Cost Estimating

The true direct cost of building a house is a closely guarded secret. But, you should be able to build anywhere in the USA for $80.00 to $110 per sq ft. for labor & materials. This does not include GC’s P & O or land. Land varies tremendously depending on location, location, location.

The breakdown of the selling price (market value) of a house is ideally: 25% material,
25% labor, 25% land cost, 12.5% builder profit, & 12.5% builder overhead. All builders must juggle the material, labor, land & overhead costs. This is what it’s all about. If you absolutely must have a certain expensive material item or subcontractor, you have to compromise and spend less on something else. A builder does all this in the planning.

Here is a very important & valuable FREE copy of my "Cost Estimating" Chapter. It discusses the entire process of estimating, as well as important concepts of using the free cost estimating software below.

You will notice in the typical examples to below a spread of $30 difference per sq. ft. This is due to different types of foundations, roof pitches, quality, style, and # of, of windows and, the quality of everything else you decide to use (Until you actually get plans and start shopping, you won’t have an accurate estimate).

- On the “getting started" page, you'll find an excellent FREE cost to build calculator for Cities and States across the USA. (#5)

-You’re in charge!
-Try to keep costs as low as you can.
-That’s why you must use a spreadsheet to track category costs!
-Estimating is the #1 job for a GC. Nothing else comes close.
-To make this job easier, use a properly formatted spreadsheet. Being properly formatted makes the job easy and almost foolproof.

If you have and use Excel, here is a FREE Excel “lender friendly” formatted spreadsheet.

If you don’t have Excel, don’t know how to format Excel, try a web-friendly sample of our spreadsheet here.

Or, download our free custom-made spreadsheet from our spreadsheet page.


2,000 sq. ft., simple design = $80 per sq ft = $160,000. Built on a $80,000 lot. Appraisal of $320,000 = you can save $80,000 or more.

2,200 sq ft, steeper roof = $90 per sq ft = 196,000. Built on a $100,000 lot. Appraisal of $320,000 = you can save $80,000 or more.

2,400 sq ft, more glass, porch, hip roof, etc = $100 per sq ft = $240,000. Built on a $120,000 lot. Appraisal of $480,000 = you can save $120,000 or more.

2,600 sq ft, more complex design & costs = $110 per sq ft = $286,000. Built on a $143,000 lot. Appraisal of $572,000 = you can save $143,000 or more.

- On the “getting started" page, you'll find an excellent FREE cost to build calculator for Cities and States across the USA. (#5)