What Should Design Fees Be For A Custom Designed ADU?

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding what is an appropriate design cost for ADU Projects. Hopefully this post will help cover some aspects of this debate so you can better budget for your project.

When embarking on an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) project, one of the critical decisions you'll face is determining the appropriate design fees for professionals to help you with your project. As an experienced ADU designer, I've had the privilege of working on numerous ADU projects across the country, and I firmly believe that investing in professional design services is the cornerstone of a successful outcome.

In this article, I'll provide a comprehensive perspective on design fees, focusing on why allocating 10-15% of your project budget to these services is not only reasonable but often a prudent investment in your ADU project.

If you read forums or facebook posts asking about ADU design fees and people are saying that $10,000 or more is expensive be very skeptical. If you are paying below $10,000 for designer services I would be very nervous about the quality of work you are getting or the experience level of the designer. Yes, there are designers out there willing to work for cheap prices, but you will also be getting cheap service. Remember, you get what you pay for.

1. The Value of Professional Expertise:

Architects and experienced ADU designers bring a wealth of expertise to ADU projects. From understanding local building codes and regulations to creating sustainable, efficient and aesthetically pleasing designs, our knowledge is invaluable.

ADUs require careful planning to maximize space, ensure structural integrity, and meet safety standards. By allocating an appropriate percentage of your budget to design fees, you're not just paying for drawings; you're investing in the peace of mind that comes with knowing your project is in capable hands. You are making an investment. And like other investments it will pay off in the long run.

2. Tailored Solutions for Your Needs:

Quality designers don’t provide one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, we build expertise in particular project types over years of studying, and practicing. We then work closely with you to understand your unique needs, preferences, and vision for your ADU, and draw on our experience to deliver a high quality design.

The design process is a collaborative effort, where your input is integrated into every decision, ensuring that the final product aligns with your goals and the specifics of your property. The level of customization and attention to detail that an architect or experienced designer can provide justifies the fees associated with their services.

3. Navigating Regulatory Challenges:

Local regulations, zoning requirements, climate variables, site conditions, and building codes can be complex and vary significantly from one property to another. Experienced designers are well-equipped to navigate this maze.

By working with a professional, you reduce the risk of costly mistakes, delays, or design revisions that may result from non-compliance. This ensures your project proceeds more smoothly, saving both time and money in the long run. And even when a designer runs up against regulatory hurdles, they know how to research codes, talk with staff at the building department, and negotiate their way through the approval process.

4. Maximizing Your Investment:

A well-designed ADU can significantly increase your property's value. By allocating 10-15% of your project budget to design fees, you're not just paying for the design itself; you're investing in a more valuable asset.

A thoughtfully designed ADU will attract tenants more easily, potentially increasing rental income and reducing vacancy time.

For homeowners, the value of your property will rise, ensuring that your investment pays off. The initial investment in design may sound like a lot, but it’s actually a very small part of the overall project budget, and even smaller part of the lifecycle cost of your project. For most ADUs, the design fees will be offset with only 6-12 months of rental income. This doesn’t even take into account the increase in your property value.

Considering ADUs can last decades, design is a tiny investment to make in a long term appreciating asset that can cashflow on a monthly basis.

5. Long-Term Savings:

Professional designers don’t just think about the immediate construction phase but also about the long-term sustainability of your ADU.

They can incorporate energy-efficient design elements that lead to lower utility bills and reduced maintenance costs. This can translate into significant savings over the years, offsetting the initial design fees and contributing to the overall financial viability of your ADU project.

Often these lifecycle savings can be multiples larger than the initial design fees. Wouldn’t you spend $25,000 to hire an experienced designer now to save $3,000 to $4,000 in maintenance and utility costs per year over 20 years? Design fees can easily cover themselves when taking a long term view of your ADU project.

6. What is an Appropriate Design Fee:

We have referenced 10-15% a few times in this article and I think it is a good range to roughly estimate what the fees should be for your ADU project. As you are setting your overall project budget it would be wise to pencil in fees in that range. The percentage can vary depending on the quality of the designer (higher fees often mean more experienced, better designers!), the complexity of your project, and the overall scope of work you ask the designer to handle for you.

This percentage range probably translates into an actual fee in the $20,000 to $50,000 range based on average costs of detached new construction ADU projects these days. We find that most ADUs come in at between $200,000 and $400,000 with some fancier, more luxurious designs coming in even higher than that.

