I’m reading all of your comments, and I am learning! This was the bid I received. We are at a 400k budget. When I saw this I realized I needed to go back to square one. I was looking for advice since I am a first time builder. The house we currently live in is one that we moved into that Tilson had built for a previous homeowner.

I am thinking it would be more cost effective to do a simpler one story floor plan.

Kels-

Glad to see you’re still around, and that you are listening to the difficult answers people have been providing.

And the home will cost you significantly more than 561K in all likelihood as you have way to many "allowances" and no where near enough item spelled out to the 9's. Allowances are the kiss of death as 90% of the time most of them are woefully low.

So I'm going to say something very controversial:

I think the OP isn't old enough.

Look, most of us have lived through a few kids, a few homes, and have an idea about what life is really like. We know about hauling dirty laundry through the house, having a sick kid, having unexpected guests when the kitchen is a disaster, etc.

We know about needing group space, private space, adult space and children space. We know that we need to keep babies close - but not too close (did I miss the spare room on the main floor for the addition to the family they want?) and we know to keep the teens in another zip code preferably.

We know that needs change and a key to staying in a home is that it can be flexible (Guest room on main floor for MIL or could be nursery).

We know what our interests are (gardening, cooking, shop, sewing, crafts, sports, entertaining, art, reading, media) and we make space for that.

I don't see any self-awareness or life awareness in this plan other than "My husband needs a home office" and "we want a play space for toys".

I don't know what @ cpartist does for a living - but I can tell that he/she has lived.

This may sound painful but if you are at a max $400K all in budget, you're probably looking at a 2300-2500 square foot house.

Having a lot of BTDT experience, I'd leave 20% of my budget for "overage" (because you WILL 99.9% go over). To keep numbers even, that means you should plan a house costing around $330,000. At $130/sf average, that's 2500ish sf and at $140/sf, that's 2300ish sf.

Are you in an area where a basement is feasible?

@Jake The Wonderdog, your post ^^^^ needs to make ARG's Top 50/100/whatever for the Year 2020! Yes x 1000!

I remember being that "too young" 15 or so years ago when we did our first custom build. We had one child who was a baby at the time. We thought we had life ALL figured out. Oh, how wrong we were! I'm sure I'll say the same thing in another 15-20 years about where I am now in life (which would put me closer to cpartist's age then...lol).

I'm not proposing you build this plan, but I wanted to post it to give you an idea of how much space is wasted in your plan. I can't quite read your square footage, but I think this plan is similar or slightly smaller. In the same space it has a whole fourth bedroom, and a much more streamlined exterior.

https://houseplans.co/house-plans/22121/

If you're not willing to hire an architect (NOT a "floor plan person" to help you design a home for your particular needs and budget (by far the best option), you would be better off to build a well-done packaged plan than what you have right now. The only trick is finding the a good plan, given that most that are out there are not.

I guess I was also “too young” at 42 when we built our house (not from scratch) but almost, because we knocked part of it down and the rest down to the studs.

Oh boy...we were floored by the initial quotes! My contractor had spelled the contract out in painstaking detail-no allowances-and had specified exactly what we would be buying/providing. Budgeted for contingencies, and with knowledge that we would add more to the scope of the project from the beginning.

We had a good plan, doing the best for the space and parameters set by the location, local permit rules, priorities based on our experiences...with our parents (age in place), kids (vomit) etc...

But it was worth it to us to do that, and we felt that the location was going to hold the value for investment we were putting into the house.

PM me if you want to see my spreadsheets of budgeted-estimated vs actual. And have a glass of wine ready.

Too young or not it is knowing that you don’t know and seeking help. I wish I had found Houzz earlier in our journey but I also think we ended up okay.

Really people need to be willing to ask a lot of questions, clarify things, not make assumptions, know what they want to pay vs max could afford to pay and make priorities. All of that is needed early on.

I also think everyone has different values of what is and isn’t expensive. I would have loved to build a 500k house. Not possible here :(

I hope the OP perseveres. Not with this plan but with their dream of building. But take the time to sort out the other details now while you can and then go forward with confidence.

