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I agree. Any hint as to who that builder is?

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Northstone.

I'm closing a loan with the buyer of a Northstone home next week. They're very happy with the product.

Hadn't heard of them...but thanks for the rec!

SSH homes (Aggie owned) has done some nice work in and around Spring Valley, as well. I'd give them a call if you are looking to build in that area.

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I have been talking to people here in Austin. Most have quoted me 300 per foot over the telephone. Is there really that big a difference in labor cost?

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Dallas is $250 a foot for a million dollar price range house. If they are busy they won't even try to make a $ 225 per foot budget work.

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I have been talking to people here in Austin. Most have quoted me 300 per foot over the telephone. Is there really that big a difference in labor cost?

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Dallas is $250 a foot for a million dollar price range house. If they are busy they won't even try to make a $ 225 per foot budget work.

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thanks. that was the info I was looking for

We just moved into our custom home in Bellaire a few months ago. We owned the lot and found the builder. In my opinion, was was true for us, you will save a lot of money by owning the lot first. I think there are several reasons, with the obvious being that the builder isn't having to pay the financing on the lot/construction. Another reason is that finding lots in prime Houston locations takes a lot of time and money. If you're buying a spec home, you're essentially paying for the builder to find the lot for you and do all of the work.

Another benefit of having your own lot that can save you money, that we took advantage of, at your own risk, is that builders will be competing to build on your lot. The market is down since we started building, so this might have changed, but we found 2 builders that we liked, made sure they were quoting apples to apples, and basically had them bid against each other. Once we had the lowest bid, the other builder said they would go lower, and then the builder we slightly preferred agreed to go a bit lower. At that point we knew the price was at the absolute rock bottom, so we went with them. This strategy can have risk though, as our builder was operating on slim margins. They get pissy when things cost them more than they thought it would during construction.

Keep in mind, most builders gross 15-20% over the cost of construction. Many will do cost plus 15% or cost plus 20%, which reduces their risk. I wanted a fixed cost (less risk for me), and our builder did that. Not sure what prices have done over the last 2 years, but when we contracted, you could probably get a very basic custom house for $125/ft. With moderate upgrades that most would consider a very nice house, you'll be at $150/ft. I'm sure you could get to $200/ft, but damn I can't imagine what you would dream up to get to $200/ft.

Glad you made it happen. I would love to come by and see the place when you have a chance.

Sure thing diggity. Still in Westbury?

Yes sir. Same place.

Thanks for the info. I have some pretty specific things that could drive my price higher but I'm liking that $150 number a lot more than $200!

Question for you: how long did it take you to build? For example, from the first meeting with the builders until move in? What about the time it took to get all the plans together (before construction)?

Great thread guys. My wife and I are thinking of sourcing a lot in East Dallas to build on in the near future. The housing market seems to be slowing here. Does anyone have an updated idea of what I'd be looking at per sq ft on a 3,500 - 4,000 sq ft custom build? Im a bit surprised to see such a delta between Houston, Dallas, and Austin in this thread.

Thanks!

Dragging this one out of the depths...

Let's say ol Rock acquired some 1-2.5 acres in the North Texas/Prosper/Celina area.

How much would you soft cost on $/sf quote for a ~3500sf custom house if you owned the lot?? Would be looking for above builder grade, and not super high end, say maybe 7/10 on that scale. I'm gonna guesstimate with $200/sf?

Ideas looking for something a bit more colonial/plantation-y with brick and tall white pillars that's two stories.

Same question again and same scenario, just this time in The BCS area? Still at $200/sf or maybe dropping a bit to $175/sf?

Job is in North Texas but family is in BCS area and potential for relocation there is open given the whole COVID thing. Timeline isn't in any rush, just curious for budgeting purposes.

we were looking at building in NB, single story, 3100 sqft 6/10 finishes in kuding Black milgard windows and we were at $165 sq ft without land