This might sound like a lot of money, but like we discussed above, think of design as an investment, not a fee. You are hiring an expert to guide you through the process, help you make the best decisions for your project, and to be an advisor who has your best interest in mind as they work on your project.

Investing in design is money well spent. I even argue that the higher the design fees the better your project will come out. With higher fees you will get to hire a more experienced team, you will get more attention, and that expert design team can spend more time working to make your project a big success.

7. Start With A Total Project Budget (Design Fees Are Not An Added Cost):

Too many people take the viewpoint that the cost of hiring a designer is an added fee increasing their project cost. You may look at design as a place that you can save money. This is the wrong viewpoint.

Begin by developing a total amount you are willing to invest in your project. Say it is $300,000 all-in. Now you work backwards from that number to break down your budget into different buckets.

Say there are $10,000 in estimated permit fees. Investing in a expert design team runs $30,000. Add $4,500 for structural engineering, $5,000 for a survey, and $500 for title 24 report. That is a total soft cost amount of $50,000, which leaves a construction budget of $250,000 for the ADU itself. You should be able to get a high quality ADU designed by a team of experts all within the total project budget.

Looking at the chart below, you can see how small the design fees actually are in the context of the total project cost.

In conclusion, while design fees for your ADU project may initially seem like an added cost, they are, in fact, a prudent investment in your project's success. Allocating 10-15% of your budget to design fees ensures you receive a customized, code-compliant, and aesthetically pleasing design. The expertise, tailored solutions, and regulatory know-how that an experienced designer provides can save you time, money, and stress in the long run. Moreover, a well-designed ADU can increase your property's value and generate long-term savings, making it a sound financial decision. So, don't hesitate to invest in professional design services; it's an investment that pays dividends in the quality and value of your ADU project.

Video: ADU Costs - What we can learn from Portland

I was interviewed by Ryan O’Connell from How To ADU about the cost of designing and building ADU projects in both Portland (and across Oregon State) and in the Bay Area (and across California). You can watch the interview below.

How To ADU has a ton of great resources, articles, and videos about ADUs. It is a great place to learn more about these projects. If you are considering an ADU but want to learn more check out their site (or of course you can contact me as well).

There are a few other ways you can get started with an ADU project. I offer custom design services for clients looking for beautiful and sustainable ADU projects. I love working with clients who want to create high quality spaces and don’t want to sacrifice on quality.

I also sell pre-designed ADU Plans for people who are looking to save time and money and who can’t afford fully customized design. There are over 15 different designs and plans available that can work for almost any need. Click the button below to shop for the plan that fits your specific needs.

Frequently Asked Questions about Designing and Building Custom Homes

How does the design process work?

We have a set design process that we lead you through in order to deliver the best results. We break down each project into 5 phases so there is a clear and predictable path that each project moves along. We have outlined this process in detail in another post. Click the button below to learn more.

How long does it take to design a Custom Home?

This can vary greatly from project to project depending on the specifics of the property, the size of the home, and the clients. If you can make decisions relatively quickly we can design a home in 6-9 months. If you want to take your time and deliberate longer on decisions than a 1-year design timeline is a good rough estimate. Keep in mind, this is for the design work. The permitting review and construction process would be added on to these estimate. For a rough order of magnitude you can anticipate 1.5 to 2 years total from start to finish. As we mentioned in our Value statement, we want to serve the best interest of our clients and that takes time. Like the growth of the slow food movement as a pushback against unhealthy fast food, we believe quality is vital and working diligently through our process leads to the best results. And the best results take time.

How much does it cost to build a custom home?

We expanded on this in more detail here. However, as a quick estimate you can assume a custom home would start at around $1 million and go up depending on the size, the site, the quality of materials, systems, and other elements in the project. Your overall budget is really about your goals and ideas and how much you want and are able to spend on the project. We have design small homes, ADUs, that were around $300,000 and we have designed full custom homes for $1,000,000. Larger, higher-end, homes are easily $2 million or more. It really depends on what you are specifically looking for. We start our design process by interviewing you to better understand your wants, needs, goals, ideas, and lifestyle so we can deliver a project that is unique to the specifics of your life and property.

What is included in the design fee?

