I think you are going to be in for a big variance of reported cost just on the dirtwork, and those probably will have no relation to what you will actually deal with. A friend who hobbies as an O/B; he did the same houseplan in two locales, about 200 miles apart (and we are not talking a big regional difference in cost of labor). He often talks about why he doesn't think estimates are any good until the house is completed. One house was a dream, shoving the driveway, laying the bank gravel, no sweat on the foundation. The well came in where expected and the septic laid out smooth. Crews came to work on time and did a beautiful job; all deliveries arrived as scheduled and without damage. The other house had the driveway site changed twice due to hitting room-sized boulders, then long areas of the bank gravel got washed away in a storm and had to be replaced, and they hit huge boulders again when trying to dig the first foundation and sprang a spring on the second attempt. I don't remember the whole list of troubles, but IMO that other house was a jinxed project from start to end. What I do remember is that the problem house's *cost* was nearly double the dream house. Neither house would have given a reliable estimate of percentage to shell, because everything that actually happened was so different even though the materials and plans were the same. bdpeck gave the right idea for a real rough estimate, just don't forget that a ballpark figure is a guess not a guarantee.

Woodside is one of the most expensive and exclusive towns in the United States. An acre of land there is at least $2M (more likely $3M) and that is before removal of an existing older home, grading, etc. You will not find land to support a house of this size there for $1M. You don't say where you are but it's sort of implied you're in the bay area. If so, then you'll have trouble finding land anywhere convenient that could support a property of this size for that budget. You might find some larger plots further up 84 towards Skyline, down south on 17 in the Los Gatos Mountains beyond Saratoga. I suspect you will like these locations even less though unless you enjoy being remote or have a business reason to be so far south. For most people on this forum, the real estate market in the SF Bay area and on the Peninsula in particular is just completely bonkers so please suspend your disbelief for a moment if you've not participated in this market. If you just like this style of house and could live with a 1/4-1/3 acre lot you may be able to find land in Redwood City's Emerald Hills neighborhood (also zipcode 94062) for the low $1Ms. It is very hard to find even quarter acre lots in the bay area as residential land has been saturated since the early 1970s, so you will be buying an existing house to tear down & replace. Existing homes on the peninsula range from $1M for a 1500sqft house on a 6000sqft (San Carlos/Redwood City area) lot to $2-3M for a 2500sqft house on a 11000sqft lot (Los Altos/Palo Alto area). In the lower density neighborhoods (Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton, Los Altos Hills) you are looking at at least $2M for a teardown on an undesirable acre lot. In Atherton it's going to be $3-4M for a teardown on an acre. This is the cost of living inside the Silicon Valley bubble. A note on resale: In the right parts of the Bay Area it should be pretty easy to re-sell a property in the $2-4M range, unless there's something significantly weird about it. When you spend more than that, or move off the beaten track a little bit, you're looking at multiple months to sell (vs. multiple weeks). It should be possible to build this number of square feet for much less elsewhere in the country, but note that there is an expectation of quality/architectural detail in the San Francisco Peninsula's affluent hillside communities that is not easily replicated for less $ elsewhere.

For the sake of time, I'll share what the estimate was. The plumber gave my builder an estimate of $6500 just to rough-in for a half bath in the basement and for a pump because the bathroom will be below the level of the septic system. It's an extra $500 to add a shower rough-in. So obviously if we're going to drop $6500 on the half bath it's worth an extra $500 for the shower as well. I just feel like $7k JUST for the rough plumbing is outrageous, especially considering the floor isn't poured yet and he's already on site doing the rest of the plumbing work.

Hi MTVhike, We generally do a 15amp dedicated circuit for the smoke alarms. Every electrical contractor has there own way of wiring up a house. The only thing we do 15amp circuits for is lighting sometimes and smoke alarm. Everything else will be 20amps or above. You would rather have this contractor than one that is putting everything on 15amp circuits. It does also depend how many circuits you are putting in the house. Our circuit layouts: (changes depending on size) 1 20amp each bedroom 1 20amp each bathroom 1 20amp garage 1 50amp for car charger (ready for future use) 1 40amp for stove 1 30amp for A/C 1 20amp exterior 1< 20amp common area receptacles (amount depends on size) 1< 15/20amp common area lighting 1 20amp per 2 small appliance circuits, micro, frig, GD, DW 1 20amp for Washer 1 30amp for dryer additional dedicated circuits per requiest or equipment I believe I got everything, I did it off the top of my head. Overall, this would not be a worry if I saw an electrical contractor installing 20amp circuit for smoke alarms. Hopefully, there was something helpful in there. -Nathan NRG Electric Inc 408-508-5350