So you have a gorgeous piece of property and you’re planning to build a new custom home… Now what?
That’s where our Project Analysis comes into play. It’s the first step in the custom home design process when we look at your property, begin to learn about your ideas and design preferences, and start putting together rough estimates for your project.
The Project Analysis comes before the Design Agreement and is basically a rough draft of the investment study we perform later, if you decide to move forward with the design. Our goal is to give a 30,000-foot view of the project scope and a realistic investment range before you move forward with the Design Agreement.
And, in case you’re wondering, it’s completely free. We want to answer the price question first before you make the investment.
Price-per-square-foot vs. reality
You’ve undoubtedly heard other builders talk about the potential cost of your new home in terms of price-per-square-foot.
Breaking the cost of a project down like this is appealing because it’s simple to grasp and compare with other builders — just take the price-per-square-foot the builder quotes you and multiply it by the estimated square footage of the home.
The problem with this approach is that it leaves out a huge pieces of the equation. What about the cost of utilities during construction? What about well drilling or water connection fee? What about all those other residual costs that will factor into the cost as construction commences? What about sales tax?! and on and on.
There are many other variables that need to be flushed out to have meaningful numbers. What type of finishes are you thinking? How complex is the structure? What are the site conditions? All of these have a significant impact the amount of your investment. Using a price-per-foot quotation before getting this information is haphazard at best and can cause you untold grief if you rely on it to establish your budget.A lot of builders use creative accounting and purposely leave these numbers out of their price-per-square-foot analysis because they want to look competitive. But wouldn’t you prefer to have a realistic investment range before you decide to start the design process?
That’s the approach we take with our Project Analysis. The more you know at this early stage of your project, the better decisions you can make when it comes time to design your ideal home.
It’s not all about the numbers
Looking at the potential cost of your new home at this stage is important, but it’s equally important to remember that the Project Analysis is a lot of fun.
This is the stage where you really get to start thinking realistically about the opportunities your land presents. Your property, along with your ideas and design preferences, will begin to form the layout and style of your new home.
Building a custom home is a big investment — you have a right to know what your potential total investment will be. We’ll tell you what you need to hear, not what we think you want to hear. We design and build creative homes without the creative accounting.
Are you ready to take the first step toward your new custom home? Let’s talk.
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Estes Builders is an award-winning design build firm that specializes in custom homes in Western Washington. We have earned more than 130 customer testimonials and a reputation as Western Washington’s most trusted custom home builder. We build custom homes in Sequim, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Port Ludlow, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Silverdale, Port Orchard and surrounding areas. Contact us for a FREE Project Analysis to discuss your project.]]>