OP - one floor will be even more expensive on a per sq foot basis - because the high ticket items on your list - foundation / roof will have to be way larger than what you can build if you build up.(and even electrical and plumbing will be more spread out)

Think of it this way - 1 one story home - 2400 sq ft will have 2400 sq ft of roof and 2400 sq feet of foundation. A 2 story 2400 sq ft home can have half of each of these.

think up, not out - and SIMPLE

following

One level will be much more expensive. It is always cheaper to go up. It is cheaper to build a box. Every cut out is a huge expense. You have lots of cut outs. The bump out off of the kitchen could be moved to be beside the study and move the garage so the first floor is straight across.

The exterior is very difficult to build due to all the little roof lines here and there.

Here is some articles about McMansions. The difference is a real "mansion" is usually a square/rectangular box.

You have gotten a lot of good advice. Make a list of those and then see what you can change.

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/149284377161/mansionvsmcmansion

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/149563260641/mcmansions-101-mansion-vs-mcmansion-part-2

No way you’re cutting 160k from this plan. It’s a new plan for sure

@Kels B Why guess? Engage builders and request proposals: "What floorplans can you build for me at $400K?" instead of the guessing game of design, price, scrap, design, price, hope.

Many production and semi custom builders utilize talented architects to refine plans to certain budgets.

It's hard to reinvent from scratch. Your plan has 400+ square feet of 2 story room, adding 400 sf of building costs less flooring and framing the floor. 3 car garage costs the same whether the home is 1,000sf or 10,000sf, but the cost per foot is very high for smaller homes.

You should also do some homework to check the allowances budget just for your own curiosity. Maybe pick something easy to count, like Lighting/Fans. If you have a lighting design, count the different fixtures and pretend you’re buying them yourself online. Just to get an idea. Were the allowances based on specifics? Did you discuss and share examples so they incorporated that into the allowance? Did the contractor mention giving you any discounts on fixtures?

Also, I’m assuming there’s more detail behind each line in that estimate? Here’s an example of a fairly detailed electrical line item.

The numbers don’t look too bad. More realistic than some, for sure. I think it’s your excessive expectations and must haves that are causing your budget issue. You simply want way more than you need, or can realistically afford. As in, you can afford a plan half that size. Maybe.

That’s a common situation to find yourself in, because “you’re only going to do this once”. That’s exactly the wrong mindset to have. If this is home is a long term home, you don’t need to have everything on the all you can eat buffet, right NOW. Think of this as a multi course meal, that progresses over time, with smaller plates.

You can have a small functional standard 3 bedroom house now. Use the dining room as a home office. Eat in the kitchen. Just one living room space is fine. Add on a family room in a few years. By the time the kids are big enough that you’re comfortable to have them sleep away from you, you can add a master suite that has a sitting area that you can use as an office.

Add another bay to the 2 car garage when you get a 3rd driver. Then, 10 years after that, you’ll be ready to downsize back to the size you started. If you haven’t moved already. Because life happens.

Do you already own the lot? Are there building restrictions in place -- minimum/maximum size requirements and/or prohibitions about garages, having upstairs/basements?

Since you're considering a single story home, realize that you can get adult/child privacy by putting the great room between the children's rooms and the adults rooms -- with no need for an upstairs.

Consider creating rooms that can be used in different ways at different times, now and in the future.

Also, with the ready availability of cameras for enabling you to watch over your children from any point in the house, you could build a single story home with a steep or Gambrell roofed attic that, in an "L" shaped home (one wing the garage) could be two rooms, inexpensively finished: part storage (over a front garage) and part activity -- either

... a playroom -- created with the emphasis on safety; or

... a study -- privacy and plenty of storage in closets/cabinets built all around the larger room over the heated house where the roof slopes too low for headroom;

... and, if your back yard is your favorite part of the lot, you could create a garage that placed at a right angle to the basic house rectangle in the front of the adult wing of the house.

IF there is plenty of light entering the great room from the front of the house, a large back covered porch/patio such as is used for indoor/outdoor living, with pre-planning of post placement and/or framing placement, could be altered and recreated over the years to meet the growing needs of your family:

... perhaps as a screened porch with high lock on the screen door as a playroom while your children are young;

... perhaps (with screen removed) your screened porch could later become a large indoor/outdoor living area for entertaining for adults and/or teens;

... perhaps (with large windows and/or sliding glass patio doors added) your large porch could be a sunroom with its own heat/ac wall unit when you're no longer as willing to endure any heat or cold but still want to enjoy your back yard garden/patio.

