Building a new house allows you to control every aspect of the process, but it also comes with plenty of important considerations. If you’ve never gone through the process, you may be left wondering about basic questions like “How much does it cost to build a house in Virginia?” Prepare yourself for the excitement of building the home of your dreams by considering these three important factors first.
1. Cost to Build a House in Virginia
The cost to build a house in Virginia is based on a number of factors. First, the average home price in Virginia reflects the market demand, so you can’t expect to build a quality structure for significantly less than you’d spend on an existing house. In fact, custom construction can cost significantly more than the average area home price depending on the features you choose. It’s very easy to inflate the price of new construction projects by making small changes here and there to the materials and floor plan.
For example, the average existing-home price for the Chesapeake, VA area is around $328,000 for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom layout. Yet the cost to build a house in Virginia starts around $370,000 for a bare bones home and can climb well past $700,000 or more if you’re building a home that is larger, more luxurious, or in a better area than the other homes used to tally the average. When determining if the prices in a particular new housing development are a good deal, match the offers to area homes with the same features and square footage for a more accurate comparison.
Related: Building a House vs. Buying a House: Which is Better? and “Nice to Have” Features to Consider When Building a New Home
2. Scope Creep
No matter what the base price is for new construction, the cost to build a house in Virginia can rise substantially due to scope creep. In residential construction, scope creep refers to a slow increase in the requirements for the project. For example, changing your mind about flooring in the middle of installation results in a sharp uptick in total cost because of the wasted initial material and the order of the new replacement. Many home builders, including Kroll Residential, don’t allow changes to certain areas if construction is too far along. This prevents scope creep and helps keep your semi-custom home build on time and on budget.
A certain floor plan may have a base cost of $400,000, but adding on optional features and requesting higher quality finishing materials, will increase the cost of your home before the end of construction. Future homeowners tend to overlook how their changes and decisions affect the price, so it’s essential to discuss each change with your construction company before assuming it will all fit into your budget. Be cautious to assume your project will match the average home price in Virginia before checking in with the crew who will be handling the work. If you’re looking for a semi-custom home, base prices will be readily available and Kroll Residential will be happy to talk with you about your upgrade options.
3. Tracking the Timeline
While technological advancements help construction companies build houses faster than ever, it still takes a year or more for most custom projects to reach completion. While building a custom home for your family can take a lot of time, Semi-custom homes have an advantage in quicker production and turnaround times. With the main structure of the house already planned, and the team working from the blueprints of a home they’ve built before, the process runs more smoothly and major issues hardly arise. Bad weather, site complications, material sourcing delays, and many other factors can all slow down the projected timeline further.
Since an accurate work timeline is essential for planning the sale of your current home or your move from a rental, you need to stay in touch with the construction team and request timeline updates on a monthly basis. The best construction companies will provide these updates without you needing to ask so you know exactly when you can expect to move in. Your discussions about custom features and changes to the design should also include questions about how your decisions will affect the construction timeline.
Related: The Differences Between VA, FHA and Conventional Home Loans
Semi-custom homes, as we mentioned before will take less time to complete than entirely custom homes, even when considering some features may take longer to implement than others. The benefit of choosing a semi-custom home build is that time is not lost implementing additional features to the current floorplan; it all takes roughly the same amount of time.
Where it may take more time is if your dream home includes an extra room on the back of the house. To implement this desire, your home builder would have to get new plans drawn, calculations from engineers, and then city approval. This leg work would increase the time it takes to complete your dream home, so keep that in mind when evaluating semi-custom floor plans.
No matter what you choose, your builder should be there to guide you through the new home construction process and help you achieve the home of your dreams. Looking for a partner you can trust to build your new home in Virginia? Find your favorite layout from our floorplan collection and make it your unique home.