How much does it cost to build a house in St. George Utah

Building a house in St. George Utah or any of the surrounding areas such as Ivins, Washington, or Santa Clara will cost you anywhere from $200 to $400 a square foot depending on its size, labor, the location, and the materials you choose. If you're building a 2200 square foot two story with an unfinished basement and you already own the lot, expect to pay anywhere from $400,000 to a million plus to build it from start to finish.

$200 to $400 is a big difference, you ask. And you'd be right, but you wanted something quick, didn't you? So if you're building a base model, nothing special or fancy, a new well built home, you'll be safe to estimate about $200 a square foot. $300 to $400 a square foot? You're getting into the nicer show homes that the track builders build. They'll have like a butler's pantry, maybe a shiplap feature, nice garage doors. Here you can get into like the custom cabinetry territory.

$400 a square foot, on the other hand, is where you get everything custom, high end finishes, high quality, and typically things in a house you wouldn't find in your standard home like secret rooms, maybe an elevator, or a copious amount of important finishes that you just have to have.

There's a quick answer. Now for those of you who want to dive deeper into costing you out, keep reading. You may want to take notes. You may not want to have anything planned, but I will walk you through it and hopefully you'll have a much better idea, an in depth idea after.

So there are so many different factors affecting home building pricing that it's impossible to have a one size fits all that works everywhere. Instead, there are some important factors that you need to consider if you want to dive deeper and get a clear view of estimating your build.

So I've broken these down into four factors. First one is location, second one is size. Then labor, then material.

So let's look at location. A hot market is exactly that. Things cost more. Utah's real estate market as its in a housing boom right now. It's more expensive to build, it's more expensive to buy, and it's more expensive to hire builders. If you're in a hot market, you have to realize that your labor costs, the lot costs, and even material costs might increase substantially.

Building a smaller home will generally mean it will be cheaper, but remember that you will always have a base price to get somebody on-site. Building bigger might mean more complex construction, uncommon material, and even specialized labor. You will see that typically a smaller home with the same upgrades as a larger home will cost per sq ft.

Brings us into labor. You should know that builders are not all the same. Any builder can build you a house, but not everyone can build you a well-built house. If there's labor shortages, be prepared to pay a premium to get your project moved to the head of the line.

They say that 80% of the home is invariable, meaning that cost is pretty much the cost. The same 2x4 costs the same in an average house as in a luxury house, and the same concrete used costs the same there too. Where the biggest jump comes in the finishing costs, that 20% of variable cost in finishes can mean the difference between a $900,000 bill and a $1.2 million bill.

Now, let's jump into budgeting an actual build. In this example, we're going to go with an average 2,200 square foot home in an average neighborhood. This is not a luxury build and definitely not in a hot market or upscale neighborhood.

Initial costs. For this one, we're going to say about $26,000. Builders, architects, designers, engineers, plans, permits, water fees all things you might need in order to start moving forward. You can either draw the plans yourself, buy them from someone, maybe online, or have them custom made through a builder, designer, or architect.

Depending on how crazy you get, your plans could cost anywhere from $3,000 to maybe $25,000.

For this sample home, expect about $8,000 for design, drawing and stamping. Then you have your permit, which will run you anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 depending on your location and size of the project, and then you have the Washington County Impact water fee of $10,000

Site prep and foundation. For this, we're going to be about $40,000. Now we get to the fun part, the actual work. First we have to prep the site. We do this by calling in the surveyors to mark exactly where we're going to be placing the house, which allows us to know if we need to take any trees or move massive rocks, things like that. They'll also stake out exactly where the hole needs to be dug for the foundation. A surveyor can cost anywhere up to $5,000 for the entire job, maybe even more.

Then you have to dig the hole for the foundation. This will cost you around $2,000 to $3,500 in this example. We then need to lay out and pour the foundation. In this example, we have piles that go in first followed by a nine foot foundation wall. At 2,200 square feet, this foundation that we estimate around $35,000 including all labor and material, make sure that we think about any piles or piers that have to go underneath because that's going to greatly affect your foundation cost.

