re: Home Building Cost 2024 [St. Tammany Parish]

is the price per sq ft under the roof (incl garage, porches etc) or HVAC sq ft?

Interestingly, we are looking at CT here in FL panhandle. They have 2 houses going up the road from us (out in country). Owners seem happy so far...

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Don't use Ron Lee as a builder

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I thought he was supposed to be one of the premier builders?
He is (was?)on my short list for an upcoming build.

I don’t want to trash anybody on line, but what areas of concern should I “inquire” about?

Keep in mind, CT price does not include a driveway and or any sidewalk. The initial price is for basic finishes in a home. We used them and it was far from painless.

I think it's a little bit of both quality and detail. A lot also depends on the builder. I have a really good relationship with a builder and he's built like 5 houses for my family, so I'm lucky in that regard, but we basically threw the plans out the window once the house was framed. Most everything else was decided on the fly.

Note that when I'm referring to something as "mid-range" in this post, I'm not referring to builder-grade. To me, builder-grade would be something in a DSLD/DR Horton house, i.e. cheap granite and box cabinets, whereas mid-range might be quartz counters with full overlay cabinets. Just some examples of where you will see major cost variations between a higher end spec house with mid-range finishes and a custom house:

1. Higher end appliances vs. mid-range appliances. A Thermador/Wolf/Subzero level appliance suite with fridge/freezer (the real kickers) can cost up to 3x what a normal, mid-range appliance suite would cost.

2. Custom cabinets and built-ins can be 2-3x more than off the shelf cabinets or standard box sizes.

3. Quartzite/marble countertops vs. quartz/granite.

4. If you have hardwood flooring, site finished vs. pre-finished can significantly affect cost.

5. Custom brickwork can get expensive, especially on the interior.

6. One of the more surprising things to me during our build was the cost differences between various types of tile. You can go as crazy as you want with tile, which I never would've thought about.

7. Windows and doors. It absolutely blew my mind how much cost variation there was amongst windows and door manufacturers. I'm not positive what types of windows Cretin builders use, but I'd be shocked if they were Marvin, Sierra Pacific, Andersen, etc. We went with a mid-level Sierra Pacific vinyl window and they were still more expensive than some other window manufacturers' most expensive options. We also used solid-core doors throughout the interior of our house and they were more expensive, but they feel better and they're better at sound proofing.

On the actual construction side, 2x6 framing vs. 2x4 framing. I'd guess that a higher end spec builder like Cretin would use 2x6 framing on the exterior, but not positive. Our house has 2x6 framing throughout for insulation, soundproofing, and structural integrity.

Composite decking vs. wood decking, or variation in flatwork can be a big cost increase as well.

Other things that can add cost would be "custom" touches throughout the house that apply to your lifestyle. Just an example, but we installed Rockwool insulation and soundboard in our bedroom walls because it shares one common wall with our living room. You can't hear really anything going on in the living room from inside our bedroom. That cost more money than just putting up sheetrock over the batt insulation we have in our interior walls. These are just some of things that you've got the option to do when you're building a fully custom house, but with increased options comes increased cost. Whether it's worth it to you is really just a personal decision.

I will say that I've been in multiple Cretin houses and they seem well built and well appointed. One of our close couple friends lives in one and they've been very happy with it. I do know that they do not install landscaping, driveways, or flatwork, though, so if you go that route, make sure you're budgeting for that.

I’m hoping to get something pretty nice for the $225 psf range, excluding land, driveways, landscaping, etc.

My fear is that my taste & wallet won’t align.

DonSon in Covington does a really nice job

I thought he was supposed to be one of the premier builders?
He is (was?)on my short list for an upcoming build.

I don’t want to trash anybody on line, but what areas of concern should I “inquire” about?

He built our house and anything we identified as needing being addressed, his favorite response was "that's industry standard". The items weren't anything extreme either.
He was very condescending when we identified the issues. We definitely wouldn't use him again.