What does a custom home cost? How do I figure out what MY custom home will cost?
When a prospective client approaches Springhouse, one of their most frequently asked questions is, “How do I decide if this custom home process is a go or a no go?” This is a very fair question to ask. After all, how are you supposed to acquire an estimate of a custom home that hasn’t been dreamt up yet? How do you even know what your budget is going to be? There are three different levels we take into account. Here’s how we lead our clients through this decision based on their budget.
Level One: Budget “Gut Check”
When a client comes in for the very first time, we sit down at the table and spend an hour talking about how they got to where they are, what they're looking for, and what they're hoping to get out of their custom home. We might also discuss who they’re trying to serve, the style they like, the details and materials they want, and what they expect their budget to be. As you can imagine, every client gives wildly different answers—Springhouse Architects has designed everything from unique, tiny but mighty custom homes all the way to huge homes that serve several generations.
This is what we like to call our “client gut check” to get an idea for pricing and budgeting. Our clients tell us their initial idea for the budget, and we give them a realistic estimate based on their wants and needs, including materials, style, details, size, placement, etc. This price will be based on cost per square foot.
Keep in mind that prices are constantly fluctuating. The price someone paid two years ago on a custom home will be completely different than what you’ll pay today. If you’d like some insight, talk to someone in the business currently. Do your research and always ask a lot of questions.
Level Two: Preliminary Design
Once your gut check is complete and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll do a preliminary design—which is basically designing the entire building.
At the end of preliminary design, you'll have a good sense of how big the house will be, as well as the materials that are going to be used. We won’t be selecting colors or details just yet, but you’ll know about stone, brick, or metal siding, for example.
From there, if we’re doing a design-build, our team would then price out the house with all of the big ticket items being bid out. If we’re only doing your architecture work, then you’ll take our plans to as many builders as you want. These builders will give you their price, and it’ll ultimately be up to them what they bid out. Don’t be afraid to ask them about their process!
The bottom line? Your preliminary design is 25% of the architectural process, which makes it a great time to decide if your custom home is a go or a no go. In this phase, you’ll know the design, materials, windows, square footage, where the site is going to be, how it's going to sit on that site, and development costs.
Level Three: Construction Documents
The third level and final option to decide whether your custom home is a go or no go is to have complete construction documents. With complete construction documents, you’ll have all materials and the entire structure identified. You’ll find out if you're going to have steel, girders, foundation issues or a simple foundation. Once you know all of these big things, then you get a real number—a contract price, essentially.
Never get a building contract before you have this completed. It should include actual pricing, drawings, all the structure, all of the infrastructure, and all of the materials—not the preliminary drawings from your designer. Only then will you undergo a construction contract. From there, you're essentially ready to send in for a building permit, but you need all of this final pricing to be in your contract.
That being said, one contract you may enter before getting to the building contract is called a pre-construction contract, which is based on what needs to be done to get to that final contract number. For example, with some of our past clients, we’ve had to clear the land and hire people to estimate what it’s going to take to create the foundation and do topography work. This may include cutting a path or a temporary driveway.
Lastly, once your construction documents are in, don’t be afraid to step back and do some revisions. This is something Springhouse does all the time, even when we get to this third level!
Have any questions?
Although we covered a lot in this post, you may still have some other questions about deciding whether your custom home is a go or no go. Whether you’re involved in the custom home process now, or even just considering it, join our free Facebook group—we’ll help you answer any questions you might have! Also, feel free to invite anyone that you think would benefit from this collaborative. You’ll not only get advice from me, but from other people who have been through this, too.
Start the process.
When it comes to designing and building a custom home, nothing beats having a trusted, experienced team of architects on your side. Let’s set up a call to meet, discuss your goals, answer your questions, and settle your fears. We can’t wait to meet you!