A "bedroom"/bonus room created with flexibility in mind as to its location (adjacent to the kitchen) could be a guest room now but later become a formal dining room -- or vise versa.

AND/OR

You could try to create a pair of "bonus rooms" -- one on each side -- that can be reinvented as your family changes over the years enabling you to avoid building more space than you need.

On the "adult side " of the great room (with the master bedroom suite),

... if you create a second "bedroom"/bonus room that can serve as an office and that shares the same jack&jill bath that the master does, you and your spouse would have his/hers powder rooms and even his/her closets ... and, with a Murphy Bed or daybed (and lockable cabinets for confidential documents), your office could double as an emergency guest room.

... with smaller closets in both "bedrooms", a small room between the jack&jill bath and the great room that could serve as a nursery now could become a huge walk in master closet later.

On the child side, depending upon placement, a third bedroom could be a guest room used as a play room in inclement weather when the porch isn't acceptable or, as your children no longer need a "play room", it could become a formal dining room or a media/game room.

Well said ProSource - when I look at all the houses we have owned over the years they were perfect for the time in our lives. We started at 1,200 sf and are now at 5,000 sf and I can see in a few short years how that 1,200 sf sounds so perfect yet again.

Designing a home not that hard. Some people are trained to do so and they do it for a living and are very good at it. Some people even get licensed to do such a thing. There is a certain satisfaction in designing a structure that meets the occupant's needs and appears to have emerged from the site in a creative way. Taking a preconceived design and plopping it on a site is a poor way to meet the needs of life. You build a house and make it a home, why not do it right.

You should start over. Every angle in your exterior wall will cost you more for the home, including more for the roof. Too many angles can mean you end up with a "McMansion" look.

Agree. This house plan doesn't seem to be thoughtfully laid out; that is, the proportions are odd -- parts are bloated, while in other spots bottlenecks block circulation.

I have already paid a pretty penny for these...

I sympathize that you've lost money, but what will it cost you to build a poorly designed house /then either put up with it or renovate?

And the home will cost you significantly more than 561K in all likelihood as you have way to many "allowances"

Agree. OP, substitute in the word "guess" or "estimate" for allowances. Are you comfortable with that many "guesses" in your budget?

Look, most of us have lived through a few kids, a few homes, and have an idea about what life is really like. We know about hauling dirty laundry through the house, having a sick kid, having unexpected guests when the kitchen is a disaster, etc.

You're not wrong.

This may sound painful but if you are at a max $400K all in budget, you're probably looking at a 2300-2500 square foot house.

2300-2500 sf is a huge house.

2300-2500 is a lot to maintain, heat/cool, pay taxes upon.

I would decrease my budget to $350K to allow for overages, etc. Because there always are!!

ProSource Memphis has the right idea.

Starting with a relatively small house now and saving for your dream house later is your very best option.

Consider beginning with a large great room in the middle. Two large bedrooms with a jack&jill bath on each side of the great room with a huge walk in closet for each bedroom (back to back) between the j&j bath and great room. On the kitchen side of the great room, put the foyer in the front and a mudroom/pantry/laundry room in the back of it.

You could even create a three car drive thru shelter in the front of the master bedroom side of the house with a breezeway between it and the house -- but design the drive thru shelter so garage doors could be added later.

To stay within your realistic budget, you could have an unfinished attic or an unfinished basement now and finish that space later.

Keeping your exterior wall lines and roof lines simple rather than complicated will help a lot.

Ask your new architect for a more practical sized plan.

You all are so right! The reason I went with the “draftsman” was to have their professional opinion on things and to HELP and GUIDE me as I do not know the costs. Yes, I am young therefore I do not have the knowledge that you all have. I know that you all said to go with an “architect,” but I did want to get your opinion on a house such as the attached. It is 2,165 heated sq. Ft. Is this something that is more feasible?

Thank you for all of the information! Is the plan attached more feasible?

It's very hard to value engineer a plan and might be easier to start over. I think I would because this plan is unfortunately not the best.

