The house building cost in Victoria BC is the top reason that most people choose to buy a property from a developer or purchase a previously owned home. Most of the time, people don’t even consider building a home from scratch when they think of their next property. However, building your own home comes with a number of benefits including personalization, quality, choice of location, and more. Plus, when you build a custom home rather than purchase or rent somewhere else, you don’t have to worry about a mortgage payment, monthly rent with all kinds of fees, or interest rates.

Building a home can be affordable if you budget carefully and make the right decisions. Some smaller homes might only cost a couple hundred thousand dollars if you don’t need anything fancy. Let’s take a look at how much different homes cost to build and where the costs come from to create a total price.

Cost Per Square Footage

When people ask how much their house will cost, we can’t really give them a straight answer before we make all of the design decisions, choose a location, buy the materials, and hire all of the necessary people. However, there is a way to estimate the cost of a home based on its size, which is done using square footage. We’ll use a couple of examples to illustrate the difference in costs based on square footage.

The average home in Canada is 1800 sq. ft., and the average cost per square foot for a single-family home in BC is between $200 and $300. A luxury home may cost up to $1000 or more per square foot, but these homes use the absolutely highest-end materials, fixtures, and furnishings. Most higher-end family homes sit around $500 or $600 per square foot. Your cost per square foot largely depends on the materials you choose since different bathroom tiles, countertops, roofing, doors, and everything else all have wildly different price ranges.

To put these numbers in perspective, let’s bring back our 1800 sq. ft. home. If we estimate $250 per square foot for some nice materials but nothing too fancy, your cost will be roughly $450,000. The average cost to purchase a single-family home in BC is $600,000, so you’re doing alright here. If you choose a larger luxury home, say 2500 sq. ft. at $600 per square foot, you’d be looking at $1.5 million for your home.

Your home will either be more affordable, more expensive, or somewhere in the middle of these examples depending on what materials you choose for your home and how big you’d like your home to be. Some higher end fixtures, heated floors, and smart appliances will probably boost your cost up, but choosing recycled materials and basic fixtures will reduce some of your costs. Every design decision you make will add up, so choose those upgrades wisely.

How a Builder Can Affect Your House Building Cost in Victoria BC

Home builders in Victoria BC are very experienced in working with homeowners to set their budget for their custom home. Your builder should be heavily involved in the budgeting and planning stages of your home since they can use their expertise to set realistic expectations for the cost of labour, materials, land, and other construction costs. Your builder will help you determine what you want in your home and if you can afford to do it. They’ll also work with you and give you advice so you get the most out of your money and don’t have to make too many sacrifices due to financing.

Your home builder will most likely give you an initial estimate for the cost of your home based on their industry knowledge, prior experience, and some basic details about your vision. While it might seem counter-intuitive, choosing the builder that offers you the lowest rate isn’t the smartest idea, especially if their offer is significantly lower than the others you’ve received. Some less-than-reputable builders out there will cut costs by using low-quality materials, inexperienced labor, or shortcuts to speed up the build and save on construction costs. These tactics will cost you in the long run, so make sure you do your homework and choose a reputable, trusted builder in your area.

Factors That Influence Your House Building Cost Victoria BC

1. Build Site. Your build site is a large factor in the total cost of your home. There are several reasons why a plot of land may be higher or lower in price including the size, the location in relation to city infrastructure and amenities, and whether or not the site is considered a coveted location like a beachfront property or a home with a forest view.
2. The Land Itself. Most people overlook the quality of the land they purchase as it relates to the cost of their home. You’ll have to pay fees for land surveying, environmental studies, zoning and permitting of the land, and more. plus, the land quality, beating capacity, and topography can drastically increase the price of the build if your home will need extra foundational supports due to marshy ground or you have to pay for rock or tree removal. These tasks can extend your construction schedule by weeks and cause several thousand dollars.
3. Architecture. The style of your home will greatly impact your house building cost since certain styles and higher-end exterior materials are more complicated and require greater expertise to install, more time to finish, or both. For example, a roof with an expensive finish and multiple gables will be more expensive than a simple asphalt shingle roof. Now apply this logic to every other decision regarding your architecture. Adds up quickly, doesn’t it? The materials you choose for your home will affect your labour and materials costs, as well as increase the amount of time it takes to finish, which always increases costs.
4. Interior Design. It isn’t only the structure of your home that should be considered and budgeted for. Everything from cabinetry to appliances to lighting fixtures will affect your budget. Higher-end furnishings can increase your total costs by tens of thousands of dollars, so you must make all of these decisions beforehand so you know you can afford everything you’ve chosen for your home.