If you want to design a home that’s entirely customized to your lifestyle, building from scratch is your best bet. It’s the only way to get exactly what you want, where you want. And the rewards of a custom-built home can literally last a lifetime.

How Much Does It Cost to Build New in Miami?

Today, the starting number you can expect to pay is approximately $250 per square foot to build new in Miami-Dade County. However, there’s a lot of room for that number to go up (or down!) and that begins with being prepared and informed.

With that $250 per square foot as the base case, let’s explain where most of your money actually goes when building from scratch.

Where Most of Your Money Goes When Building New

Taking the land out of the equation, here’s where the money typically goes when building new:

• The Foundation: excavation, concrete and backfill will be roughly 8% of your build.
• The Framing: around 20% of the cost of your build.
• Interior finishes: About 24% of the cost of your build
• Major System rough-ins: plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc will be about 15% of your build.
• Exterior Finishes: About 11% of your build.
• Site Work: Around 6% of your build.
• Final Steps: Around 6% of your build.
• Design: Around 10% of your build.

How to Save When Building New

Again, taking land purchases out of the equation, the main places where the budget fluctuates is on the interior and exterior finishes. There are always situations were you can save money on the foundation or the internal system rough-ins, but it’s on a case-by-case basis.

Interior finishes include lighting, cabinets, countertops, appliances, flooring, and plumbing fixtures. This is the aspect of your project in which you have the most control over your choices, and more options to choose from. So, you can choose to spend more on finishes for your favorite spaces, and less on finishes for spaces you don’t use as much.

Plan Ahead and Stick to the Plan

Without scrimping on your finishes, the best way to keep costs down is to spend as much time as it takes in the design phase of your build. The better we plan the build out, the easier it is to stick to the budget when you’re in the construction phase.

Are you ready to build the home of your dreams? If so, partnering with an experienced architect is a great first step, and the Debowsky Design Group is happy to be of service. Get in touch and we’ll talk about how much it could cost to build in your desired location.

Building new is a bumpy journey for sure, but you don’t have to do it alone.