By Jason LaFollette, CEO, LaFollette Custom Homes
“What’s your price per square foot?”
That’s usually the first thing people ask me. It’s a fair question. But most of the time, what they’re really asking is: Is it going to cost what I hope it’s going to cost?
Let’s talk about it. And yes, I’ll give you a number.
First, Life Happens
Before we get to numbers, I want to say something I think matters. Building a home doesn’t happen in a bubble. Life keeps going for our clients, and for our team too.
Sometimes a client goes quiet because they’re dealing with something hard, not because they’ve lost interest. A good builder notices that. Sometimes the right move is to give people some room, or even hit pause. This is probably the biggest financial commitment you’ll ever make, and you should be able to do it with as little stress as possible.
So, What Does It Cost?
QUICK NUMBER · FROM THE EPISODE
In 2026, we’re telling our clients a custom home runs about $225 to $275 per square foot. That’s a ballpark to start the conversation, not a quote.
That’s a move-in-ready price. It includes electricity to the house, water, septic, propane if you have it, and a drive so you can get to your front door. Landscaping, irrigation, extra driveway and outbuildings are extras.
Watch Out for the $180 Bid
Say you call around and hear $225 and $250, and then somebody tells you $180. Sounds great, right?
Ask what’s included. Is the septic in there? The porches? The garage? Otherwise, you find out later that the septic is a change order. Do you want keys? We didn’t know you wanted keys.
Compare apples to apples.
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In NAHB’s 2024 national survey, construction alone averaged about $162 per square foot. That was only 64.4% of the sale price. The lot, overhead, commissions and profit made up the rest. Two builders can say “price per square foot” and mean very different things. (NAHB)
What Actually Drives the Price
Square footage doesn’t tell the whole story. Not even close. Here’s what does.
1. Your design. A simple rectangle with nine-foot walls, a hip roof and siding costs less than a house with lots of wall heights, roof lines and masonry. On the outside, siding is the least expensive, then brick, then stone.
2. Your finishes. Cabinets, flooring, fixtures and appliances can swing a lot depending on your taste.
QUICK NUMBER · INDUSTRY DATA
Interior finishes were the biggest piece of construction cost in NAHB’s 2024 survey, at 24.1%. (NAHB)
3. Garages and porches. People forget about these. A three-car garage and a big wraparound porch add a lot of unheated space, and that space still costs money.
4. Your lot. We do a geotechnical soil analysis. I can’t tell you what’s fifteen feet under the ground, but the engineer can. Sometimes we must dig out several feet. Sometimes we just scrape the top and build. A house is only as good as the foundation under it.
5. Utilities. On a rural lot, your power and water might be 100 feet away or 1,000 feet away. That makes a big difference.
Where People Get in Trouble
It usually starts with a guess. Somebody clicks a “cost to build” button online or asks a friend what their house cost.
But I’m not sure a website based in California or New York can tell you what it costs to build here in Brazos County. And your friend’s house might have been built five years ago, in a different style, with different things included.
When you don’t have clarity up front, you end up making reactive decisions later. That’s where the frustration comes from.
Get Your Vision and Budget on the Same Page
Your vision, your money and your expectations have to line up. If they don’t, something must give.
The worst version is when we’ve designed our dream, and then we have to get out the scalpel and start cutting things. Nobody wants that. That’s why we spend so much time at the beginning.
And this isn’t just math. This is where you’ll raise your kids and host the holidays. When the budget gets tight, it gets personal. Get clear early, and the rest of the process feels a lot more natural.
Next episode: how to choose the right builder.
Watch or listen to Episode 3
Steve and I go deeper on every one of these in the episode.
Thinking about building in the Brazos Valley? I’d love to talk. Reach out to our team or call (979) 589-8343.
Sources
- NAHB, “Cost of Constructing a Home in 2024” (Jan. 2025): https://www.nahb.org/news-and-economics/housing-economics-plus/special-studies/special-studies-pages/cost-of-constructing-a-home-in-2024
