How to Determine Home Building Costs

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

Determining home building costs can be a difficult thing for anybody to do. There are so many factors that go into home building costs that it can often times be a task in itself to even come up with an estimate. But if you know what factors go into home building costs, you will then be able to better estimate your total price.

The first thing to do when trying to estimate home building costs is to find similar houses in the area. Find a home in the same area that has the overall look and size of one that you want to build. By doing this you will then be able to get an overall estimate in no time at all. For example, if the home you are looking at is selling for $200,000, and the cost of the land is $20,000, you then know that the construction of the home cost approximately $180,000. Of course this is not an exact science, but by following this basic rule you will be able to get an estimate of the home building costs.

Home building costs are often times based on features on the interior of the home as well. By simply comparing the exterior size, you will only be able to get a rough estimate. For example, one home may have a completely finished basement, where as the other does not. Even though this may not seem like a big deal, you could be dealing with thousands of dollars.

Also, when figuring out home building costs, keep in mind that there may be a cost overrun. Proper planning can usually make up for this, but just to be safe you may want to put away about 10% in order to ensure that you have the money to cover any overrun.

Every year, home building costs usually increase about 3 to 6%. This is due in part to the cost of land, as well as the cost of labor and materials. You should plan for this in advance as well.

Home building costs can often times be very difficult to pinpoint. By being precise and detail oriented in the planning stages, you will be able to come up with an excellent estimate on your home building costs.