In the end, there are largely two types of people who comment on these threads. Those who are building houses and those who have built houses. While I admit certain people who have built houses in the past are a bit jaded, I think you need to realize that experience does count for something. I advise those who are starting the process to not so quickly discount the advice of those who have been through the process. I have built two houses in the past and was solidly into building the third when I decided not to do it. I had firm pricing to get it done and was pretty confident that I had an initial cost laid out, and my house came back more significantly higher than the OP's. Construction labor in my area is only 8% higher than Texas, but my house came back at almost 30% higher, and this price didn't include flooring, bathroom fixtures or cabinets. I do realize that it is possible for this to happen but become concerned that the OP is focusing on the wrong items. I feel my concern was validated when he posted the specs of his custom build. A 14 SEER AC in Texas is a bit silly. In fact, it doesn't even meet the currently enacted future minimums. The marginal cost of 16 or 17 SEER is reasonable in North Texas, which has something like 3,000 cooling degree days. My experience tells me that this isn't the only questionable thing going on here. Someone who is willing to cut that corner is probably going to cut others. The question isn't whether or not you can build a house in North Texas for $120 per square - the question is should you build a house in North Texas for $120 per square. In the end, labor and overhead are only so much of the build. Please don't feel the need to answer that question for me. I don't need, or even care, to know. However, you might consider listening to some of the people who have completed their build, because it is tends to be a bit of a humbling experience.

Off topic, homeowners are often not aware of how integral architects are to the design of larger buildings. In MA, a construction supervisor's license is required to build a 1 or 2 family house but an architect is not required. For other larger buildings, no construction license is required but an architect is required to provide the design and what the MA building code calls "Construction Control" involving oversight of all aspects of the work and signing an affidavit of compliance at completion so the architect, as the representative of the owner, takes the lead from start to finish. For an architectural or design-build firm to provide architectural services in MA, at least one of the principals must be an architect; it can't be an employe or consultant. (In CT, all of the principals must be architects.) However, I believe an architectural firm and a construction firm can form a joint venture for each project. An employee architect can design a building for which an architect is not required but can the employer call it architectural services? Not in MA but the rules are different in other states. So, when MA architects venture into the world of home design, not being allowed to lead the project from start to finish can create a different set of duties and responsibilities and, if they are not careful, might expose them to liability for things beyond their control. These laws are different in other states but the difference in an architect's involvement in small vs large projects is similar.

It depends. You may save a significant amount of money in construction costs depending on what your definition of "significant" is. A 10ft ceiling in the family room may be more budget friendly instead of a 2 story great room depending upon the design of the "family room" and the design of the "great room". What is designing this house, draftsman or architect or builder or . . . ?

Hello! I am in Western Mass, and we are also exploring building. Have been working on it for a year and I have found that trying to estimate cost to build a non-track home using a blanket price per square foot number would be just setting myself up for failure and sticker shock. Finding a good piece of land that reduces some of the unknowns you mention is a good start. For example, we found a lot we love, with terrific view potential but didn't proceed when, in my research found the lot had a high probability of wetlands, ledge, need for a culvert, raised septic, and significant compact-able fill for the driveway base. So what I had estimated at 150K for lot and prep ballooned to $250k MINIMUM and so we moved on. Getting back to cost estimations, I am using the 200-230 cost per sq. ft. for non-custom building in my area as a baseline, and then for all of the custom elements I would like to add I am add those costs to the sq. ft. for the room they will be in. So for example, we are designing an extensive custom window arrangement for the dining room. Those windows including installation are going to cost an extra $8000, so in reality the dining room is going to cost me $274 per sq. ft. to build (will be higher when I add in other costs for that space like the raised seam roof). I am going through and doing this for every feature, element, customization that I want to include above and beyond beyond the "speculation" new construction costs listed in my area.