@ Posted by DickRNH - Great post! I often wonder why people get so focused on "cost per sq.ft." ... Cost per square foot is at best a terribly crude means of comparing estimates with each other or with expectation for an area. What you want to know (or estimate) is what the bottom line will be and what that includes. Coming up with a good estimate for you to go over takes time, not something done in a half hour of his time. Going over a detailed estimate lets you see what the different parts of the project cost, so you can decide where to trim to save money. " I was wondering how cost/sf could be used in the conversations with the builder we are negotiating with. Our situation All the custom houses in our development are going for about $170/sf-$180/sf. They are mostly larger in square footage than our planned home. But ours is coming in around $200/sf for about 2500 sf. But based on Dick's comments above, we are really going to have to focus on the components & areas that matter the most & prioritize. Since our home is being labeled energy efficient & getting certified as such (vs. the neighbor's which aren't), the high performance components such as hardiplank, foam insulation, tankless water heater, conditioned craw space, high SEER rated HVAC are going to add up. Where we can save of course is leaving out the Wolf range (gasp!) or glazed cabinets (eeek!) - LOL. Only in America can options cause so much headaches.

Some of the Home Designer series will provide that information. Check their website to see which packages provide the information. I know the more expensive versions have cost estimating capabilities, but I'm not sure about the less expensive versions. You will still have to provide the program with local material prices. The program will then calculate the material price bases on quantities reuired by the design. I don't know if any of them handle labor costs. Here is a link that might be useful: Home Designer Sofware

I understand why you might want to buy and then renovate a house. I've done it with several. Many of us like to have our houses the way we want them, no matter what condition when we purchase. Sometimes you can get a relative bargain by buying a house that needs remodeling. Now that these forums have moved to houzz, it seems like most of the replies are from pros. They have their own spin. My experience is that you can luck out or be sorely disappointed, no matter which way you go. With each renovation project, I've learned more caveats, but the "pros" always find new ways to surprise me. Current contract specifies 55 work days. Oops, forgot to define "day" and whether any week will have a full 5 work days. Into 80-something days now, they way normal people would define it, and no end in sight. Today's day started at around 1:30 pm. Yesterday's started at 9:30 am and lasted until about 1 pm. Every single day has been like this. But that's not why you came here. I've had my best luck with a KD who sold cabinets. So, yes, they have a vested interest in selling you cabinets, but ours carried several lines at different price points and was very thoughtful about design and things to consider that I hadn't thought of. He did not pressure me at all. If you start with this type of KD, he/she might be able to recommend contractors. Ours used to include installation and remodeling, but he got too much aggravation from being in the middle and decided to extract himself. He did recommend someone, who also did his showroom and work at his house, and was willing to work directly with the contractor when warranted. Even if you go with a GC, don't expect that person to carry out all your wishes. You still have to monitor the job. You read all the time that acting as your own GC means you have to coordinate all the subs, implying that hiring a GC will make all that run smoothly. Then the GC says the painter's not available, the plumber had an emergency, the electrician's truck broke down.... I don't know of any other profession that gets away with this. Imagine that you show up at the hospital for surgery and they tell you the anesthesiologist's car broke down, so maybe tomorrow. Or your accountant didn't get your taxes done on time because it snowed. There I go again. Sorry to be so discouraging, but ask lots of questions, get as much as possible in writing, and while you're getting referrals, ask for a good lawyer.

HomeSealed, I hear what your saying. As I mentioned previously I thought the same thing once I got the OKNA quote - either the integrity was low or the OKNA was high. The lead salesman for the business quoting the OKNAs came out last night to talk price. I mentioned to him that I was expecting 650-750 for the 17 normal windows and he said his number is higher per windows because I want pebblestone exterior and white interior. I failed to mention that 2 tone requirement earlier. Does that add a significant cost to the window? He ultimately did drop down a couple thousand to around 23K and FWIW ensured me that they would do the install job right using an OSI membrane or similar, quality caulk, spray foam and replace any rotten jambs, sills, cripples, etc as part of the price. Told him I want everything in writing if I move forward. I definitely don't want to be in the situation I am in currently which is rotten, leaky windows. That left most 2nd story window in my picture was leaking for a long time at some point before I bought the house. The previous homeowner "fixed" it by slapping the most caulk l I've ever seen on the outside of the window which stopped the water intrusion but the damage had already been done. The bedroom in the basement below the leaking window had a foundation crack on an adjacent wall that was leaking. While doing the crack injection repair I noticed some old water staining on the ceiling and wall below the window. Once I exposed that framing below that window, I had to replace about 4 ft of band joist, top plate and studs that were completely rotten. I could crumble the band joist and top plate it with my hands. I know early to mid 90s carapco windows has issues but from what I have seen the builder didn't do much if any waterproofing which exacerbated the issue. Ah, the joys of homeownership. LOL.