As a licensed an insured Ca. State General Contractor for over 35 years one of the most frequently asked questions I get is “how much do I charge per square foot to build?” My response is usually there is no set amount, it varies depending on…
- Do you want cost for just the building?
- Is this just living area, or do want to include garage, decks, patios, etc?
- Do you want to include fees from cites, state, and utility companies?
- What about hardscape, driveways, and landscaping.
- Is cost of design, and engineering fees included?
- Is there sewer, or septic, well or city water, propane or natural gas?
- Is the electric power overhead, or underground?
These are most of the costs outside of the actual building itself. Here are the questions you’re going to have to know answers to:
- Is the lot easily accessible?
- How many bathrooms? As the cost per square foot of baths is lot more than bedrooms.
- Quality of home? You can spend an awful lot of money in a small space.
- What about the design of the home. Is it something that can be easily built or did the architect draw something up that has never been done before?
- Where are you building? When the demand is high, so is the price. In all the fire destroyed areas of California the price before the disasters was less than after.
Remember when price comparing a tract home that has been built over and over again using the same subcontractors, purchasing material, & labor in bulk, a one of a kind custom home cannot compete. To sum things up, our last custom build was $242 per square foot. This is why we highly recommend finding your builder first. Someone you can trust, that has an open book policy, and will guide you through the process of residential construction.