Here are some random thoughts:

There is very little storage in this plan. High ceilings are not always the greatest and you lose a lot of square footage upstairs. Speaking of stairs, those winder stairs are not good. If you have ever walked up stairs with a triangular shaped tread you will know what I mean. The location of the powder room is bad. The laundry room is tucked very far away from the bedrooms. The layout of the Jack and Jill bath upstairs is odd. The secondary bedroom closets are not efficient. The master bathroom and closets are huge. The master bath has a lot of wasted space for a room you will maybe spend a half an hour in each day. The dining room is in an odd location between the kitchen and the study. The overall circulation is poor.

I know it's really, really, hard to start over because I've experienced it. I had actually started building my house that I took two years to plan when we ran into unforeseen soils issues that were going to cost a fortune to mitigate. We scrapped everything, got a different and unfortunately much small lot, and started all over. The first house would not sit advantageously on the new lot so new plans had to be drawn. It took time and it was very frustrating but we made it through.

I'm sorry to be so blunt and I truly hope you get this all sorted out and end up with a lovely home.

The new plan has more reasonable proportions, and is simpler so should be less expensive to build but still not the best layout.

Entry to the master through the kitchen is not the best.

With your kids, would you rather your bedroom be closer to theirs? With the new plan, if they get up in the middle of the night they have to walk the whole house to get to you.

Also, guests have to walk all the way around the garage to the front door.

Out of curiosity, why are you looking to build vs buying an existing house?

"I know that you all said to go with an “architect,” but I did want to get your opinion on a house such as the attached. It is 2,165 heated sq. Ft. Is this something that is more feasible?"

It stinks, now spend your valuable time finding a good local architect.

Following

....

Sasha, we currently live out of town in a starter home. We are expanding our family and bought a lot closer to town. We are wanting to build there to be closer when running errands, sports, work, etc. This is a very small town and this was the only “architect” (which I’m finding out is not really an architect) in the area. I was following the footsteps of many others in my town. I ventured here for broader opinions.

@Kels B - Yes, that plan is better. But you can likely do better still with a custom plan. If there's no one in your town, you could consider working with someone remotely. @Architectrunnerguy is one architect on here who works remotely and does really great designs. It might be worth contacting him to see if he might be a fit for you.

I have already paid a pretty penny for these...

I was in permitting with my first plan when my DH and I looked at one another and decided that the plan as is was not right. The basic shape (U shaped) was fine but there was so much else wrong with it including the direction of the front, that we pulled it out of permitting and redid the basic house. Even turning it so it faced N/S and not E/W like we had it. Yes it cost us more, but we now have a great house.

If you want to look at plans to get ideas, your most cost-effective ones will be two storey with bedrooms upstairs. But there is so much that affects the liveability of any plan, including how it faces the sun etc.

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/country-home-plan-with-marvelous-porches-4122wm

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/optional-game-room-a-plus-40865wm

Do you need a 3 car garage?

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/country-house-plan-with-see-through-fireplace-21117dr

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/flexible-farmhouse-with-loads-of-outdoor-living-16898wg

I agree that the new plan is more reasonable and more simple and should be more affordable to build.

I like that there is a "bonus room" over the garage - that allows for flexibility.

I don't know how old your child is, but do think about the layout of the bedrooms. If you plan to have another, how will that layout work for an infant? For older kids it will be fine.

There is no "powder room" - which is fine if you don't mind guests using the kids bathroom.

There is no coat closet that I see - not at the main entry or in the entry off the garage.

I'm not seeing a private office for your husband or a place for the kids' toys unless that's upstairs over the garage - isn't that a deal killer?

Here are a couple of things to be aware of as you look at these - and these are definitely MY values - perhaps not yours:

Beware of spaces for show that aren't very useful. Entry foyer is good - you should transition into the house, not open right into the living space like an apartment. That said an entry requires a coat closet to be useful. The front door should be a real working entrance - not a show entrance that nobody uses.

The other questionable area is the dining room. It looks like a show place that isn't very useful - even as a dining room. I like "formal" dining rooms. I like them to be open to the Living room to add a sense of space- but separate. In my house the dinning room table was the place the kids did homework or crafts. It was a place to spread out, it was the place for board games and card games - and it was the place where all of us could eat at the same table. In my houses, the dining room has been the heart of the house - in that setup it looks like someplace that nobody really wants to be.