When any client first contacts us we listen to their goal and ideas, we then ask questions to get an intimate understanding of what they want and need, and what their lifestyle is so we can best craft a solution. Based on this analysis of the uniqueness of your project, we develop a proposal that is specific to your project and the value we can provide as designers and advisors. We also offer tiers of services that you can select to best serve your needs, expectations, and budget. This is a long way of saying, “it depends.”

Generally speaking, our design fees cover Predesign, Schematic Design, Construction Documents, Permitting, and Construction Administration. These are the five phases we guide each project through from our first meeting to handing you the keys to a beautiful custom home. You can learn more about what each of the phases covers by reading the Design Process post linked above.

What other expenses should I expect?

Outside of the design fees there are a handful of expenses that you need to consider. First is the construction cost, of course. This would be the cost of materials and labor paid to the General Contractor. There will also be a handful of consultants needed to complete your project. This includes a surveyor, structural engineer, perhaps a Civil Engineer and Geotechnical engineer (these depend on the property and full scope of design work), arborists, and landscape designers. There may also need to be energy consultants or other special consultants depending on the local requirements.

Other than construction costs and consultant fees, the other major expense will be the Permitting fees assessed by your local jurisdiction. Each city and town is different and has different fee structures so we will conduct that research and report on estimated permitting costs during our Pre-design phase.

How will I know that I will like the end result?

Design is an iterative process and involves sharing ideas, discussing your style, taste, preferences, needs, and wants. It is our job to listen to you, learn about your lifestyle, and understand what you are looking for and then transform that into a design of your custom home. Throughout the design process you will sit down with us as we present design ideas, floor plan layouts, and other drawings to describe the look and feel of your home. Together we will talk through pros and cons of different options and actually sketch ideas as we refine the design into a beautiful home that reflects your values. This iterative process has led to successful designs that our clients love as well as designs that have been recognized and won awards from the design community.

It is also recommended that you look through our portfolio, follow our instagram account, and make sure that our style and values are aligned with what you are looking for. We tend to design modern or contemporary styled projects that are connected to nature and influenced by the landscape around them. If you are looking for a craftsman style suburban home we probably aren’t the right designer for you. However, if you like the work you see on our website, I’m confident that we can design a beautiful project that you love and are proud to call home.

What drawings are included in your services?

There are two main drawing sets that are created during our design process. There is the Schematic Design set and the Construction Documents set. Each has their own specific drawings that are included. For the SD set we include a site plan, floor plans, elevations, sections, and 3D views to describe the design intent. However, to arrive at the final drawing package we do a lot of drawings as we present options and work through the iterative design process. There are a series of plans, elevations, 3D views and hand sketches that we create and use to talk through design ideas along the way.

The Construction Documents Set includes all of the drawings that are needed to both receive a permit from the local building department as well as the information needed for a General Contractor to bid and then build the project. This includes but is not limited to: general notes, a detailed site plan, dimensioned floor plans, building elevations, building sections, foundation plans, reflected ceiling plans, enlarged floor plans, interior elevations, assemblies, schedules, construction details, finishes, fixtures, and equipment lists, and structural engineering and other drawings provided by the consultant team.

Who manages the permitting process?

It is part of our standard scope of work to oversee the permitting of our projects. This includes compiling the permit drawings, filling out permit applications, and submitting all of this to the local building department. We then follow up to respond to any review questions or requests for additional information. There may be a few forms you are required to sign as the project owner, but otherwise we manage the process on your behalf.

Do you have experience working in my local area?

I have worked across the country and around the world and have had success on projects regardless of location. I worked remotely on a project in northern Alberta and I worked with communities as far away as rural Japan. I lived and worked in Thailand, China, and Germany. In earlier years I worked on the design of train stations in Russia, renovations in Berlin, and ADUs in Seattle and the Bay Area. I’ve lived and worked in Portland, Oregon and designed over 100 projects across Oregon. My home base is currently Brooklyn, NY but I travel frequently for work and pleasure. The point is, I may have some experience in your area but I also know how to work in different locations. Regardless of the location of the project, I do the research needed to understand the local rules and regulations, the local permitting process. I collaborate with local contractors and craftspeople, and of course I visit the site to understand the unique aspects of your property and the surrounding landscape.

Do you stay involved during construction?

Absolutely. It is vital to have your designer follow the project through to completion. There are always some adjustments when translating drawings into a built home and we are there to help answer questions, make suggestions, and observe that the construction is following the design intent. I will be an advocate for you during the construction process to get a high-quality home that aligns with the values and design ideas we worked on throughout our design process. A designer stepping away during construction is irresponsible and doesn’t have their client’s best interest at heart. Construction Administration is an important part of our standard services for all residential projects.

