New Construction $ / Sq Ft (Houston, TX)

[Patrick Dunigan]

Hello all,

I am in the initial planning phase of building a primary custom home for my family.  I am looking to be my own general contractor to save on costs and gain experience.  I have a relationship with an experienced home builder who is willing to sign on as a construction consultant to ease my lenders concerns with my builder owner construction loan.  I also own the land outright so I will be using the equity as a down payment for the construction loan.  For those of you in new home construction / development in the Houston area, what is the $ / sq ft you have been seeing recently (without a GC)?  I am really just looking for high level estimates to determine a baseline. For reference, I have spoken to a few people and I have gotten estimates on the lower end around $110-$115 / sq ft and on the higher end around $175-$200 / sq ft.  I realize this is quite a subjective question as every project differs significantly based on the labor and materials used.  Just looking to get various opinions.  Thank you!

[Daniel Marklin]

Hi Patrick, unfortunately like most things in life.... it depends. What is the quality of your finishes and where is the project. 

If you are going for custom, primary residence with nice finishes then $175+ is reasonable. If you are going for standard construction then the $150 range might be closer. But again, depends where you are. Insurance underwriters are using $135-$150 as replacement cost for investor-grade working class housing. I just refinished a duplex from the studs up for ~$140/sq ft on the east side of Houston (granite countertops, central HVAC, LVT floors, stainless appliances).

If you want a leg up, look at for-sale new builds in your area, check their price per sq ft, and discount that 20-25%.