Everyone has a budget: the total amount you have saved and borrowed to spend on your project. Below we will outline the big components of a new construction project assuming that you are building from the ground up.

Land purchase

Vacant lots start @ around $40K in the Western Catskills and prices rise as one gets closer to NYC and Hudson Valley. Numerous factors impact the cost of land including natural features, existing site improvements, proximity to towns, etc. If you've narrowed down the area you'd like to buy in we offer consulting to select the best parcel for you. For a project in the Western or Northern Catskills you can pencil in a budget of $80K for a parcel of approximately 5+ acres and $120K in Ulster and Columbia Counties. Lower priced properties exist but hold those numbers as a starting point.

Land purchase fees

You'll need to budget for surveying (if one doesn't yet exist for the property), closing costs with your bank, escrow fees, title insurance, etc. Establish a relationship and get pre-approval with a lender to get a good idea of your total closing costs. A minimum of $5K is a good benchmark here.

Soft costs

Once you own the property it's time to start figuring out what to do with it. "Soft costs" include all the non-construction related tasks integral to getting your project built including:

Civil engineering
- septic system design
- design for any complex driveways, water runoff control, erosion control, etc
Building design:
- Architectural design of the building which can also include:
  - Structural engineering to evaluate and detail the system
  - Mechanical engineering to design the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems (HVAC)
  - For our higher-end projects some times a lighting designer, A/V consultant and interior designer can be involved

Our experienced team of consultants consolidates and coordinates this process so the design phase is as streamlined as possible. In typical construction Architect's fee range from 8-15% of construction costs. We provide a fixed cost for the design to avoid escalating budgets and fees. It's wise to budget a minimum of $30K for your design fees. Permitting fees are also a soft cost. These vary by the municipality but it's safe to budget a minimum of $1500 for a permit.

Hard Costs

Site improvements are the first component of "hard costs": all the expenses related to actual physical improvements to the property. This will include:

felling trees, clearing and grading land to make space for driveways and the building site
drilling a well for potable water supply
digging a septic field for wastewater
trenching for utilities from the street (electricity) and within the property
sculpting the land to shed water away from buildings and control erosion
any excavation for foundations
retaining walls to deal with steep grades or slopes
finish grading, seeding and mulching the cleared areas once construction is complete

We recommend holding a minimum budget of $50K for these costs; however, this is highly variable depending on the property selected. For example, a very rocky property may require expensive blasting to create a driveway and/or buildable area.

Building costs

Our projects start at $300/square foot. Square foot pricing is the most general budgeting metric. A simple hallway with 8' ceilings will cost far less per square foot than a beautifully tiled kitchen of custom cabinets. But we find this is a good place to start and how to think about the size of your project.

Hardscaping + Landscaping

The sky is the limit when adding a pool, patio (hardscaping) and gardens, specimen trees (landscaping). Clients can often add a lot of value if they are avid gardeners but good plants still cost money. We advise holding a minimum of $15K for this area.

Contingency

The most thorough budget can drift, usually upward, for a variety of reasons:

an unrevealed condition from the site
client's change to more expensive finishes or specification
as the building progresses the client decides to invest more in built-in cabinetry, A/V system, etc

We endeavor to make our design packages and estimates as thorough as possible but we advise holding a minimum 5% of hard costs as a contingency.