With the current cost of real estate in Bozeman, many homeowners are choosing the route of building new homes. Recently we bid an entire turnkey on a large home for SouthBridge Subdivision, which is located within the Bozeman city limits. The turnkey cost — approximately $980,000, meanwhile, a similar new home was listed for about $400,000 more. This is encouraging a lot of people to seek out custom home builders in Bozeman, MT instead of relying on existing homes.
New Bozeman Houses
The main factor in choosing an existing home is convenience. You put in an offer, it is accepted, and 30 or 60 days later you close and can move in. Construction of new Bozeman houses can take about nine months, but the advantage is you get to make all of the final choices of materials, floor plans, exterior finishes, etc. Everything in the home is new and under builder or manufacturer warranty. And best of all you save money over many of the homes listed on the market.
Turnkey Pricing for New Homes in Montana
Often new home cost estimates are based on a general price per square foot for a full turnkey. A turnkey solution is realized in the house being entirely finished and ready to move in. Based on the costs that we are currently seeing, a new custom home in Montana is about $280 to $300 per square foot of living space on the at-grade and above-grade levels. Please note, the garage square footage is not included in this estimate. Garages turnkey for a lower amount than the finished square footage of the house, but it is not automatically included. Also, finished square footage in the basement is not included in the turnkey estimate of $280 to $300 per square foot. A finished basement turnkeys for a lower price per square foot, but it is not included in the general square foot pricing. So, for a 1,500-square-foot home in Montana, we would estimate $420,000 to $450,000 for the turnkey. This does not include a garage. Garage turnkey pricing is roughly $200 per square foot. For a two-car integral garage of 700 square feet, you would need to budget about another $140,000.
Costs Not Included in Turnkey Single-Family Home Pricing
It is very important when you are building your budget to realize what is included in turnkey pricing. A turnkey is, basically, all the labor and materials necessary to take a project from breaking ground to the final interior finish materials being installed. Things typically not included in a turnkey are:
- Cost of Property/Lot
- Well, Septic, Electric OR Tying into Public Utilities
- Permitting
- Geo-Technical Soil Analysis
- Garage
- Landscaping
- Driveway
- Sidewalks, etc.
The items not included in a turnkey cost are usually managed by the general contractor but are costed out separately. Each of these line items is very job-site-dependent. When we provide a turnkey contract for a new home build each of these are considered and only those pertaining to your specific build are included in the turnkey.
Cost to Build A House in Bozeman, MT
Looking specifically towards Gallatin County, the cost to build a house in Bozeman, MT is usually a bit more than in other areas in the Treasure State. Conventional construction within the city limits currently is approximately $300+ per square foot. The “plus” can range up to $325 or more. The thing to remember with construction prices is the final cost is dictated a lot by the exact property you are building on and the finish choices you put into the home. Things like exposed beams, timber trusses, stone fireplaces, high-end countertops, and cabinets all increase the price. The $300 per square foot is a solid mid-grade finish, but the higher-end finishes will be reflected in the total turnkey price. Other costs such as permitting, structural engineering, or site build-up required by geo-technical analysis can also increase the final price.
Home Builder in Bozeman, MT
Yes, we are licensed general contractors in Bozeman, MT. We have been licensed in the state of Montana for over 20 years. We are also home designers with Mike as head-draftsman and designer and Daniel is our architect.
Yes, we are custom home builders. There are many ways that our company can serve your needs. Some owners come to us for designs, mainly to gain approval from Home Owners Associates and gather building costs. Other owners come to us for designs and materials packages.
The next level of service is a dryin. A dryin contract includes designs, dryin materials, and the labor needed to construct the home to a dryin state. A dryin means that everything is done to the home to keep the weather out. Then the owner finishes the interior or contracts the finish work themselves.
The most complete level of service that we provide is a full turnkey solution. This is where we handle all of the designs, materials, and all the labor necessary to entirely finish the home. All you have to do is move in. We have acted in all of these capacities depending on the level of service the owners required.
Building New Homes in Bozeman, Montana
If you are planning to build within the city limits of Bozeman, here is some advice based on our personal experience with the construction process in this location.
- Be prepared; the permitting takes awhile. It is wise to allow even three or four months to complete the design phase, gain HOA approval, and gather all of the required building permits.
- Allow approximately nine to twelve months for the full turnkey, dirt-to-done, in addition to the months needed for gathering permits and gaining approvals. With the cold weather and severe winters, building projects can get bogged down for a week here and there, or longer because it is simply too cold to safely work outside and/or the roads are too treacherous to safely travel.
- Take the time to shop with a list provided by us/the general contractor/builder to select your finish materials. The more complete a list you can provide us/contractor/builder the more accurately the final turnkey pricing can be bid.
- Research the covenants of the subdivision where you are building and be prepared to meet the requirements. If you see something that you simply cannot live with, do not assume you can charm the HOA into accepting non-compliance.
Staying on Budget with New Home Building in Montana
Our best advice for staying on budget is to first build a reasonable budget. Some contractors will give very low estimates just to get your business. Then during the build they either run out of money and ask for more or they walk away from the job and abandon you.
Second, if you are acting as your own general contractor, gather at least three bids. This may take a lot of time and patience but having access to three gives you a good idea of what it should cost. If one is very high and one very low, it is usually best to go with the middle-priced one.
Third, carefully read the bids provided. One bid may be high but it may include a lot of things that the others do not. The same goes for the low bids.
Fourth, research other lots near yours for information on geotechnical information. Some lots in Bozeman have had material – dirt, rocks- dug out from the roadways and pushed out over the top of the lots. One lot in Bozeman had to have four feet of extra material dug up and removed, just to reach the original ground level. Then another 6 feet had to be dug up and removed to reach a solid base. Then ten feet of road mix had to be built back up to raise the final grade and allow the first floor of the house to be 24 inches above the ground level, as was required in the HOA covenants.
And lately, invest in a set of quality custom drawings from Venture Home Design. Accurate costs are almost impossible to gather without a finalized set of construction drawings for contractors, subcontractors, and others to work from.