Do you have builders/General Contractors you can recommend?

Recommending contractors is part of our services. Working with trustworthy, high-quality contractors and craftspeople is key to the success of a project. In places where we have already completed projects we can recommend people we had great working relationships with. In new locations we do an extensive search to find qualified contractors to collaborate with. This means reviewing contractor websites, talking to local designers, architects, and engineers to get recommendations. We reach out to the companies that have a good reputation and interview them and ask for references to follow up with. Ultimate we typically recommend about 3 companies for each project and have you meet with them. It is important that you meet and get a good feeling for the contractor as they will be a big part of the success of your project. We want to make sure you have a good feeling about them and they are both excellent communicators and have the experience needed to build a finely crafted home.

Can we make changes to the design during construction?

Changes during construction are not recommended. Change orders are often what causes budgets to get out of control. It is always much more expensive to make changes during construction than working out design options on paper. It is also important to consider that there are many factors that influenced what was design. Changes during construction can affect structural systems or may not meet codes that were considered during the initial design. Even when contractors make suggestions for changes in order to save money, we find that often it ads as much expenses and what they think they will save. Major changes require additional drawings and details to document what is changing and need to be reviewed by the jurisdiction as a permit revision. And even small changes can cause delays and additional costs. For these reasons we highly recommend that once construction begins we all stick to the original design.

Custom Homes: How Much Do They Cost?

If you are considering designing and building a custom home there are three steps you need to take as you embark on this journey. You have to find land, find a designer and builder, and set a project budget. When people reach out to us about their projects, cost considerations are typically the first question they ask. They may already have land picked out, or are looking for our help as they consider different properties. What they are most stressed about is seeing if they can afford a project that meets their goals and ideas. Budget is top of mind and usually a big part of our early conversations. Here we will discuss the various aspects of a project budget and some numbers of recent projects so you can have a jumping off point as you consider your project.

When I read articles like this, I always get frustrated trying to find the answer to the first question. How much will it cost? Rather than make you scroll all the way to the bottom (although you should definitely read through everything) let’s get right to the chase. The answer is $1,260,000 plus the cost of land.

Of course that isn’t exactly accurate. It is impossible to give you an exact number without knowing more about the specifics of your project, but it it isn’t that far fetched. I would say that most nicely designed custom homes will start at around $1 million and go up from there. It may be possible to build something very nice for under that amount, especially if you are looking for a smaller project like a weekend getaway cabin, or some other modest project. But for most full sized houses, say 1,500 square feet and up, I would venture to guess that the final cost will start at around $1 million when all factors are considered. Keep reading for a more detailed breakdown of how these costs add up.

There are three main expenses you will need to plan for with a custom home. The first is the cost of the land. Second is the soft costs - all the fees that are needed to develop the design and get permission to build the project. Third are the hard costs - the expenses of actually building the project.

Land Costs

Unfortunately you are going to hear this a lot, but this cost is widely variable. Depending on the location, the local market, the type of land, the quality of the property, surrounding property values, views, water features, and other qualities, the price can fluctuate. For example, I’ve been looking at land in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions of New York State and have seen land that cost $2,000/acre and others that have been over $100,000/acre. The main factors were views, if the property was on a river or lake, and the location - closer to New York City or the trendy towns in the Hudson Valley drove up the cost significantly. I am hoping to narrow in on some properties in the range of $10,000 per acre and want a minimum of 10 acres of land. So my land budget is about $100,000 to $150,000.

On the other hand, I have also been helping a client search for land in the High Desert of Oregon (a couple hours drive from Portland) and we are eyeing a property that is 60 acres for $199,000, or around $3,300/acre.

Soft Costs

When just throwing around rough numbers as you start thinking through the project budget, we recommend you allocate 20% of the project budget to soft costs with the remaining 80% going to the hard costs. This is a general rule of thumb and a good guideline to use before you start getting actual numbers to plug into your calculations. This 20% would cover design fees, engineering costs, permitting fees, insurance, financing costs, site survey, and other required expenses before ground is broken to start construction. Let’s break this down a bit further.