Always consider where you guys are digging, what type of ground, how deep you're going, and the possibility of massive rocks that will slow your digging down really. All of these things create more time and money into your planning. Remember that the bigger the basement, the more expensive it will be. The ground in Southern Utah is hard. Typically you will not see to many basements unless they havewalk out basement. Don't confuse the square footage of your foundation as much as the cost that it is when you build up. So it's not the same cost per square foot.

Next we get into framing. $65,000 so you have a foundation. Now we have to frame a house on top of it. Typically, most of the homes will be entirely framed out of wood. This makes up the skeleton of the home that comprises of building walls, floors, and a roof system. This is going to be a hefty bill as the lumber package is almost entirely what your home is made of.

So let's think about it we need a roof, windows and doors. In this home, we're going to say about $36,000. To bring this house to lock up, and lock up is where no one or thing can get inside the home, you'll have to have your windows and doors installed, you will need a roof so rain doens't come in and to protect you against the desert heat.

Usually, in St. George most people use clay shingles which cost more than your tar shingles. This is for better efficiency against the heat. Expect your windows and door package to be around $22,000. This number can vary greatly, but a standard package will have enough windows for your house to be light and bright, and your doors will actually be decent. You can cheap out here, don't get me wrong, but in the middle of the winter, you'll feel it. Also consider that your shingles are going to cost around $13,000 to install on this two-story home.

Next we've got mechanical. Mechanical is electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling. We're going to say around $57,000. So for all of these, these are preliminary costs and then there are finishing costs. We're going to put them all together. So an electrician might put a box in the wall to start with and then he'll come back and cover it.

For your electrical, expect to pay around $20,000. So they're going to bring power to the house. They're going to run it through with outlets, lighting, low voltage, anything else you need? This will include installing, finishing lighting, and any other finishing that they're required to do.

Next, we've got the plumber. Expect to pay your plumber about $25,000. Keep in mind that costs vary greatly in every area, so you could definitely go higher or lower depending on what quality you choose, especially on your finishing.

Finally, there's the heating, venting and air conditioning or also known as your HVAC. This'll be around $19,000. This ensures that you're cool during the summer and warm during the winter.

Exterior finishes. For this home, we're going to say around $38,000. So the exterior finish is very important. A water shedding, breathable membrane followed by a harder covering that protects your home from mother nature.

Now make sure that your house wrap is sealed up properly and that all openings, that's windows and doors and anything else, are double checked to ensure that your installers are paying close attention, because those areas are where all the leakage happens. Exterior finish also includes soffits, fascia, and eaves drops to make sure that your water management is taken care of.

Next, we've got a hefty one. $95,000 for interior finishes. Now, interior finishes is broken down into many different line items. This will include dry wall insulation and poly. For that we said $23,000. Paint and wall finishes, $13,000. Flooring, $21,000. Now, millwork, which comprises of your cabinets and storage in the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms, that's $27,000. Your countertops, $4,000, and appliances is around $5,000.

Of course, this is the expense that can vary the greatest from person to person. Be careful as you move through each line item. Moving from $7 a square foot to $9 a square foot. We'll wrap up a quick $4,400 difference. Want to put a lot of tile in your house? Do you really want that Wolf range?

Next is called general provisions and miscellaneous. That's going to be about $25,000. There are quite a few things that don't really fall into labor and material. These are normally things you might not think of. Where are the workers going to use the bathroom? How much is the garbage bin onsite going to cost? Are you paying for an onsite supervisor? One of the costs that usually gets overlooked by the DIYer or the build it yourself-er is the water and sewer connection and electrical.

Generally the utility companies will choose the easiest location to hook up but if you decide that you want it somewhere else, you might have to pay a little extra.

Okay, so let's total it up. So as you can see, the total cost to build this 2,200 square foot home is $509,000 and change or $231 a square foot. Can you build this for cheaper? Sure. Can it costs you way more if you make mistakes here and there? Absolutely. But what I hope this article will give you a basic idea of how much it cost to build a house in St. George, Utah. You always want to make sure that you get a home inspection during your build process you can learn more about New Construction Home Inspections

Want to buy a home in Mesquite Nevada? Cost to Building a Home in Mesquite Nevada Looking for a foreclosure? Learn more about buying foreclosures in utah.

New Construction Homes For Sale

Here is a list of new construction homes for sale in Southern Utah. Most these homes you can jump in the middle of the builds and still pick out your colors, flooring, and appliances.