Are you saying the spec builder is going to build your custom house? With input from the architect? BIG RED FLAG!

Why? Because spec and tract builders build what they know with their so so trades. They don't have the top of the line custom tradesmen you sound like you're needing.

If you want a custom home and they won't allow you to bring in a custom builder, find another lot. Trust me it's hard enough getting what you want from a custom builder.

A little off topic, however, will you be over building for the subdivision? You mentioned that it's a subdivision with spec and cookie cutter homes.

An excellent point. You never want to be the most expensive or oddball house in a neighborhood.

And yes, your wish list seems high for what it sounds like you're wanting. What size is this house you're hoping to build? How many bathrooms?

Double your budget. And just go get some lighter fluid. That money is gone. You’ll never recoup such a spendthrift and foolish overbuild.

It’s like someone wants to spend money doing a restoration to a 72 Pinto rather than a 72 SL Mercedes. Why anyone would want to waste the money on a Pinto is completely unfathomable.

This would be very good evidence for someone who wanted to have you committed. It’s so self evidently nuts, that someone in your family needs to protect you from yourself and take away your car keys and belt.

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Love the pic.

Hey - there are lots of ways that people waste money and I personally think that is their choice (to a point). If that is the standard for committing people, we would never have enough beds....

The resale was the first thing I thought about also - but as long as the decision is entered with an open realistic eye, that is okay.

There is a house is town that one friend lives in and he is selling to another friend. It is on a golf course in a subdivision with custom homes. It was built by a builder when times were really good - think 2005. It was reported to have a $5M build cost which seems very reasonable if not low. It is 13k built entirely out of imported stone/slate roof. It has a small moat that just is at the front of the house - talk about faux. A very impressive house that most call "the castle".

First friend bought in foreclosure for $1.1M. Spent $800k in renos. Sold 5 years later for $2.3M. The houses on the street are custom, large, and go between $1.2-$2M. The house spent a year on the market for $3M and despite its amazing lot, amazing construction etc etc, the relatively rational RE market would not allow a price more than X% above its neighbors. X being 30 or so.

The OP looks to be spending $1.7M when all is done in a hood of $600ks. So $700k is likely unrecoverable if not more. Just know that going in.

The friend that is buying is going to have to sell a house that was already most expensive house in hood (but barely) that he sunk $250k+ into (just a guess). Most of that is unrecoverable.

The house and all the doo dads with pool ? Does not get built here for under 3 million........unless Tyvek wrap and a trailer door shall be your exterior, and stone, mud and plywood your door step.

"the architect keeps telling me my vision is too big for my budget and he's trying his best to reset my expectations lower." That guy should run..........right now.

Sounds like Architect and the Builder want to make a killing on you and all they feed you is the BS.

What type of a house you trying to build? How many SQ FT. How big is the lot? ( 230k around here will get you a 50x100 aproved lot and not much of a house you can put on it.)

12% of the cost what is that for? All you need from him is a set of plans... You don't need him do a drive by once a month and tell you everything looks OK... You have a builder for that to make sure everything is done according to the plans.

$1 million dollar house on a $250,000 lot in a lower end development? IMO you should take this dilemma to your financial advisor. It's like putting a 50 hp engine on a 49’ boat.

Really why would you want to build this house in a spec home neighborhood it will stick out like a sore thumb and you will never get the money back when you sell. I think you have champagne taste on a pepsi budget so sit down and figure out what you are doing. Where I live the bank would never lend money on a mcmansion in a tract house area. Honestly this is the best you can do for a lot , why in a sub division where there are probably a 100 rules about everything even if you are doing custom you will be stuck with those This whole thing makes no sense and you will never get it all in 3000sq ft. i have a 3200 sq ft house with not 1/2 of what you want get a gripand at least listen to your architect.

All I can add is DO hire the architect to be on-site. I had a (woah Nellie!) much less ambitious build and declined this part of the service (And expense). I am fairly convinced that I would have saved money and I KNOW many hours of sleep with someone on-site. Just for instance my husband happened to notice that a wall had been up and built without a much-discussed (probably the only reason he noticed) load bearing beam. A matter of days and it would have been all closed up and we would be 3 years in to the great sink, not knowing why, with the responsible parties long gone. Also a 10k+ retaining wall for a garage built lower than planned-noticed by US *just* before the concrete floor was poured. so yeah. You need more than just a set of plans if your build is more than just a tract house.