Design Fees
You can budget about 10-15% of the project budget for design fees. Some designers might be a bit cheaper but also may not offer the same level of service. Designing a custom home is a significant investment and you want a design team that is going to give it the time and dedication it needs to do it right and create a high-quality result. Compared to the cost of construction, design fees are still a small percentage of the overall project and not somewhere you want to cut costs. Design fees vary depending on the firm, their reputation, the budget of the project, what scope of work is included in the fee, and the local market, among other factors. In NYC we have seen 12% as a very common design fee percentage, where famous starchitect firms may be 15% or some could even be as high as 20-25%. I offer a few different tiers of design fees depending on the scope of work, 10%, 12%, or 15%.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you are looking to spend $1,000,000 on the construction of your home. You can thus budget between $100,000 to $150,000 for design fees.

Engineering/Consultant Fees
A few different engineers are needed for most residential projects: civil engineering, geotechnical (soils) engineering, and structural engineering. Occasionally we may also engage a Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing engineer if it is a complex project, although typically we approach these systems as a design-build where the contractor who installs the system also does the design and permitting work. You can budget about 1% of the construction cost for each engineer as a placeholder before we get actual bids from companies. Fees could vary if it is a complicated site; steep topography for instance. A site survey is also required and could add another $5,000 or so in fees depending on the site. Other consultants may also be necessary like arborists, landscape designers, energy consultants, and others depending on the specifics of your project and your property.

For that same theoretical $1,000,000 project you are looking at around $35,000 to $50,000 in consultant fees.

Permitting Fees
Each jurisdiction has their own permitting process and associated fees. Typically there is a permit review fee for the actual time and effort for the building department to review the drawing set and issue an approved permit. On top of that, most cities and towns also asses system development charges for new construction. These are fees that cover town expenses for infrastructure and services like roads, schools, utilities (water and sewer systems), parks, and other amenities.

On a custom home we completed in Portland that was valued at $750,000 in new construction, the total city fees came in around $47,000.00. That includes about $16,500 in permit fees and $30,500 in System Development Charges (SDCs). That is a lot of money! Not every jurisdiction will be this expensive to get a permit. Call the town where you are planning to build and talk to someone in their building department. Alternatively, many places have permit fee calculators on their building department websites.

Let’s use $50,000 to be conservative.

Insurance
It is recommended that you carry insurance during the construction process. This would cover things like unexpected events: think fire, weather, vandalism, or theft. The goal is to have security that if there is an issue during construction your insurance would cover losses or increased expenses to prevent the bank from foreclosing on the project. Policies vary depending on deductible and coverage amount. Annual premiums can range between 1% and 4% of the project cost but call an insurance company to get specific quotes.

Say 1% for now, for $10,000.

Financing Costs
This would be the cost of securing a construction loan, plus the interest you will pay throughout the project’s construction. Most construction loans work like a line of credit, so you make monthly draws to pay for the General Contractor’s labor and materials. You then start accruing interest on that balance until the project is complete and you then refinance into a more traditional mortgage (at a lower interest rate and a longer loan term). Closing costs on the loan could be around 1% of the loan amount, and interest can add up quickly - probably around 5% of the loan amount over the course of year, although the actual amount will depend on the interest rate and length of construction.

Say $50,000 for the loan fees and 12 months of interest accrual.

Altogether we are right around $260,000 in expenses (using 10% for design fees) on top of the estimated construction cost of $1,000,000. That is almost exactly 20% of the project cost ($260,000/$1,260,000).

Hard Cost

Before construction has even begun you have already spent about 20% of your project budget, more if you include the cost of land. We understand it is stressful being this far into the project without even seeing progress on the site. This is why everyone is so excited when that permit approval arrives and construction can begin.

At this point the cost of your project shifts from the design team to the General Contractor. The GC will take over leading the project and will typically invoice monthly based on the construction progress and the month’s labor and material costs accrued. This monthly invoice will be approved and then sent to the bank to issue payment from your construction loan.

Let’s discuss how we can estimate the cost of construction. First, I’d like to state for the record that I dislike cost per square foot calculations. All square footage isn’t considered equal, so we shouldn’t assign the same cost evenly across the project. Kitchens and bathrooms are expensive with all of the electrical work, plumbing work, casework, cabinets, counters, tile, etc. On the other hand, bedrooms, typically just empty rooms, are cheap square footage. So adding a second kitchen is much more expensive on a cost per square foot basis than adding an extra bedroom. This all being said, sometimes cost per square foot is the easiest way to make quick calculations. Let’s walk through some calcs.

