Where are you building because a lot depends on that too. Also what types of finishes?

When people talk about price per sq ft, is there a standard for what is included when using this term? Are you referring to all footage under roof, or heated/cooled square feet only? Are you including basement and or bonus room space? If you are only including heated/cooled space, how do you account for the cost of porches and garages?

@ omelet

There are really two standards out there for cost per square - (1) Total finished floor square footage. (2) Under roof square footage. Under roof square footage usually includes the garage but not the basement unless finished. It is the more standard for builders but anything can be used.

As for your question about accounting for garages and porches - you don't. A cost per square foot analysis is not like a price to build analysis but more of a comparative quality analysis. In most areas of the country it is relatively easy to get $100 per square foot houses built, and even easier to get $400 per square foot houses built. The same builder can build both, the difference is in quality of the materials used.

The best way to "think" about build price per square foot is to think about two houses with the exact same footprint, by comparing price per square foot we can get a good idea of the quality differences between the two homes.

On gardenweb we often talk about this plan will take xxx amount per square foot to build but what we are really doing is making assumptions about the inside quality of the home based on the details we are given in the plans. This is usually a fair assumption.

In this case, the OP is asking to see how much quality you were able to get out of a $125 per square foot build. Not can it be done, but what does your version of $125 per square foot look like.

Thanks millwork and bry.

Ours is turning out to be about $128/sqft. 3700 sqft. house. The lot is included in that price. We have upgraded a lot. We did purchase our lights and bathroom accessories, so that's not included in that price. Like others have said, it does depend on location and other things.

Ours is coming out to around $108 a square foot for a 2300 sq ft 4b/2.5ba house, unfinished 400 sq ft bonus room, 2 car garage, 12x12 back deck, around 600 sq ft of covered porch. We haven't done any 'work' our self, unless you count hours and hours of online shopping to save on lighting and cabinets. Some things have turned out well, some not. This price is NOT including our land. We are in NW Fl which has a low cost of living.

At this price we will have glued-down engineered wood floors throughout first floor. Builder grade ceramic tile in laundry, master bath. Inexpensive carpet upstairs. 5" paint grade stock baseboards, 5" crown, some 2 piece crown in foyer, all windows downstairs have craftsman trim (upstairs have sills only. Which was a misunderstanding and will be changed by me after we move in. If I still care). Cabinets are inset and a lot of drawers but were RTA and a lot of work on my part (ordering) and a lot of work for cabinet guy. Also factor in our house doesn't have fancy windows, bumpouts, etc... House isn't done yet, but profess pics under the How Is Your Build Progressing.

We finished today and came in at $152/ft excluding the garage and covered porch (so that's heated interior space on two floors, crawlspace). That does NOT include the lot & utilities.

3132 sqft.

House living area only, not including garage or patios was $105/sft in indiana. We don't have the other areas done yet for those numbers. For that price we got all number 1 lumber for framing, metal roof and siding, Marvin integrity wood/ultrex windows, pine carsiding ceiling, polished concrete floors, radiant heating, and all led lighting. We also were our own general, material buyer, insulation installer, electrician, plumber, painter, cabinet assembler, tiler, finish carpenter...you get the point :)

Custom build in MB, Canada. Contractor built, and coming in around the $250-350 range (still deciding on a few finishes), which is typical for higher end homes in our area. Builder grade around us is min $150/sq ft, but in reality closer to $200-225.

I think price per square foot can be a bad example to get estimates unless you have many big ticket items spec'ed (ie mechanicals, garage size, siding material, % exterior stone, type of construction). Alot of the cost can be "behind" the finishes from what I've seen. For example Advantech vs standard OSB subfloor? Zip vs Tyvek? 2x6 16oc vs 24oc? Ice shield vs no ice sheild? It all adds up quick.

Location is a huge factor as well not only for labor but building codes as well. Here in WI we don't require an air to air exhanger like MN and MI...thats over $2K right there.

Ours should end up at $131 per sq. foot. We are in Wasilla, AK which does have a higher building cost. 4 bed, 3 bath 2858 sq feet. approx 3/4 acre lot which was included. I should say that our builder is working with us directly which is allowing us to save on realtor commissions which is a big reason why we can do it. If we had realtors then it would be a more expensive house by a good 25-30k. At this price I think we are going with whatever his "standard" finishes are for the most part because he already does things standard that we wanted (on demand hot water, granite counters, etc. His cabinets are all built locally so we basically also get custom cabinets for this price as well). I can give more info when we get further into the build.

Zillow will tell you what a house has sold for by the square foot. Ridiculous thing, as who knows the quality of the building, the finish, the land value, or the landscaping, driveways, etc.

Sometimes an assessor will break out house and land -- slightly better to divide square footage into assessed valuation of just house, but many, many variables.

New is usually more than existing in my area. Existing is from about $280 to over $400. (And lots of quarter-acre to many acres.)

We ended up at $106.00 per sq. foot here in Texas. It is a 3 bed 2 bath total sq ft of 2478, which includes a finished bonus room upstairs. We have a front porch, 120 sq ft and a screened in back porch, 151 sq ft. Total slab is 2580. We have double crown molding in the office, living room and dining room kitchen since it is an open floor plan. We went with the builders standard finishes except to upgrade the carpet and pad in the upstairs and bedrooms. The other rooms we used LVP which is his standard. Included in his builds are an surround speaker system in the living room, and an alarm system. We have front and back yard sprinkler system and landscaping included in this price. All cabinets are built locally so we were able to get them customized to our needs. We were able to get the majority of our fixtures along with the appliances at Lowes and they ended up giving us a 20% discount which saved money. We ended up doing a change order on the fireplace which cost 1300.00 not included in the price.

I agree it's hard to compare, but here is a link with our recently completed 3,000 sq foot home in Missouri. We GC'd ourselves and did most of the finish work. Spent about $85/foot not counting the 3 car garage in that square footage. It does include the lot.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3519245/build-finally-done-now-time-for-the-reveal?n=11

Also acted as GC and full painter (ugh). We did this custom build on 1 acre wooded golf course lot for well under $125 sq/ft. Here is a pic. Premium fixtures, hard wood floors, brick and stucco ext., spray foam insulation, heat pump, hybrid hot water heater, etc....

I posted the info yesterday, here are the photos to go with it.

We ended up at $106.00 per sq. foot here in Texas. It is a 3 bed 2 bath total sq ft of 2478, which includes a finished bonus room upstairs. We have a front porch, 120 sq ft and a screened in back porch, 151 sq ft. Total slab is 2580.

...and the rest of the house.

...almost forgot the upstairs bonus room, excuse the mess we are still moving in.

I looked back at my proposals and this is the best I found for SE WI.

All carpet with laminate in kitchen, tile in laundry room and baths
Built to minimum building code
8' block foundation
Basic Menards style plumbing and light fixtures
2-1/4 Prefinished millwork/doors
Granite kitchen - laminate in all other locations
Box cabinets
Vinyl siding
Brick beltline
Lower end vinyl windows
3 car garage (~750 sqft)

$115 per sqft. no lot or land improvements, concrete or landscaping.

Another source for a guess-timate on building costs might be an insurance agency in your area. Determine what they would pay to replace after a fire -- probably not a foundation -- and if that includes costs of building to meet local code requirements.

I just built a 16 x 36 ft garage for my trailer (14 ft tall sidewalls), no interior finish or insulation, no plumbing or electric, T111 siding (painted it myself), and it came in at $84/sf. The high bidder wanted nearly twice that much.

Sowen18, do you remember the name of your brick, we're trying to decide what we want, love the brown tones.