Oh and Tesla roof I looked in to last year-they were slooooowly rolling it out in CA only as of last spring. Pretty sure there are other good solar shingles though.

Hmmm... Well, I assume there are some reasons that you need to live in this area, where the 600K to 700K houses are. You might not be able to change or control those reasons. If you have the $$$$ to get what you want, and willing to accept the fact that you will most likely take a big loss when you sell, I say go for it. Life is short, live it like you want. Be aware though if your house stands out, you may get unwanted attention, and be prepared for that.

I don't know who your architect is, but mine was thrilled to work on a true custom home, one that started from a list of needs and wants just like yours. No take this existing plan and add this, or remove that. Implied he doesn't see much opportunity for him to really truly "create something of his own" from scratch, that can be his design.

I'm implying here that in a small town, I would think your build would be a very desirable project for an architect(and custom builder) to work on, and might help them develop a reputation in the community, and look good in their portfolio. You have some negotiating power here. Especially if this is going to be a house that they will show off to future clients.

Be reasonable with the architect. Agree on a flat fee for the plans, then add in construction oversight/consultation on a per hour basis.

Just a few comments/observations.

First, your architect isn't charging you 12.5% of build cost, if he is actually using a percentage of build cost to determine his fees, he is charging you 15.2%. Spreading the cost to include the land would just be smoke and mirrors to make the percentage seem more palatable. Which wouldn't be all bad really, if the overall fee is acceptable, I mean the price of the house may go up, but the price of the land isn't going to.

However, are you sure that he is charging you 12.5% of build cost rather than using build cost to approximate his fees? As complexity increases so do design costs, and as complexity increases so do build costs, thus many architects use a percentage of build cost as a proxy for their fees. Most of the time their fees are not actually based on build cost, it is just a great approximation of the time they are going to have to devote to a project and thus a great approximation of their fees. My architect gave me fee schedule as a percentage of build cost, but it does say "typically" and so I don't get to pay less if I get a discount of flooring.

In the end, stop comparing percentages. Just multiply it out and use dollars for value decisions.

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If the typical house in the neighborhood is going for $700k, then plan on yours appraising for $700k. You might be pleasantly surprised when it appraises for more, but that is a lot better than spending money to design a house you can't build for financing reasons. So ensure that you are ready and able to put in a significant amount of money before you proceed further.

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Make sure your builder is up to the task before you design a house that is going to cost a lot more to build just because he is not familiar with that construction method or standard. It is a lot less expensive to hire a premium subcontractor than paying to get premium work out of a budget subcontractor.

Production and tract building has many niches and we on this forum often assume that every production builder is the worst kind, and many are. However, yours may be completely competent, but you need to be absolutely sure that he is before you start.

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Finally, and kind of on a side note, I have a room below my garage, it isn't really that expensive to design a room below a garage. It is going to require a minimal amount of engineering, but it is nothing that special unless you want some weird unique feature. Construction costs are going to get your attention, but design isn't really a big deal.

B M, one thing to keep in mind here is that no one on this forum knows your exact situation or circumstances. You may post your plans and get tons of negative criticism, told to make changes to this or that, and it goes against your logic. You will have to look at everything objectively, and ask yourself does this apply to me for my needs/circumstances? There will be a few comments that will be great ideas that you will adopt and appreciate, but alot that you won't agree with, but its worth it to wade thru the mess to end up with a better house in the end, IMO.

But building a custom home, especially a complex one, will require a lot of time and energy from you, just making decisions and thinking about the build. You really could turn it into a full time job for 6 months if you wanted to. Make no mistake, this will take away from some of the quality time with your wife during this time. It could even lead to tension between you, if you cannot agree on decisions that need to be made quickly. And packing up and moving, then unpacking is no picnic either.

The initial issue is that your architect has told you that your budget is not realistic for your wish list. If your budget is as high as you can spend, you need to set priorities that are within your budget because my experience is that even the best formulated builds and remodels will have additional costs and so an adequate contingency needs to be built in.

