Thats a loaded question. Without knowing more detail it is close to impossible to properly answer your question, and even then the answers may not be germain to your situation.

Millworkman is correct, there's too many variables to give you a truly correct answer, but keeping the roofline and exterior shape simple should help. I would think of the big, conceptual things that will drive costs rather than the smaller savings you can get by changing finishes, etc.

Having the capability of general contracting the project from start to finish would save you the most. Forming a building company and buying all the materials would be the second best way to save and goes with the first. DIYing electrical except for the main hookup is relatively easy, ime. Painting is easy. DIY also gives you the option of getting a higher level of quality product for the same or less money.

If you intend to 'save' money by subbing a lesser quality product you will end up with a lesser quality home. But there are many levels of quality. You have to choose which is acceptable to you. Think of an analogy to cars and what you buy.

There's a simple answer. First, develop a needs and wants list which is realistic. Second, design the house in a way which fits the land and your needs and wants list. Third, don't skimp on the construction drawings and specifications. Fourth, eliminate allowances--all of them. Fifth, don't change your mind during construction.

Good luck on your project.

Simple and small design. This creates room for best practice building envelopes and more expensive finishes, both of which have better long-term value.

Don’t let the wants push the needs. “We’re only building once.” And “While we’re at it.” And “Wouldn't it be cool if.” Drives most of the crying about the end price.

Or just buy existing.

1) Buy an existing house instead of building.

2) Make it smaller. Often if you eliminate a room or two you will seldom use you can both make the rest of the house much nicer and still save money, a win-win.

Talk to a builder.

I got really hung up on small money saving things like clustering plumbing, eliminating corners, etc., only to be told by the builder who built our house that they made barely any difference in the price.

Roof shape, roof pitch, need for expensive beams (talk to a builder/architect), foundation type/size. Keep sizes standard as much as you can (no 7' bathtubs, weird window sizes etc)

Buy materials yourself when possible - not from big box stores. GC some or most if you can. get your hands dirty and DIY what you can.

That is my experience so far. We have done much of what Dan has described above. It is my full time job. WOuld be hard to do if I had an outside paying gig right now.

Diane is right if you are looking long term cost saving overall. $400,000 loan fixed 30 year rate at 4.78% with 20% down you pay $283,022 over life of loan in interest. Where a 15 year loan at 3.97% rate still with 20% down payment you $105,194 in interest. That is $177,828 in savings!

Initial planning is where you can have the greatest impact. Establish a realistic budget. Determine your needs list and how much space those needs will require. Design a home with a small, relatively simple footprint. Use all the space within the structure effectively i.e. don't do a large main level over an unused basement.

The most effective way to reduce building costs is to select your builder, share your budget with them--yes, the real budget-- get them involved early in the design process--and, listen to them.

Short term, buy inexpensive materials.

Long term, buy materials that have a track record of long term life with minimum maintenance. Like insulated steel or aluminum siding, 50 year roofing, etc. Low pitch roofing, gable end with soffit/ridge venting. That provides year round positive attic ventilation regardless of weather.

Spending money on the basic building and not the more easily changed interior means more energy savings long term. It is easy to change a light fixture or paint a wall. It is more difficult/expensive to change/add insulation or rework attic ventilation.

Can you post your plans? Are where you are? That makes a big difference. ditto what mill said.

It's not surprising that you're getting a wide variation of "$/SF" to build a home. It might have application comparing the cost of two production-builder homes, but the $/SF metric is affected by so many variables that it has no application for estimating construction costs of custom homes except for flooring materials that are sold by the SF.

Your custom home builder should be able to produce a preliminary construction cost estimate based on a preliminary/concept plan. Start by having your builder and architect visit the site with you to review potential cost implications of siting the home. Then meet as a group to develop alternative concepts and to narrow them down to one or two. Then have the builder develop a preliminary construction cost estimate based on the concept(s) that you can review as a team on a line-item basis.

Best wishes for a successful project!

That price per foot range is very similar in the Sacramento region, but it is highly dependent upon the details in the answers above and below.

Have those builders show you examples of the homes in the price ranges you are willing to build in. They will vary dramatically as they do here. Note not just the finishes, but the differences in design complexity, quantity of high end finishes, etc.

