I'm sure it depends on where in California you live but in the SF Bay Area $200/sqft would be all but impossible for a high end build. It may be technically possible to achieve by doing bargain basement finishes but I doubt it. I averaged about that several years ago on a remodel during the depths of the crunch when no one had any work. If you're reading sites like this or Houzz and seeing people's fabulous interiors, you will blow past $400/sqft before you know it. A lot of it is driven by finishes. Things to watch for: - Allowances. The builder's idea of $5000 worth of faucets may differ from yours. They may be figuring Home Depot Moen and you may be figuring Newport Brass. You can (and should) drill down on this stuff yourself ahead of time. It's time consuming but worth it. e.g. go online and pick out all your plumbing hardware. How much does that cost? Did you remember to get all the supply lines, valves etc? If you're not super technical you may want to talk to a local plumbing store. They will charge you more but will make sure you're not missing anything. Same thing for appliances etc. Now you're starting to fill out allowance budgets. - Did I mention that finishes can drive cost through the roof? e.g. tile and slab materials and install costs. Go to one of those giant tile/slab warehouses and talk to the staff there and get a sense for the cost. Same thing for masonry. Even fake stone is expensive. Don't get me started on trim work (crown molding, paneling etc). Cost for these various finish items can exceed 50% of your budget. - Did you think about landscaping? It can run up to 30% of your budget depending on the site work required. Do you need engineered retaining walls? - Builders and architects that don't include soft costs in their estimation. Soft costs are everything other than the cost to build the house. This includes design fees, permits, etc. In my area permiting alone can run $30-40k before you even dig a hole. You should go to your town hall and find out everything you need to know about building a house. What's the planning process? What are all of the fees? I've heard you should figure ~15% of project cost for soft costs. - What about site work and engineering? This stuff is invisible but highly necessary in certain areas where there are hills, fault zones, etc. Don't trust line item numbers that have too many zeros. They are just estimates. I don't want to sound discouraging but I want you to know people will stretch the truth to get your business and figure they can ease you into more later. A huge part of it is about self control yes, it just depends on your tastes.

Thanks for the ideas... Marthaelena, what do you mean by skew lines? If we have them, I do not think they are intentional on our part. Bedroom 4 has the huge closet in the front of the house, by the way, no teenage daughter yet, only little babies (3 under 7). This bedroom will be the playroom until/if it is needed for a bedroom. Those are cubbies in the mudroom across from the closet. We still need to do a little work to make sure the doors are in the right place upstairs. I see the issue in BR5, the reason we had the door swing the way we did was to "save" the wall for a dresser. We will have to place furniture on the plan to see if we need it. Meldy, thanks for the links for the blind cabinets, we were struggling with the effects of that cabinet in the laundry. I think the one in the kitchen is set up to have a lazy sue in it. We already have the freezer for the laundry area, and luckily it does not have the coils exposed, so it fits. Great thought though, we had not measured it before. Anyone else see anything we might have missed? Thanks in advance, you guys and gals are GREAT!

This is really not as bad as it sounds but we are our 3rd designer. Not design, not revision, designer. The first didn't work out due to some personality conflicts. Our second was a very nice helpful person, who was patient and easy to work with. We almost got what we wanted(and many of you helped with our floor plan), but then it all fell apart on the elevation. What we wanted was just really beyond the scope of what she knew how to do. It was really turning into a waste of time and effort for both of us. This third designer has been awesome. He's extremely talented, very patient and has been a real pleasure to work with. He managed to nail the elevation with a pen and some trace paper in 10 minutes sitting in front of us. I spent months with the other designer and still never got there. We are so happy with the new design and elevation. I never felt that way about the other designs. It makes the nearly a year of frustration(and money) dealing with the other designers all worth it. My opinion, keep after it until you get a product you love. If you can't get the love from this one, move on. It's worth it.

For what it is worth, and it is worth exactly what you are paying for it, I would build sooner rather than later. Right now interest rates are just so low, most people think they have to come up soon. Right now according to what I can find, Asheville Savings Bank is charging about $4.70 per thousand financed. So a $320,000 loan will run you about $1,504; a 1% increase (which many say a 2% increase is inevitable) will run run you $5.29 per thousand or $1,693. While that might not seem a whole lot of difference, it really is. In fact, it is a 12.5% increase in payment. A 2% rate jump takes you up to $5.92/$1,000 or $1,894 per month. My advice would be sooner rather than later. However, before you go act on this advice, I am personally of the minority opinion that rates will stay low a while longer. The EU has to raise their rates with the U.S. or we can't do it and right now the E.U. essentially has negative interest rates. Again, this is my opinion, many people think the increases will happen sooner.