Estimate the Cost of Building Your New Home

The following list will give you, the homeowner a list of items to consider in determining the estimated cost of constructing your dream home. There are several possible choice in each category presented, it is important to honestly consider the implications of your choices to your budget.

• Determine where you want to build – Today, there are many new housing developments popping up throughout most areas of the country. If you would like to build in an existing new home plan, you should consider the cost of the lot in addition to future costs, such as a homeowner’s association annual fee.

If you choose to purchase a piece of land that is not in a new housing plan, the cost may be less.

Another option is to build on your current lot, which may cost even less than the other two possible options.

• Purchase the plans for your home – Custom homes are a wonderful option, but it is more cost effective to purchase plans that were previously designed by architects or designers specializing in home plan development. There are many places to purchase home plans, you might want to look on the internet for a plan that meets your need.

• Decide on a general contractor – You need to decide whether you will hire one contractor to oversee the construction of your new home or whether you will serve as the general contractor, and subcontract out individual sections of the construction to specialists in the field of new home construction.

Specialists that may be required are masons, excavators, roofers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC specialists, bricklayers, window and door installers and finishers.

• Talk to the contractors – Regardless of whether you will serve as the general contractor or you plan to hire out the work to subcontractors, it is important to add the costs of each specialist in addition to the building costs. In many cases, labor is the highest cost a home builder assumes. Be sure to calculate this accurately!

• Investigate associated fees - In addition to the cost of the materials of realizing your home plans into a dream residence, and the cost of the labor required to build the home, you will need to think about the other fees you may encounter. Most municipalities require a building permit. There may be a percentage or flat fee attached to the permit. There may also be inspection fees, finance costs and if any plan changes need to be made there could be expensive designer or architect fees.

Building a new home is a very exciting proposition, and we want to make sure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. The items listed above will hopefully lead you in the direction of developing a realistic cost estimate for your new home.

This home building article by:
Michelle McClory with BuildingPlans.com

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