Thank you so much for this. We are currently in the process of buying our 4 acre lot and we want to know as much as possible before we start. We just want a single story high ceiling 4,000 sq house and so we’re trying to be as realistic as possible so this video helps.
I’m in the process of planning for our custom home and even though I sort of recognized it, it still surprised me that cost per sq ft applies to more than just the living space. It’s an easy trap to fall into to think that of that nice plan with 3000 sq ft of living space will cost me $600k @ $200/ft2 and ignore the cost for the 3 car garage and 750 sqft of porches. Those aren’t free.
Absolutely! you are not alone in thinking that, I have had many conversations with people who have added up the useable square footage of the rooms but don't take into consideration all the other spaces.
I asked my architect about the expected cost per square meter in my region. He answered it fairly quickly (based on his current ongoing projects) but immediately said "I always tell people to calculate 10% more, but because your land is about an acre big, add 20-25% more. You'll see why."
Yes prices are always going up so the cost of the current projects which may have been designed and bid out 6 months to a year ago will be less than costs in another 6-18 months. That and having a contingency built in allows your budget to absorb unexpected hits without having to cut things out or reduce quality. The comment about larger land could relate to additional site work that will be required. Especially early on it is better to estimate high and not go to your max budget.
@@n3architecture that's what my friend said as well. He just moved into his new house and he could talk for hours about the things he'd do differently now regarding expenses.
@@cruztube23 I always say it is best to put money into things that cannot be easily upgraded later. So better exterior wall envelope / insulation over nicer countertops as an example.
So if i go to an architect and i already have the land. Could they also help me to find the right location for the house? I was considering these steps as we are self employed and wanted to build things while we have a job here: 1 purchase land and start paying off 2 install driveway and excavate building area 3 install septic & potentially well / or already run electrical/water/internet lines depending on price With a 5 acre property and water at street when does it make sense to use public water or well? I would like to have electrical lines underground. So trench needs to be layed anyways Thanks for advice
Not when you have a decent idea on what that cost is. I only use in the very early stages of a project to set or confirm the size based upon the clients budget. If a client comes to me and says they want to build a 5000 sf house and their budget is $950k and I know the average cost per SF is around $300 then they are way off and need to either reduce size or increase budget.
@@n3architectureBut what I'm saying is that the price per square foot can vary widely so how are you coming up with that number? For example, on the street I'm building on, there are houses with per square foot build coats ranging from $450 to over $1000.
@@Scott-rf5ux I haven't personally seen that large of a gap in the same street, or most often even the same town. When I first start working with a client and knowing if it is a more or less expensive area and through multiple conversations with them - discovering what they want in a the house in terms of style, structure, finishes, mechanical, I can get a decent sense of what the cost per square foot will be. Again this is not intended to be exact, but just a starting point for the initial conceptual design and setting the approximate size of the house. After the schematic design work is to a point where the homeowner is satisfied (but not too far out that changes can't be made) I always recommend they bring in a contractor for preconstruction services, to provide a more detailed budget number which will then get refined as the project moves forward.
@@n3architecture the consistency of pricing must be a regional or market-specific thing. If you look at, for example, Austin and suburbs, you'll see square foot pricing ranging from $300 (maybe even lower) to a minimum of $900 (from a builder like Four Square)
It’s not ridiculous at all to talk about cost per square as you need a starting point for establishing a realistic budget. A relatively short conversation with an experienced architect or builder can identify the type of house a client is looking to build (size, performance goals, level of finishes, special amenities, etc.) and exactly where the site is located in order to identify a realistic starting point for budgeting. I just had that exact conversation with an architect yesterday and determined that $400-$450/SF is a reasonable budgeting assumption for what I want to accomplish on a fairly steep site in an area where construction costs have been coming in anywhere between $275-$600/SF. That cost will be refined as the design is developed and refined, but it gives me the initial information I need to determine if I have a viable project that I can afford and gives my architect and builder the information they need to make decisions/suggestions about design elements, systems, materials, etc.
The budget is what you're comfortable spending - which will be less than the total amount of money available. After that, you've got to fit what you want into that budget.
Too add, you need to have schedule of deliverables in place prior to signing a contract. If the deliverables are not met on said time line, causing you a delayed move in date, then the deliverables "penalties" kick in, causing the contractor lose money.