I can't imagine building a home and not paying for the services of an independent experience "project manager" to make sure that the work is being done as plan specifies and properly. Do you have the expertise and time to be able to ensure that everything is being done properly?

Regarding his charging his 12% on the lot, there must be something lost in translation because you are saying he is charging this because you are paying too much for the lot. I have no idea why he is charging this but I would be willing to bet that isn't the reason since it would logically add insult to injury - you are being cheated and therefore I will take a commission on the excess costs :-). Perhaps this amount is being charged because the lot itself will require special preparations although again it is unclear why those costs wouldn't be covered by his percentage on all building costs.

If your friends used architects they are happy with who work for less, contact them. But I would assume like anything else, one evaluates the cost of services within the context of the skill, experience etc. of the person who is performing those services. There are always going to be less expensive vendors but that doesn't mean hiring the least expensive is wise anymore than selecting the most expensive just because they are the most expensive is the wisest decision either.

This topic stood out to me for the high architect's fee. I wanted to know what the architect would be doing for that much money. The architects I know, who do excellent work, charge much less than that. The idea that he would be charging a fee on the lot is just offensive.

I'm assuming the architect will spend a lot of time on the job site supervising (meddling with) the build. That amount of involvement on the architect's part with a contractor who's not used to it is a recipe for a contentious build process.

Your program is too ambitious for 3000 s.f. You want to build a special room under the garage. A 3 car garage will be about 750-800 s.f. Do you want to have that much of your house under the garage?

In my opinion you haven't yet talked with the right architect or builder. You need an architect who's used to collaborating with general contractors and a g.c. who's used to building custom homes.

**

Talk to some other architects. I budget 1 hour per 10 s.f. for tight buildable plans.

You are already under stress if your wife has chronic health issues. And I’m so sorry about this. You sound like a kind and loving husband for wanting to do this for her.

If you have never built a house let me tell you that building a house is way up there on the stress level chart. It’s hard on a marriage and hard on kids even in the best of circumstances. You definitely aren’t looking at the best of circumstances.

Bry911’s last post hit the nail on the head.

Things I learned hiring one of the areas "notable" architects:

1. Having a client walk in and give you the job of designing a custom home and seeing it built is a rare occurance. Maybe this architect gets all the commissions and just expects it. If that is the case I would interview other architects.

2. You have a healthy budget, but honestly you will be limited as to just how "custom" you can go. There are lots of architects who can do "pretty good" for you. And will charge less. And who will be terribly excited to get the job. Find them. Widen your search parameters.

3. Negotiate. Be prepared to walk.

I know you want to get going on this. Believe me they do too. Detach your feelings.

Aside - as for overbuilding, yeah its an issue but people do that all the time. As long as you know going in.

Bry911 did hit the nail on the head. I still feel my family lost 18months of precious time together during the children's last young years. It is literally a hole in our family history.

I am from Canada and originally from a small town. Depending on the types of finishes you are planning (and it sounds like you and your wife are looking at high end finishes - especially kitchen). You should be planning to spend minimum $250-$300 per square foot to build. And that would not include the pool or any outdoor landscaping etc. A nice pool with landscaping could easily add another $100K and you haven't furnished the house yet, nor bought your Tesla roof (I'd love to have one of those!), and your gym equipment etc.

Keep in mind that rural means materials have to be trucked in and that can also add costs - especially if you are using specialty products. Shipping costs and delivery could add a large amount to your project.

One other thing....does this subdivision in the small town have town water and sewage, or are you going to have to install a septic system and well etc? Those can be significant costs.

If you are on a well, then you will need to consider how you will fill the pool as you won't want to run your well dry filling it up in the Spring.

I fear your wish list is much bigger than your budget here and especially with the situation you've described with your wife's health, the last thing you need is added stress and anxiety when plans need to be changed due to budget constraints.

Interview a few architects and get a feel for budget with them and truly listen if they are telling you that you need to scale back. The planning stage is the time to make changes, not once you've started building.

You have a builder for that to make sure everything is done according to the plans.

If I had an architect or good inspector watching out for me on my custom home versus having the builder make sure everything is done according to plans, I wouldn't have all the major problems I have now.

