by MarkM
9. May 2009 11:35
After you find a house plan, the first thing most people need to know is “how much will THIS particular home plan cost to build in MY local area”? Well, this can be a difficult number to ascertain, due to many factors such as: local labor rates, local materials prices, type of foundation used, types of materials used, finish level, local/state/regional building fees, etc.
In most cases, the designer of a plan will be able to provide you with a dollar range, which will be from $X to $X, based on total living square footage of the house and regional cost data. This type of information is usually adequate but fairly inaccurate, especially if you’re building in a particularly expensive/inexpensive area of the country. In addition, these estimates are ONLY based on the total “living” square footage of the house, and do not take into account many other items such as: * Site preparation of any kind * Removal of existing structures * Purchase of the lot * Preparation of the lot * Flatwork (like driveways) * Detached garages or other structures * Landscaping * Modifications to the house plan * Cost to build any unheated space (i.e. carports, patios, porches, any other unheated space) * Any other miscellaneous permits, fees, or associated costs related to obtaining a building permit * Other misc. costs
As such, you may want to look into obtaining a low-cost “Home Building Cost Estimate” to better understand how much YOUR particular house (or one that you’re considering) would cost to build in your LOCAL area. Having a customized cost report like this, is always a good investment, and may save you many thousands as you begin to narrow down your house plan search.
See Mark’s house plans collection at Homeplans.com
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