(Updated for 2022)

When considering your options to decide between building a home and buying an existing home one of the biggest questions is "How much is my new home going to cost?" Finding the average cost per SF is quick way to help you decide if building a home is the right solution for you. We are here to help!

Let's Breakdown what goes into the cost of your new home.

1.) Land Costs & Site Improvement

The price of the land is an easy number to plug in, however the costs to improve your land can be more complex. Are all the utilities available for connection at the front of your lot or do we need to calculate in for an onsite septic system? How far off the road are you? This determines the length of utilities we need to run and cost for the driveway. Are there trees we need to clear? These are all numbers we can calculate for you quickly by looking up public information available online. We will then refine these numbers once we do a site visit with you. Site costs can vary between a few thousand on a city lot to over $100,000 on a large rural lot.

2.) House Plan Size & Layout

How big of a home do you want? Do you want 1 floor living or do you like the bedrooms all located on the second floor? These are important considerations that effect the cost of the structure to your home. As you build more SF the cost per SF decreases as fixed costs become averaged over a larger size. Also it is usually less expensive to build vertically than it is to build a larger ranch style home. Why? Because Ranch houses require more roof and foundation than a 2 story home.

Jim explains more about how construction costs are calculated.

3.) Complexity of the plan

There are a lot of great looking plans online that aren't huge houses. The smaller the house the smaller the price right? Well yes the size of the home does drive a lot of the cost but the size of outdoor living areas, size of garage, number & size of windows, built ins, number of foundation corners, roof design, etc all go into adding cost but not SF. We often find these online plans are not realistic in combining style and budget. We often custom design plans to optimize them for construction efficiency, your style, and meet your budget.

4.) Exterior Finishes and Details

Is the exterior of the home masonry materials (Stone, Brick, Stucco) or more Siding? Siding can be around 1/8 the cost of stone so the type of materials that are on the exterior of the home has a large impact on the cost per SF.

So now back to the original question. How much does it cost per SF? Custom Homes usually range from $165 to $250 per SF. I know that is a big range. Our expert design team is here to help give you a much better ballpark in about 15 minutes.

Set up a 15 minute consult and we can learn more about what you are looking for in Forever Home to give you a customized ballpark price estimate.