What is your price per square foot?
The limit does not exist.
But seriously, contrary to popular belief, there’s no such thing as a square-foot price for a custom home, and ultimately, you drive the price based on how fancy your design gets.
Check out our blog post (coming soon) to learn more about the price-per-square-foot myth.
How much does it cost to build a custom home?
That’s a broad question we wish there was a simple, accurate answer for (if only square-foot price was legit). Every custom home is specific to itself so the pricing process is very methodical and involves coordination and communication between many trades and suppliers, even after all of the design is finalized.
So many factors determine the final price on a custom home, from the lot, utilities, foundation complexity, ceiling heights, tall walls, two-stories vs. bungalows, finishing packages, cabinetry, flooring and tile, and on, and on, and on – you get where we’re going with this – there’s not quick answer.
Can you provide financing?
Yes! In fact, it’s gotten a lot harder for individuals to get builders’ mortgages themselves because of the complexities of home building in this day and age. Banks are much more willing to partner with a professional builder who can in-turn get a builders’ mortgage on your behalf. We have a credit union partner that is ready to rock and roll.
I already have my drawings done. Can you give me a quote?
No. Well, maybe. First we’d want to learn more about you and your project to see if we’re a fit to work together. Are you looking for a quote or an estimate?
Quoting a custom home is a big undertaking that can easily chew up 80 hours of time. That said, it’s probably not a surprise that quoting is a chargeable service in itself. Plus, in order to provide you with a quote, we would need all of your design details, as drawings are just a small portion of the design process. This would include things like your stamped drawings, electrical layout, elevation drawings, cabinetry design, and all interior and exterior selections and specifications – this is a document that could typically end up being 100 pages (all-the-things we tackle in our design phase). Without every single detail, it wouldn’t be possible to give you a quote that is worthwhile to you.
An estimate is still quite an undertaking. This is why we’ve created our concepts phase so you can get a ballpark figure without the commitment and cost of heading straight into our design phase.
Pro tip: Clients who have come to us with their drawings done independently by an architectural technologist end up having a lot of revisions once we get our design eye on them from a functionality perspective during our concepts and design phase that they aren’t any money ahead had they just came to Hometown in the first place.
How long does it take to build a custom home?
Hold up. Are we talking just the actual construction process? Or the time it takes to design and build a custom home?
Depending on the size and complexity, the construction phase could take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year or more.
But what surprises most people is that the design phase can actually take longer than the construction phase.
For the design phase, our rule of thumb has been roughly 6 months, however, you ultimately drive that timeframe based on how easily you can make decisions (and we don’t want to rush you) and how many revisions you have; we’ve had clients take up to 6 months just to finalize their preliminary floor plans (or 7 years for ourselves to finalize our own floor plans – true story).
I know what I want. Can I just skip the design process?
Not so fast. This would be disastrous in the construction phase and a dreadful experience for you. How would we know what your custom home will cost without going through a design phase?
Even if you’ve got a clear vision in your head, it needs to be translated into construction-ready processes and documentation.
Most people assume design just means choosing a floor plan and picking out the basics like light fixtures, flooring and paint. Design is about the fit, form and function of your home. How high do you want your shower niche? Where are robe hooks going? What kind of shelving and where? This is just a snippet of the hundreds of decisions that need to be made so you have no regrets after you’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and moved into your custom home.
But what surprises most people is that the design phase can actually take longer than the construction phase.
For the design phase, our rule of thumb has been roughly 6 months, however, you ultimately drive that timeframe based on how easily you can make decisions (and we don’t want to rush you) and how many revisions you have; we’ve had clients take up to 6 months just to finalize their preliminary floor plans (or 7 years for ourselves to finalize our own floor plans – true story).
My buddy is an electrician. Can he do the electrical on my custom build?
No, sorry! We’re a well-oiled machine when we work with our usual team. We’ve spent years finding trades and suppliers that fit our values and understand Hometown’s expectations from communication to quality and everything in between. The investment we’ve made in creating this team is what gets you your home on time and up to the standard of quality that Hometown is known for.
Do you do acreage builds?
We do! Most of our portfolio consists of infills (new homes built in old, established neighborhoods), so it can be misleading to what our full capabilities are.
We both grew up on farms and are very familiar with the electrical services, sewer and water systems and heating alternatives that make acreage builds special.
We’re in the process of building our very own acreage, so let us make the mistakes on ourselves first!
Do you do renovations?
We do! We’re best and most efficient at large-scale renovations. That means things like an entire main floor renovation, or a full basement gut job.
I’m wanting to renovate my house. Can you come by and give me a quote?
No. Well, not that easily anyway. If only contractors had a magical calculator in their head that can spit out a quick price.
With every single renovation and custom build being, well, just that – custom, there’s no cookie-cutter, copy-paste project that is exactly the same.
Pricing a renovation or custom build is a methodical process that can take weeks to do on your behalf. Plus, without drawings, cabinetry design and selections picked out, what can be quoted? In order to come up with an actual quote, you need to go through the design phase.
But before committing to a design phase, you start with our concepts phase where we can give you a ballpark estimate after creating a floor plan, mood board and hearing about your needs and wants.
I’m thinking of building or renovating. How soon should I reach out to Hometown?
The sooner the better!
If you’ve got date in mind that you want to start construction, back that up about 6 months to account for the design phase. And then back that up even further based on how soon we can start on your design.
We use a slot scheduling system which staggers our design and construction starts in order to keep your project running efficiently so we don’t overpromise and underdeliver – that classic thing that contractors can be known for.
Also keep in mind that our slots fill up fast and are usually booked out a few months in advance.
Can you build Net Zero homes?
Yes! We’re in the process of becoming a Qualified Net Zero Builder and Qualified Net Zero Renovator. Our first Net Zero custom home is underway, after which we will receive a Net Zero label and become a Qualified Net Zero Builder.
Fun fact: A Net Zero home must achieve 1.5 air changes per hour or lower, and The Doll House achieved 0.95 air changes per hour. This was before we took the Net Zero Builder course and goes to show our internal quality program far exceeds the industry standard.
