What Will Your Home Cost to Build?
Set the size, finish level, and a few site details. You'll get an all-in range: the house, garage, porches, site work, our 12% fee, and a contingency reserve. Land is not included.
What this number includes
- The house, built to the finish level you picked
- Garage, porches, and outdoor living
- Foundation and site preparation
- Our 12% fee, shown as its own line
- A 5% contingency reserve
What it doesn't
- Land
- Well, septic, or long utility runs (priced once we see the lot)
- Pools, detached shops, and landscaping beyond final grade
- Design and engineering fees
Most published cost guides quote only the heated living space, which is why you see numbers like $130–$150 per square foot online. Add the garage, porches, site work, and fee, and the same house costs $50,000–$150,000 more. We show every piece so you can compare honestly. Full breakdown of Kentucky build costs
What if I skip the general contractor? See the math on your home
The 12% fee looks like the easy place to save. Owner-builders usually pay it back, and more, through retail material pricing, rework, and extra months on a construction loan.
- With MCM
- $634,234
- Material premium (retail, 9%)
- +$48,787
- Rework and coordination (20%)
- +$108,416
- Extra 3.5 months of loan interest (7.5%)
- +$11,858
- Without a GC
- $738,245
At moderate risk, skipping the GC likely costs you $104,011 more.
Sources: Timeline: US Census Bureau Survey of Construction (2020), via Levelset; owner-built homes average 3–6 months longer than contractor-built in the South and West. Materials: BuildingAdvisor analysis cited by Benton Builders (2026); owner-builders lose 5–15% without contractor pricing. Rework: industry advisory sources via Benton Builders (2026); self-managed rework adds 10–30%. Loan rates: TrueBuiltHome / TridentHomeLoans (2025); construction loans 6.5–9% APR.
Email me this estimate
You'll get the full breakdown and what the next step looks like. One email, no list.
Planning estimate only. The 12% MCM fee is calculated on construction cost, not on unspent contingency. Contingency that gets spent becomes part of the cost of the work, and the fee applies to it like any other cost. Actual costs depend on final design, site conditions, selections, and subcontractor bids at the time of construction. MCM provides binding numbers only through the preconstruction process.