I have projects that span that range presently underway. The differences are site prep, design complexity, level of finish. Larger footages absorb expensive kitchens making the price per foot appear more reasonable. Smaller footages will have abnormally high price per foot numbers when they have to absorb expensive individual items. My 4000 sf project has a $20K 8' linear fireplace ($5 per foot) while my 5000 sf project has a pair of nice traditional fireplaces totaling $10K ($2 per foot). The finishes in both homes follow this trend, giving us almost $100 per foot in total cost differences. Store front alum windows vs vinyl ($15 psf vs $5 psf) alum garage doors vs standard ($3.50 vs $1 psf), tiled deck over 1000sf, outdoor kitchen, etc.

Of course the neighborhoods are similar to each build, but they are at the top of the price range in the neighborhoods as that is the types of homes the clients wished to build.

Be careful playing the "per square foot" game until you understand it.

BTW - I own the lot with an existing split-level home (this will be a knock-down). Where I live, land is scarce and even existing homes with a level yard (this is one of our requirements). We are open to renovating an existing home. The problem is where we live, there are lots of split level or bi level homes. From my research, split level homes are not as desired here and if we expand, we would never recover the costs when it’s time to sell. This is why we are going down the path of knock-down - looking to do a modern craftsman or modern farmhouse. Sorry this is a lot of info to take in! Thank you!

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think your math works out. Yes, split levels are considered "dated" and probably won't come back in style ... but given that it'll cost quite a bit to knock-down this existing house, i think it'll wipe out any savings you'll make at re-sale ... and you don't know whether Craftsman or Farmhouse will still be "the thing" when you get ready to resell in 10-20 years.

It always cost less to buy the existing house that you think is over your budget than to teardown and build the house that will definitely be over your budget. If you aren’t prepared to spend almost 2M here, you need to figure out something else. Like either lowering your standards of what you find acceptable, or building somewhere else and have a worse commute, or rent.

The modern "farmhouse" in the New Jersey suburbs is no worse than the "Mediterranean" of yore. All will come and go. Build whatever.

But I dont believe split levels are so toxic you couldnt profitably rehab one for your family.

Tearing down and building new is very expensive. Fine if you dont really care so much about return on investment. But potentially a problem if costs spiral out of control.

Good luck!

Having just torn down a house to rebuild it is absolutely not for the faint of heart. Weird things come into play that you might take for granted, like that your water supply from the city isn't large enough necessitating an upgrade from the city line to the house just because you went up 1 more bathroom. Or what your city requires for excavating prior to a new house being built. And where will you live in the meantime? New code/permits/etc that applies to new construction but isn't required for remodeling and on and on and on.

I did it, so it can be done. It's not like I'm a genius, but I think unless the house was almost condemned (mine was) a REALLY good architect can re-vamp a house and you might never know it was a split level.

Those sf pricing IMO are outrageous in my area(Charlotte) , probably not in the NE. Have you thought about being an O/B? You would still need to get GC pricing from the subs. Allot of areas in the NE are Unions which charge very high prices. I have no idea if this is in your area.

I forgot to add, if you want hard wood flooring, put in the cheapest carpet you can find. You might be able to just put down some rugs to get CO. Put in laminate counters instead of granite. If you know how to tile(it's not hard), install backsplash in the kitchen later. If you have the time, maybe you could do your own painting. You don't need paint to get a CO the last I heard. You can get very cheap appliances on CL for kitchen and replace later. Do your own landscaping. Many landscaping companies will help you with this if you buy from them.

You should see if you can see some actual costs for various line items on recently constructed houses. A builder can get that for you. Then you see where the money goes and I think that helps put things into some perspective.

Flat lot helps a lot.

Simple shape helps a lot.

Not using brick/stone helps a lot.

Minimizing windows helps - but at what cost.

Avoiding porches - again at what cost.

Not putting down hardwood if you want it? That is just crazy and doesn't apply to a custom build.

We did an extensive rehab and deep energy retrofit of a small 1950 garrison colonial and added a 1000 sf addition to create a ground floor master. Our experience was that the $/sf cost was about the same for the two aspects of the project. Several builders told us the rehab would be more expensive than the new construction.

The new construction average in our area is around $350-400/sf and we came in close to that with material and design upgrades made possible by DIYing all the interior trim work, flooring, and painting.

nor is a shower big enough to fit a queen sized bed

Now that creates some new visuals.