Why Cost Per Square Foot Won't Tell You What Your House Costs
The first number anybody reaches for is a per-square-foot figure. The math works. The number doesn't — and the reason has nothing to do with your house.
The Costs That Live Outside the House
Clearing, grading, driveway, water, power, septic, permits. None of it is visible in the finished house. All of it comes out of the same money.
Can You Afford the House in Your Head?
Most people take a number they didn't build to an architect and find out four months later that it was never real. There's a step before that one, and it's the last point where every option is still cheap.