look at some internert house plan websites to select a prospective house for Initial Budget Pricing.  Keep in mind, the SF shown on internet house plan sites is the HVAC SF and you have to add the SF of the garage and covered porches to get the Covered SF. 

 

There are too many decisions about specifications for most homeowners to make.  That's why we developed our Initial Specifications which are based on what has been popular with homeowners for the past several years.  Most of our Initial Specifications will likely meet with your approval but you will have the abilty to look at other options available and choose something else.   Specifications include type of windows and color, front door, interior doors, hinge color for doors, knobs and door handles (hardware), garage door, gutter style and color, brick, stone, and stucco selections, house sheathing, insulation type, HVAC type, LED recessed light size and level, location of electrical outlets, style of outlets, flooring and other items. There is a timetable for making decisions on the Specifications that is very manageable.  Homeowners frequently will hire an interior designer to recommend paint colors, tile, countertops and other items.  Color selections make a big difference on the final look of a home.  

 

Once you have settled on your plans and approved the Initial Budget, we ask for a pre-construction services agreement that will support our work to go through specification definition with you and obtaining competitive firm price proposals from trades and suppliers so we can provide you a firm price proposal suitable for obtaining construction financing.  Keep in mind that some items in the budget will be provided on a reimbursable basis (Allowance Items).  Most of these items are selected by the homeowner after construction has begun such as knobs and handles(hardware), tile, countertop material, flooring material, and front door. Other items can be included as allowance items if you don't want to make a decision on them prior to signing the construction contract.  Permits and Engineer Inspections are also allowance items.