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Project Costs from Start to Finish
MANY CLIENTS FOCUS ON THE COST TO BUILD PER SQUARE FOOT.
WHILE THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO START FOR CONSTRUCTION, THESE NUMBERS COSTS DON'T GIVE YOU THE FULL PICTURE.
When we talk about budget, we want to understand how much you'd like to spend on the WHOLE project, not just on construction.
Building a dream home will likely be the single largest expense of your life. This fact causes many people to be curious about just how much it costs to accomplish this feat. Many architects and builders prescribe per-square-foot numbers so you can quickly do the math, but that 3,000 SF house at $300/SF will most certainly cost more than $900k to realize. Far from it.
Let's examine the nooks and crannies of construction and how much money we should anticipate to have in our budgets. Overall, most new houses should account for $120k to $200k for pre-construction expenses and another $80k to $160k for post-construction expenses.
BEFORE CONSTRUCTION CAN BEGIN, WE'LL NEED A SET OF PLANS,
PERMITS FROM THE COUNTY, AND UTILITIES SET IN PLACE
Here at Nugent Design Build, your first two expenses will likely be a Feasibility Study and a civil engineer. Feasibility Studies are our initial first step into design work. It allows you to meet our team and gather a tangible example of what we can provide. The cost of this study can vary, but we typically hover around $4,000 to $6,000 depending on complexity and if we need to develop a model of an existing home in our computer. These fees are applied to you architectural fees should you decide to move forward with us as your architects for the project. Our full design fees are typically 6% of our projected construction costs, so they can range between $20k for additions to over $120k for very large houses.
Meanwhile, a civil engineer should be hired if we need a grading permit with the county. Fees for this service and the permits can vary, but a range of between $14k and $18k should get you in the appropriate ballpark. Our goal is to have a site plan with our available building area ready for design work that we can turn into our grading permit when the house design comes to fruition.
Demolition of an existing house comes with its own price tag. Depending on the size of house and how much masonry needs to be removed, a good range for demo costs is between $20k and $35k. If your property hasn't held a house within the last fifteen years or so, the county may levy transportation and development fees. These can amount to nearly $18k for larger projects.
Finally, we also have to keep in mind connections to our water source, our waste route, the sewer or septic system, as well as our electricity and gas.
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WE OFFER IN-HOUSE ARCHITECTS AND CONTRACTORS.
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THERE IS NO NEED FOR A COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS NOR COORDINATION BETWEEN DESIGNER AND BUILDER.
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CIVIL OR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS ARE SOMETIMES NEEDED OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTRACT.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ADDING THE COST OF PORCHES,
BASEMENTS, FIREPLACES, AND LUXURY ITEMS
Don't get us wrong, square footage pricing is a great place to start thinking about budgeting, but we can't miss anything. There is a lot more to a home than it's size. Below is a summary of ballpark numbers to have in mind. It's nice to go ahead and calculate a few of these items in advance so you're prepared for the findings of our Feasibility Study.
$280/SF to $340/SF
$160/SF to $200/SF
$200/SF to $240/SF
$50/SF to $150/SF
$10,000 to $30,000
$10,000 to $100,000
FINISHED SPACE
COVERED PORCH
GARAGE
BASEMENT
FIREPLACE
BUILT-INS AND MILLWORK
THE LANDSCAPER WILL NEED MONEY FOR GRASS, PLANTINGS,
HARDSCAPING, AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ITEMS
Once we've completed the exterior finishes of the house, we'll be ready to schedule our landscaper. There is a wide range of expenses at this phase depending on level of completion you'd like the landscaper to handle (and how much money is left in the pot).
Everyone wants to see sod and a few mulched planting beds around the house. For projects in the Critical Area, we'll also need to allot money for our native mitigation plantings in their necessary locations. Larger projects will certainly need a few stormwater management items installed. Thankfully, we'll have the plan from the civil engineers well before construction begins which will let us get pricing and consequently find a landscaper that you find suitable.
In-all, smaller projects can see landscaping and hardscaping numbers range between $20k and $60k, while larger projects and new homes can see landscaping costs start around $80k and go up from there.
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