You might be thinking that if you already have a rough idea of what it is going to cost you to build the house, why would you need to work this hard to get a specific number. Well, the answer lies in money itself. If we all had endless, and unquestioned supplies of money we wouldn't have to know an accurate cost estimation. But that is not realistic because most of us don't have endless unquestioned supplies of money. Rather than having bags of money stored under our bed, we have a lender. And your lender is going to want, and require, to know exactly how much money you need. And, even if you aren't using a lender to finance your house, you probably don't have a lot of room for error, so, the closer your cost estimation the better. Starting your first construction project without a realistic estimate could spell financial disaster.

You should already have a rough idea of what homes in your area cost per square foot, so keep that idea in mind as you figure out what the cost of your home is going to be. Then, take it to the next level. You can't possibly think that just because you have a rough estimate that the lender is going to give you thousands of dollars to build your house.

Look at your list of take-off supplies, and decide which ones you are going to buy yourself, and what supplies you are going to have provided by contractors that are doing your jobs. Have those cost estimates created by the subs and contractors you are going to use, then do the other ones yourself.

Make lists and checklists, and comparison lists, and other lists to make sure you know how accurate your cost estimation is. One of the most important part of your cost estimations is to double check all of your figures. You certainly don't want to think you are on budget only to find out that your cost estimations were way off because you did not double check figures, and you thought that the lineal square feet were more or less than they were. More is better than less. When it comes to cost estimation, when you add up all the figures, you want to add at least 10-15% for waste and for under estimation.

You don't need to worry, you can make sure that the cost estimation you use, and the professionals you use are right on. Just use your resources to the best of your advantage. You can take your plans and specs to suppliers, contractors, and as many other people as you feel is necessary in order to get the best set of cost estimations and the most deadly accurate cost estimation out there. And won't your lender be impressed?