Typical construction costs for a nice custom home start at around $350 per square foot and go up from there. For example, a new construction 2,500 square foot home would have a rough construction budget of $875,000 (2500 x $350). However, if you are looking for something more towards the luxury side, you could start seeing cost per square foot approach $500/sf or even higher. There are hundreds of decisions we will make together throughout the design phase that will affect this cost. In our $1 million dollar house example mentioned in the soft costs section, we would be looking at about $400/sf.

Why do I hate cost per square foot so much? Let’s say you want a smaller house - more of a weekend getaway in the mountains rather than a larger home for full-time living. In that case maybe you only need a nicely designed 1,200sf home. Using the cost per square foot calculation you will get a construction cost of $420,000. Sounds great. However, that is misleading. The expensive parts of the home (kitchens and bathrooms, excavation, and utilities, etc. ) aren’t being subsidized by as much cheap square footage (bedrooms, dining room, etc.). You should expect the cost per square foot for smaller projects to be higher than larger homes. For some of the Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) we have designed, cost per square foot often came in at around $500/sf or more, and we even saw a couple come in closer to $800/sf (one was on a steeply sloped site with complicated foundations and structural requirements).

For nice round numbers, from my experience I would say a high-quality ADU would start at $250,000 in construction cost or $300,000 in full project costs and up. A small vacation home would start at around $500,000 in construction cost or $600,000 in full project cost and up. Meanwhile, a full custom home would start at around $1,000,000 in construction cost and $1,200,000 in full project cost and go up from there.

Other considerations for Construction Cost:

Clients have immense control over the final cost of their projects. We guide you through the hundreds of decisions to be made but at the end of the day you are the one who has the final say on what you are willing to spend, and make the decisions that affect the cost. For example, you can get tile for the bathroom that cost $3/sf or tile that costs $30/sf. Kitchen appliances could be a few thousand or $30,000. Windows and doors can be cheap vinyl or luxury triple-pane, high-efficient, European tilt-turn windows for hundreds of thousands. Roofing, siding, flooring, structure, heating/cooling systems, hardware, lighting fixtures, and dozens of other decisions will have large impacts on the final cost.

Of course the property you pick at the beginning will also impact the construction cost. Steep slopes could necessitate more expensive structure, retaining walls, and other site expenses. Granite bedrock close to the surface can make excavation extremely expensive, especially if you are considering a basement. Having to clear trees, or level a flat part of the site can add costs. If the building site is far back from the street you could have to build a long driveway and pay to get utilities back to the house location. If the property is rural and necessitates a septic system or water well, rather than tying into the city utilities, that could add significant cost. These are all reasons it is important to do due diligence and maybe even hire the design team prior to putting in an offer on a piece of land.

Conclusion

There is a lot to think about. Budgeting needs to be well thought out and will be affected by lots of outside forces and personal decisions. These numbers are just rough guidelines to get you started as you consider your options. Most importantly, we are happy to talk with you about your goals and ideas and offer any advice or insight based on the specifics of your project. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We can also help you crunch some early numbers and even help you find land if you want some help looking for the right property for your dream home. Let us know how we can help.

The Hill House is a schematic design we developed for a client in southern Washington State. The estimated construction cost was around $500/sf for a total cost of around $2,000,000. Excavating on a sloped site to get a basement garage, concrete and steel construction system, and the floor to ceiling window package were significant drivers of this cost.

The Sheltered Nook House was a very cost effective project coming in at around $350/sf for the house itself. At 2,200 sf the cost was around $780,000 for the house structure. On top of that was the cost of the land, cost of installing a well and septic system, some site grading, some excavation and retaining walls. The total project was closer to $1,000,000 when considering those other costs.

This Accessory Dwelling unit is just 700sf and ended up at around $400/sf. Smaller projects have a much higher cost per square foot since they have all the expensive parts of a full house but without the cheap space (extra bedrooms, living and dining rooms, etc.).

This project is around 1,200sf with a project cost of about $360,000 for a cost per square foot of around $300/sf. This is one of the more affordable projects we have done with the goal of balancing nicely designed spaces with affordable materials. Fiberglass windows and doors, hardie-siding, asphalt shingle roof, Ikea kitchen, and affordable tiles and floor materials kept the cost down. Plus the 1,200sf includes the garage area which is a simple empty room with concrete floor and drywall walls.