Sterling Custom Homes has been building quality Austin custom homes for over 20 years. You can imagine all the questions we have answered for prospective clients and real estate professionals in that time. We even conduct custom home building seminars that provide local Realtors with continuing education credit.
With all this experience I can honestly say that there is one question I hear more than any other – “What is the price per square foot of your homes?”
The Austin real estate industry has trained us all over the years to use that equation to determine the value associated with a home. Price per square foot is much more applicable in a production home environment, where lot costs, floorplans and levels of finish-out are similar from one home to another.
In the custom home environment there are many factors that make this equation almost useless. For instance, from one lot to another there may be tens of thousands of dollars difference in slab costs and site preparation alone based on the lot topography. The efficiency of the design is also a huge factor – a 4,000 square foot one story home will be much more expensive (and carry a much higher price per square foot) than a 2 story home with 2,000 square feet on the first level and 2,000 square feet on the second level.
Add in the costs associated with extensive outdoor living areas, courtyards, casitas, pools, water features, sport courts, etc. – which add greatly to the overall cost of the project and are then divided into the conditioned square footage – and you can see the disparity from one custom home to the next.
Rather than confuse ourselves with the “price per square foot” comparison, we feel that it is more effective to work within our client’s overall budget and counsel them as we go through the process. This allows the client to make decisions about the design features and amenities that are most important to them and results in a finished product that more effectively suites their needs.