Really appreciate your tips. Question to you as an architect: How involved are you in keeping tabs on the budget, and designing with the budget in mind? In other words, are you estimating costs along with the contractor and client? Or do you leave that to others.
This depends on what level of services you are hiring your architect for and if it is a custom project, semi-custom or spec build. In a custom project the architect should be involved in all stages. Semi-custom they should also be heavily involved during the construction phase, but some of the finish selections and how those smaller decisions change the budget may just be between the homeowner and the contractor. In a spec build the architect would most likely have little to no involvement in the construction phase. In my opinion, in terms of an exact budget, the contractor is the best at this job. They deal directly with the manufacturers and suppliers and are more up-to-date on current pricing. There is also many levels of budgeting. In the early stages of designing a project, you won't know exact final costs as many decisions have not been made. This is where a square foot based estimate comes in, I will look at my last few similar projects for their final budgets and then apply that square foot value to the current project. Also included in this is talking with contractors to get a sense of if that square foot value is in-line with what they are currently seeing for pricing. Designing a custom home is iterative, and the design evolves - so does the budget, working first from the square foot values which might be within 20% accuracy of the final number and then refining that budget as things become more detailed. This is also why hiring a contractor early, to be part of the team and to have them offer you pre-design services is money well spent. I usually like to bring a contractor onto the team once the schematic design for the home is completed, this gives them something tangible to work with, but not all of the decisions have been made yet. They can offer insight into construction details, saving time later as well as providing updated cost estimates as the design and the drawings become more refined.
Thank you for the details! That helps my understanding. I think for my situation, an architect connected with a builder or visa versa would probably be the best. All you professionals is too much for me to juggle! I enjoy your channel. Keep 'em comin! @@n3architecture
Avoiding cheap contractors does not get to the root of the issue. It’s more important to vet your contractor thru referral process. Since most general contractors hire subs for all their work, to insure quality workmanship it’s important to give list of subs that you don t want builder to use in building your home. To insure quality materials a list of every material used in building the house should be reviewed with general contractor in putting together their bid on the house.
I would argue that if the person giving the referral is not themselves an expert than the referral does not carry as much weight. I have talked with many people who have said what an amazing job their contractor (or architect or____) has done only to walk through the house or see pictures taken during construction and see pretty obvious mistakes. Yes, get referrals, but take them with a grain of salt. Most quality GC's will use the same team of subs for their projects whenever possible. This is not only because the sub gives a good price but also because the sub does quality work. The work of the subcontractor also reflects on the reputation of the general contractor. If a GC does not have a good network of subs that is a red flag. Your point of having a list of subs not to use is valid, but again it depends on who generated that list and if they are actually qualified to judge the work other than something looking good. Making sure that quality materials are used on the project is also part of the architect's job. If someone is using an architect for their new home or renovation than the architects plans will (should) have all the requirements. All contractors would be bidding off the plans which become an instrument of service in the contract between client and contractor. If a contractor is not bidding off of the materials and systems noted on the plans and just doing whatever they want that is a clear and obvious sign that they should not be the contractor for the project. To get back to your fist statement - you are correct if you avoid cheap contractors does not automatically mean that your project will be done correctly and it also doesn't mean that a smaller contractor just starting out without the resources available that larger firms have is bad. The point I was making in the video is that if you receive multiple bids and your only determining factor is who has the cheapest price, you are more likely not to achieve the desired results.
Great tips. I really enjoyed the video. One thing you didn’t mention that I think is really important for clients to understand is that cost/SF is not a flat line when determining the overall cost of a home. The cost/SF is to some extent inversely proportional to the size of the home due to economies of scale, fixed costs (utility connections, driveways and other paving, landscaping, and certain overhead costs) being the same regardless of the house size, etc. So the initial design for a 3,000 SF house might come in at an estimated cost of $300/SF, for example, but your budget is $750,00. So you work with your architect to trim the house down by 500 SF thinking you’re going to be within budget, but the contractor’s updated estimate is now $800,000 because there’s less economy of scale and those fixed costs are spread out over less square footage. So doing the math, you’re now at $320/SF and you realize there are diminishing returns to cutting more square footage plus you’re probably paying your architect to redesign the house. So you need to start with a realistic budget as it’s easier to add things to the project than to cut.
