Summary: Construction Estimating Software shows any new home buyer or new home builder the approximate cost to build a new home of any style, size, design, or quality in their city before they even shop for a home building site or new home plan.
• How much does it cost to build a house?
• Is my builder charging too much?
• How much profit does a builder make?
• How much will it cost me to build my own home?
• What is the average cost to build a house?
• What is the price per square foot to build a house?
These are by far the most frequent questions I receive.
They are questions that have been foremost in the minds of new home buyers since the beginning of time.
Construction cost software has made answers to these questions available to anyone willing to spend a little time investigating those questions.
Cost estimating is singularly the most important aspect of new home construction!
Whether you are a new home buyer or a home builder, nothing even comes close in importance.
So if you are planning on building a new home or having one built, it behooves you to spend time with this easy to use cost estimating tool and become familiar with building costs.
Here is what I believe to be the easiest to use Cost Estimating Software available.
This cost to build calculator is from Craftsman Book Company, one of the most respected names in cost estimating.
Answer a few simple questions and select a few design features and you can develop a rough cost estimate for a new home that considers the important variables such as materials used, design features, quality, size, shape, heating, cooling and geographic area.
NOTE: Many locales have added impact fees and other fees on top of construction permits. The costs of these fees can be expensive. Investigate them early on in your home building planning. They are NOT included in these cost estimates.
The final (printable) cost estimate breakdown will show detailed labor and material costs for each of the construction cost categories.
New homes can and do vary widely in quality and design as well as the quality of construction. You will see that the shape of the outside perimeter is an important consideration in estimating the total construction cost. Simply put, the more complex the shape, the more expensive the structure is to build.
Note: You DON’T have to buy home plans to experiment getting rough cost estimates for various home sizes and designs, just use the sample floor plans that are on home plan web sites.
You can get an idea what changing the design and the quality of materials (as many times as you want) will result in by using the calculator.
By adjusting the “Quality Class” feature on this construction cost estimating tool you can obtain as many different approximate “costs to build” as you want until you find an approximate cost to build for a house plan that hopefully will meet your budget.
You can experiment with Craftsman’s Building Costs by City & State and get an idea of what it will cost to build your new home.
Carl Heldmann
