Michael:
I recently inquired about house plans for a 2000' sf with a local Architectural Firm. It is a 2 story common with an elevator. The price I received was was over $18000. The custom plans for the 2000 sf I live in now were less than $2000, 8 years ago. Is there a formula, say dollar per sf or percent of projected construction cost for plans? I want to use a professional architect, but I cant afford to pay over 10% of the total cost of the entire property for a set of plans.
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks,
Robby Knox
RV-8 Finishing the Finishing Kit and hopefully starting my home at Eagle Neck(1GA0), this Autumn.
Robby,
There isn't an easy formula answer to this question, because no two architects are the same. There is a difference between an architect who designs factories, or strip malls, or schools and one who designs homes. A residential architect designs homes because he
wants to design homes. It's where his interest and passion lay. A commercial or industrial architect
can design a home, but his interest and passion are elsewhere. The difference is "vision", the architect's personal outlook on things, and it can make the difference between having just a house and having a real eye-opening jaw-dropper.
When you hire an architect you are buying that vision, and it is important that you find an architect who shares your personal vision for what this home is supposed to be. There is no value in hiring an architect who wants to design a palace when all you want is 4 walls and a roof. However, an architect who is himself a pilot, for instance, would relate and "connect" with you better than one who designs schools and/or hates flying. He shares your passion for aviation, and has a better chance of being in tune with the special needs of an airpark home, placement to the runway, sound issues, impact on the surrounding neighbors, and so on. If he costs more than the non-pilot architect, would it be worth the extra money to you? Is there extra value in his design because his vision and passion allow him to tailor the home to your specific mission?
There is an inescapable cost difference (both designing and building) between a basic house and a palace. You mentioned the price difference between the plans for your current home and your proposed design...does your current home have a hangar attached to it? Is it located in a middle-class subdivision or an up-scale neighborhood? A lot can change in 8 years. Building costs go up, land costs go up, new building codes require different and possibly more expensive construction methods...and on and on. Please remember also that the home and the hangar are separate buildings cost-wise, whether they are physically connected or not. There are spearate and different design rules and construction requirements for each. Was the $18,000 for both the house and the hangar? Are there any special requirements for the home (you mentioned an elevator...)? All of these things factor into the design cost, and while some architects will use a flat fee for a basic home, many will base their fee on the total cost of the project as that cost escalates, so all of these things do matter. As a rule of thumb, 6% - 7% of the final cost of the home (about what your real estate agent would charge to find a house for you) is not unusual or uncommon to design a nice house. If the total cost of your project (land, house and hangar together) are going to cost between $250,000 and $350,000, and the $18,000 was for both house and hangar, it's not that bad of a deal (5% - 7% says my calculator).
At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if you are happy with the total package you're getting. Is your architect on the same wavelength with you? Does he see your project as something special, or just another job to pay his bills? Do you feel the value of the services you're receiving is worth the money you're paying? The answers will be different for each of us. There's a lot of homework to do to pick the right architect, and maybe your "inner voice" is telling you that you need to look at a few others. Competing for design work is nothing new to architects, we do it all the time. Talk to a few more, get them to do some basic sketches of their ideas (this should be relatively cheap), and see which one stands out above the others.
Best,
). However, from 1000 miles away (give or take a few gallons of 100LL) the best I can offer is to talk to a couple of architects I know in Houston and see if they can either recommend anyone in the Lubbock area, or possibly take the project on themselves if you're interested in persuing this option.
