"A bigger house means the builder must skip elsewhere" according to Katherine Salant's article for Inman News ( click here ) Ron Jones, editor of Green Builder magazine and a custom home builder for more than 25 years, said in a recent interview:
"Buyers value the dollar per square foot, and the builder responds by delivering as many square feet of conditioned space as possible for $X. If he can deliver 100 more square feet than the competition, most buyers think it's a better value.
"But the problem with this is that the more square feet that are added for a given price, the less concentration of quality per dollar for performance of the house. The quality for finishes, appliances, mechanical systems and the building envelope suffers. If the builder has set the price at $200,000 for example, he will have to dilute the quality.
"Builders concentrate their energy where their buyers will compare -- generally the kitchen, the master bathroom, bedroom count and overall square footage.
Acknowledging that the cost-per-square-foot figure is the coin of the realm, many home builders highly resent being judged by this criterion, pointing out that value depends on what is in the square foot.
If they use higher-quality materials than their competitors, they will have a higher cost per square foot, but they are also selling a better house.
Recent Comments