I'd add in, "Listen to your architect and builder." This adds the caveat to make sure they know what your budget is and that you will LISTEN to advice on maximizing it. I've had both of them explain calmly and gently that something I wanted to do is probably going to be ghastly expensive. And then proffer an alternative that helps get closer to what we want without spending needlessly. If you listen at the front end of the project regarding siting, design, and site development, you'll save yourself so much more money than can be squeezed out of the budget by altering finishes at the end. Some things I've just had to give up on entirely, but I think I'll be happier in the long run for having heeded professional experience. Now, I'm not trying to build a house for $50/sq ft or otherwise get ridiculously under the market rate. But my husband and I were just talking about prioritizing our budget. Which, for us, means spending money on the things that either cannot be changed or would be very difficult to change later - structural elements, windows, etc. Finishes can be upgraded later, built-ins can be added, etc. I find that if you are upfront with most professionals you work with about wanting to be cost-conscious, they'll suddenly become a font of information about how to do so. It helps to be friendly, polite, and not condescending when you do so. Often I've had this happen when I go to one of them and say, "I'd like to do A, but it's sort of expensive." It is not unusual for the response to be, "Well, if we do B, C, and D over in these other areas of the house, we can probably free up enough of your budget for A. And that's really cool, and now I want to do it, so let me go think about it some more." Most of the time, they go think about it, and then come back with an even better idea. Cultivate your pros. They know so much more about their craft than a youtube video does. (Side note: Most of them also seem to like homemade chocolate chip cookies). Also note that this approach is more likely to get you what you want than telling them, "I want A, and Google says that it shouldn't cost me more than $X, so I think you should do it for that even though you quote more."

Finished our home in the area last summer. When we began the architect search in early 2013 we were told $260/ft was about the lower limit, including everything but land. This turned out to be a pretty good estimate in the end. We have a very nice home, but it's not a magazine home. Since you are starting now, it will be more. $300 seems reasonable for the lower end. But this doesn't get you a whole lot of bling. Some of it depends on where you are exactly. In the city being more expensive. Also, what are your expectations about what custom means? Nanawalls and terrazzo floors, etc. vs more standard selections. There are a lot of costs and we felt nickel-and-dimed to death be the end. Different sites may need topographic survey, geotechnical engineer, permits can be $5,000 or $10,000. Septic, shared well, difficult utilities, etc. Good luck.

I've seen I Love Red's plans and they are very well designed and it's a beautiful house. There are definitely good (and a few excellent) stock plan designs out there but it takes a lot of looking to find a truly good one. I know when I was looking I found nothing that would meet our needs for our lot. We worked with a draftsman. If I had it to do over, I'd have hired an architect to work with us as it probably would have taken me a lot less time. I do have a slight advantage in that I'm a visual person, can think in 3d and was at one time thinking of becoming an interior designer (before I realized I'd have to work with people.) There definitely is no one answer but I will say that so many of the plans posted here from stock plans are not well laid out or are extremely expensive to build with lots of unnecessary jigs and jogs, angled walls, gables on top of gables, roofs that could cover the taj mahal, rooms without any light entering them, etc. They attach gee gaws onto the fronts of the elevations to add interest to what is an overdone plan. Many people have no clue even what they are really looking at in terms of how the rooms flow, what works from a design sense, etc. I know if I show a plan to my DH, he has no clue what relates to what. For someone like my DH, if I wasnt around, working with an architect or someone with true design skills would be his best way to create a custom house. If you're someone like Sandy who knows what works for them, can understand a plan and an elevation, can think somewhat in 3D, then you are ahead of the game. In that case finding a stock plan, or working with a designer or architect will work for you.

Kristen we have built 4 houses, the first being a tract builder and could only choose from a few options. The others were totally custom where we provided plans to the builder who then gave us a estimate. Included in his estimate was a allowance for lighting, plumbing, appliances etc. We could choose from stores that he had accounts at which we would pay the “contractors” price. Or we could get them from anywhere we chose. When comparing, we found that the contractor’s price was not significantly higher than the big box stores. See Jeffrey Grenz’s comment above.... it was well worth it to go with our builders accounts.