avg. price per square foot?

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by dhellenb

would any one be willing or able to give references for a good custom builder in Austin? Thanks.

What do you want to build and where? Size, style, lot size, etc? That will determine which builders you consider. The one I use only builds big 3,000+ sqft 1-story homes on 1+ acre lots, so he wouldn't be the one to put up a green built contemporary in Travis Heights, for example.

Steve

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

My numbers are correct. I know what I'm talking about.

I'm 1 month away from completion of my own custom home, built by a custom builder, and we're right at $113/sqft including all site work, septic, landscaping, sprinklers, etc. for what most would consider to be a high end home. The lot cost $100K, so even adding that to the total cost we're still at $143/sqft turnkey (excluding carrying costs (interest) of the lot and construction loan, which I haven't calculated).

Steve

Not to put words into Steve's mouth, because I know he will get me for that, but both he and Austin97 are correct.

It depends on what your definition of a "custom home" is.

If you go to a builder that has their own floor plans that they are used to building, they typically builds in a certain area, and they are building multiple houses so they can share crews and not have a lot of downtime, then you are going to have a cheaper price point. I call houses like these semi-custom (I don't know if that is what the industry calls them, it's just what I do). For a semi Custom home you can reasonably get anywhere from $80/sq ft all the way up to about $120 to $130. Depending on your quality of finishes, of course. This includes the cookie cutter houses you get in sub divisions like KB all the way up to really custom builders like David Weekly or private builders who build on your lot. And some of these "semi-custom" homes are pretty damn nice. Some aren't. It all depends.

I attempted to build a house using a builder as well. I was quoted a price per sq ft of about $190 to $230 by 3 different builders. However, my home was truly a "custom home", as in I had an architect draw up floor plans, and I had land out in the country. The extra costs associated with having a builder work with unfamiliar plans, having utilities/septic placed, driveways run, etc etc. are what TRULY bloats the pp/sq ft.

Granite counters are not the budget buster you should be worried about, running an eletrical line is.

So to the OP, it is "realistic" to get a house built for as low as $80/sq ft, and for as high as $300/sq ft, and still have a modest house with modest upgrades. It depends on the size and scope of your project, and how much infrastructure you have to build yourself. You need to give us more information before we can help. As you can see from the other posts, our advice varies based on personal experience.

[JayBrown80]

Also, forgot to mention.

The bigger the house, the lower the price per sq ft. If Steve is building a 3000 plus sqft house, then it will be less per sq ft then a 1600 sq ft house, even though all together he is spending more.