In my homes I don't want to see the kitchen sink from the front door - preferably not even from the living room or dining room. My kitchens get messy, particularly after cooking a big meal. There's a lot to be said for sitting down to dinner and not seeing the mess in the kitchen - or clearing off the table when you have friends over, closing the door on the kitchen and dealing with it after they leave. I do want to be able to see the dinning room table from the kitchen to keep an eye on kids though. My current house (1943) has a swinging door to the dining room from the kitchen. It can prop open - or not.

Too much drama. New architect.

If you want a stock plan, I really like the first one linked by @partim above.

It gives you your main level office, your main level master bedroom, and two upstairs bedrooms.

There's the potential to finish the the optional game room at some future point. You could also make the bedroom closets reach-in along the wall with the door to the hall instead of walk-in, which would let you push the bathroom to the exterior wall to get natural light in the bathroom and would also let you use the space where the bathroom currently sits as a bit of a play nook outside the bedrooms.

If you want kids upstairs and master on the main, this is a nice layout because the stairs are right by the master door, so you can quickly get up to kids and they down to you (and someday, when they're teens, you can hear them coming in or sneaking out).

In the kitchen, I'd move the sink off the island and under the window.

If budget allows, you could expand the area that connects the main house to the garage to allow for a mudroom and/or pantry.

The exterior is much more streamlined - it looks better and it should cost less.

The shower by the study lets you use it serve a double purpose as a study and also a guest bedroom.

All in all, it meets you needs pretty well.

I don't know what @ cpartist does for a living - but I can tell that he/she has lived.

Thank you Jake. I'm a she and yes I've lived and have the lines and aches and pains to account for them. I'm a fine artist who mostly works with colored pencils. My avatar is one of my drawings.

And to give an idea of a house living for the inhabitants, here was our wish list and why.

I wanted an open kitchen/dining area/living room area but with some definition between kitchen/dining and living room. We put craftsman style bookcases between the two rooms. (House is craftsman inspired)

Our house is U shaped because we're on a small lot with only 9100 sq feet. The U shape helps make the outdoor living area feel more private and like a secluded garden.

My DH needed an office/away space and wanted it looking out on the first floor. He got a room at the end of one side of the U with windows on 3 walls, although the south wall has high windows with stained glass.

We also placed the powder room a few steps from his office and almost opposite the door to the backyard. That space also serves as our mudroom and has tile floors, which help when anyone needs to use the bathroom and is coming in from the pool.

Our master is on the other end of the U and has a 6' l reach in closet for him and a relatively small 5'5" w x 8' l walk in closet for me. Here in FL we don't need nearly the amount of clothes we needed in NY. Oh and the master is on the first floor since we are getting up there in age.

Our master bathroom by most standards on these forums is small with just enough room to have a toilet room, large enough shower, tub and double vanity.

Because of our small lot size, we had to build up but to compensate, we added an elevator in case we ever needed one. For now it's great for bringing heavy things up and down and it also serves as extra storage. ;)

Upstairs is a guest bedroom which also serves as our home gym when we don't have guests.

We have a smallish bathroom with a sink toilet and nice sized shower.

My studio can also be a bedroom as the couch in my studio has a queen sized fold out bed. I love having it upstairs with windows on 2 walls and french doors on the 3rd wall out to a balcony. I also love that climbing stairs 20-30x a day is cheap exercise for the days I don't do the gym.

It is a big room because it was cheaper to build from front of house to rear of house instead of extra roof and support beams.

We designed and built the house for how we live. We made sure the public areas were the largest areas so we could entertain. Everything is right sized for us.

I'm sure I'll say the same thing in another 15-20 years about where I am now in life (which would put me closer to cpartist's age then...lol).

Gee thanks.

Thank you for all of the information! Is the plan attached more feasible?

No. It's another poor plan.

The best plans as I said way above have windows on 2 walls in all public rooms and in all bedrooms

The best plans are only 1-2 rooms deep so again you can bring light in from at least two sides of a room. For example, my living room has windows on my north and south side.

The kitchen/dining area has windows on the east, north and south sides.

The guest bedroom upstairs has windows on the west and south sides, etc.

Most of the best plans are either U, L, T, I or H shaped

And the best plans don’t need to have angled walls either in the interior or the exterior

This is a very small town and this was the only “architect” (which I’m finding out is not really an architect) in the area. I was following the footsteps of many others in my town. I ventured here for broader opinions.

Get in touch with architectrunnerguy on these forums. I think you'll be much happier.