Sorry but for every good builder who is ethical, there seems to be two who just want to make their money and run.

Please understand that I am not trying to rain on your parade, but if I wanted to enjoy life while I could, I would punch someone in the nose who recommended building a house. Really a few weeks in jail is a much more pleasant experience than building a house.

I've just built my dream house. It was a 3 year nightmare and we're not done because so much is still wrong. I'm not talking about punch list stuff. I'm talking stuff like the AC/heating unit and not enough insulation in the ceiling.

Frankly, if I had the money, I'd spend it on taking my better half on a Crystal Cruise around the world.

OP has a cavalier attitude about building an extravagant home in a tract development, spending money that he has no chance to recover, but wants to pinch pennies on the design. Something isn't right here. 1 will get you 5 if we aren't looking at a windfall situation. Either an inheritance or a jackpot. In any case, this money will be gone in a few short years, whether this house gets built or not.

If you are really going to proceed to build a 7-figure "forever" home for you and your family, the last thing you want to do is to "go cheap" on all of the truly important and expensive decisions which are made at the beginning with architectural design.

Making bad (or seemingly cheap) decisions at the outset of a project only makes the subsequent phases of permitting, bidding and construction that much more unpredictable and likely to have numerous and expensive change orders and surprises.

You need to know where you are going before you start running...

Not a pro. Never built a six figure home.

Myself? I'd want to know the cost. Period.

If that's 12% or 15% -- not a percentage plus nonspecific amounts for expenses and fees.

Be wary of someone controlling costs AND charging a percentage AND his accounting of his expenses AND non-specific amounts for fees. Expect costs in unspecified amounts to break your budget.

My very much non-pro advice:

If you haven't signed on the dotted line, don't. Walk away.

Agree with those that suggest you are significantly underestimating the cost of home you want with the specifics you want.

Rethink all those extras you think you need in your new home and the basic design of the home itself.

"...My very much non-pro advice..."

Beware of non-pros...

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. You gave a long list of complex, expensive wants that "you" want. Then, after 3 or so paragraphs, you threw in that your wife wants a walk in closet and a nice kitchen. Oh, and she also likes the lot. It sounds like you can easily meet all your wife's expectations on half your budget and end up not overbuilding for the neighborhood. Just a thought.

I suggest one old and wonderful movie: Break out the popcorn , grab a "banki.e."!!

"Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House"

Im sure you can Netfix:)

Please do it:)

( Cary Grant)

One cost you definitely need to rethink: You should to consider moving that extra room you are planning to have UNDER the garage to be built OVER the garage -- ask about the difference in cost. In fact, in the interest of budgeting costs realistically, you might ask about the cost of a garage with all the extras you want with it attached to your home verses planning for building a garage as a separate build later and then connecting it to your home via a breezeway.

If you build a home considerably more expensive than others in the neighborhood, the lower value of their homes will likely adversely affect the resale value of your home. Furthermore, you should not be surprised to encounter a degree of neighbor envy and some less than friendly neighbors as a result of it.

If you were to build elsewhere, perhaps on a larger lot not in a subdivision, then that could enable you to plan to build your forever dream home in two stages. You would likely be better able to build the core of your home with the quality you want and still stay within your budget. Then you could add to your home at a later time as your budget permits. You will need to know the building codes in the area you choose for your home so you know what you plan to build now and what you plan to add later is permitted.

OP - I'm struck by something you said yourself: " the architect keeps telling me my vision is too big for my budget and he's trying his best to reset my expectations lower."

He's telling you, straight up, that you are not going to get your dream house within your budget. So what you will be doing is building a house that is less than what you want for a cost that is more than you will ever recover. Is that something you and your wife really want to do?

If the most important things to your wife are a nice kitchen and a walk in closet, concentrate on those things, either in a new build or in an existing house, and leave the boy toys for another day. You can always convert an unfinished basement to a podcast haven further down the road. As for the Tesla roof, expensive, and I'm far from convinced that they've really solved the issue of winter snow. Tesla makes a lot of promises, but doesn't always deliver when and how it says it will. Maybe just an ordinary roof with solar panels would be a better and more budget friendly choice.