Here are a couple other plans, this website gives estimated ranges for build cost so that may help you figure out size and options from a cost perspective

https://advancedhouseplans.com/plan/walnut-grove

https://advancedhouseplans.com/plan/collins

https://advancedhouseplans.com/plan/charleston

Sasha both those floor plans also have lots of issues too. The first one I saw was the master closet on an outside corner. Closets shouldn’t be on a corner taking up valuable exterior walls

@cpartist i agree they could still use some improvement, I was just trying to give OP some perspective on cost.

@cpartist, I meant that as a compliment! Jake had said it was obvious that you’d “lived” so give me another 20 years and hopefully it’ll be more than obvious that I’ve “lived” as I’m sure I will continue to grow, learn, and change by then as I’ll be at a different stage in life with grown kids (and hopefully grandkids by then!).

You make a good point about cost Sasha

shead I know it was meant in fun. I had liked your original comment

Glad you are open to considering other options. Also maybe take the time to read S. Susanka's books - they may help you as you're learning: https://susanka.com

I highly recommend Sarah Susanka's book, The Not So Big House.

I used many of the principles in the book when designing my house and while my house isn't small and some would consider it huge for 2 people (2870 square feet), it lives even larger and feels spacious.

While it is certainly a more practical and affordable plan than the first one, there are some things you might consider changing. Except perhaps for the master bedroom on the back left and the garage on the front left, try to make the other three walls -- back and right and front -- as straight as possible.

Not a fan of the two story looking entry. You might consider creating a deep front porch, perhaps with skylights to let in more light for the front of the house and a shed roof dormer for the attic that has the same number of windows as the row of windows you end up with across the front living area ... which certainly needs more than one window as adjustments are made to the floor plan.

First, consider whether you want to add a several feet to both the front and back children's bedrooms. This would enable you to put two twin beds in each room and not just in case you have more children but for sleepovers and for having room to add a large toy chest and/or toy cabinet and enough space to utilize each bedroom as a playroom -- no need for a separate room. Also, making the two wings of the home more equal width will both give the house more symmetry and enable you to have your entry more forward -- closer to the front exterior wall of the garage and more of the focal point of the home.

Would rather have a larger master bedroom the full width of that wing, straightening the left exterior wall of the house except for the garage. Would NOT want a ceiling curb.

There is a long interior wall along the back bedroom on the right (children's side of the house) behind the foyer and still would be with the above changes. If you put your kitchen on that right side of the house and the dining area where the kitchen is now located -- with its back wall also even with the back wall of the kitchen and back bedroom -- then the hall to the master would be off the dining area -- which would mean the entire front of the great room could be the living room and foyer..

If you move the front wall of the foyer and living room out at least even with the front wall of the front children's bedroom (several feet in front of where it now is after increasing the size of the room) , you'll make room for a pantry between the kitchen on the right and the foyer AND your foyer and living area will be closer to the front exterior wall of the garage ... making it more the focal point of the front of your home.

After you move the front wall of the front bedroom and entry and what was the to have been the dining room out several feet, also Increase the depth of the garage by four feet so you can extend the width of the living and foyer area so the left wall of it is where the left wall of the pantry is now. Doing that will not only enlarge and square the left front corner of the living room, it could enable you to increase the storage in the back left corner of the garage and/or alter the steps to the ?study? in the attic above the garage to have any headroom affected by the steps be in the storage area rather than in the garage itself.

Another garage option you might consider, in addition to making it deeper front to back so you can cut the back right corner of the garage short for part of the living area, might be to off set the garage. You could move the garage so no part of it is behind any part of the living room -- the right exterior wall of the garage would be in line with the left exterior wall of what is now the pantry -- what would be the left wall of the living room -- and have the left wall of the garage extend beyond the left wall of the master suite that eight feet or so, creating a privacy area behind the garage for a private side porch for the master bedroom suite.

With these changes, your door from garage to house would be entering into a hall way left of the living area with steps to the attic ?study" over the garage and still enable you to access the master bath via the mudroom. If you off set the garage to create the private porch on the left side for the master bedroom suite, you could add a door from the garage to that side porch.

Your cost advice should come from a local builder. Have them show you examples of what they can produce for your budget, then design to those guidelines. Last attempt was 40% over. What was the advice that got you there?