In any case, as others have pointed out, building a house is a stressful exercise at the best of times, and takes a huge chunk out of your life. We built our current house three years ago, and we had it much easier than CPArtist or some of the others who comment here - our house wasn't custom, it was a house-and- land package built by a small local builder, not a tract home but requiring less input from us than a custom home. Stress factors for us included the prepping of our old house for sale (decluttering, necessary repairs, packing stuff away- took several months); finding temporary accommodation while the new house was under construction; dealing with all the material and fixture choices that needed to be made; and having to cope with the build taking three months longer than planned because of permitting issues, weather, and some supply chain problems. And then, of course, moving in, going through the hell of unpacking, getting the punch list dealt with, buying some new furniture, getting windows dressed, hanging pictures, etc etc. I couldn't go through all that again: just too old for it! And ours was a very low stress, uncomplicated build comparatively speaking. Personally, if I were your wife, I'd take that cruise someone suggested!

A lot of good advice to digest. Did any of it help with your decision? Let us know what you decide.

BTW, the custom house being built next to us underwent four months of site prep.

Speaking of budget. This house was just built on a $325K lot. With the lot and what you see costs $1.4M

https://andersonhomeswi.com/property/the-auburn-ii/

"Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House"

Great movie and we felt we were watching ourselves during our build.

BM,

I'm so sorry you are dealing with your wife's sickness. You are too young to have to go through this, but sound like you are such a wonderful man to build something amazing for your wife!

However, you've gotten so much good advice here, and 95% seem to be on the same page. If it were me and I had a sick spouse, I'd find the most beautiful home in the most gorgeous part of Canada, and lease it for a year or so until health is better. Or, buy something big, beautiful and already done. I can't imagine there aren't some stunning homes already built that you can lease or purchase. So many voices and true experts are here telling you how stressful this will be.

I'd rather spend a little money traveling (as able) to beautiful beaches and mountains and enjoy lovely dinners out with your wife and family, than bring on this stressful build in your life, at this delicate time. Then in a few years, you can see how things go. It's going to consume your life...period. Your wife needs peace and harmony, and focus and attention on her for healing. Stress will not be good for her or you.... Wishing you the best on your decisions!

I suggest getting more bids for architectural services.

You do not need an architect charging you 12%, especially on the land. Have your architect draw up your plans, pay him 15k for the design, and then have a talented builder take it from there. If you have both an architect and builder getting a %, then you are getting screwed. No good builder wants or needs an architect showing up on the site all the time for no good reason. Its bogus when designers and architects tell you they get discounts on materials and fixtures. You can work your own deals and will find most things online for a good price. I do wish you hadn't given the architect 10k as that clouds the waters.

I hope your wife continues to keep getting better, and that the build is rewarding along the way. Happy to hear you got a bigger lot with free reign on your builder pick, the most important piece of the pie. Good luck!

I built my custom home and design it as well. It was my first and I was very green. My advise is make sure you know what you want and what you are willing to pay for. Learn who your builder is and do not trust too much when they start tell you what you (should) want. I learned the hard way and two months into the build project I had to practically live at the construction site. The builder did not like it much but it was my house and not his so I did not care. We budded heads when he kept defaulting to "his standards". He was good for the big strokes but when it came down to the details he failed. Pick out as many items as you can upfront so you can get a very good idea of cost. We went $50k over budget and that was because the builder's defaulting to "his standards" at the budget discussion table that I was not aware of until we were into the build project. I initially took his advise on some designing, I wish I didn't. When I became the wiser I starting taking things back in my own hands. And I am speaking of selections like cabinetry, windows, flooring tile, countertops doors, decking materials and much more finishes. I had a budget I wasn't suppose to go over and he, the builder, did not make it clear as to what we were going to get within that budget. I do not regret that I went over. And I tell you if I had another $50k laying around I would have used it up.

I know you inquired about the architect's fee and I'm not trying to hijack your post, but I would be very concerned about trying to build a high-end home with a cookie- cutter builder. With or without an architect's involvement during construction, you're not well positioned for a successful outcome on the project. It's a high risk, high frustration project in the making with a high probability of a series of future disaster posts on houzz.com

I prefer separating architecture from interior design. One skill doesn't guarantee the other, but I also don't want the architect filtering the interior designer.