Cost-to-Build Calculator
Add up land, construction, soft, holding, and selling costs for a ground-up project — then compare to your expected resale value to see the profit left on the table.
Land & build size
The lot, anything you need to clear, and how big the finished house will be.
Soft, financing & selling
Permits and plans, the construction loan carry, and what it costs to sell at the end.
Expected resale value
Fill in the build size, build cost, and expected resale to see your profit.
Cost breakdown
This is an estimate based on the numbers you entered. A real ground-up budget needs a builder bid for hard costs and a recent new-construction resale comp set — not a rule of thumb. Always confirm with a full Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) before making an offer on the lot.
Skip the manual comp hunt
Fundry pulls matched new-construction comparable sales for any Georgia lot and builds the ground-up analysis for you. Free.
Run a real CMA freeThe five components of a ground-up budget
A ground-up pro forma is only as honest as the line items behind it. Every project has five cost buckets, and dropping any one of them is the fastest way to talk yourself into a deal that doesn't actually pencil:
- Land. The lot itself, plus any closing costs you pay to take title.
- Hard costs (construction). Foundation, framing, mechanicals, finishes, site work — everything the build physically consists of. Usually quoted as a dollar figure per finished square foot.
- Soft costs.Architecture, engineering, permits, surveys, impact fees, builder's risk insurance, and any other non-physical line items. A reasonable default is 15% of hard cost.
- Holding and financing costs. Construction-loan interest during the build, property taxes, utilities while the lot is yours, and any extension fees if the project runs long.
- Selling costs. Agent commissions, title fees, and seller-paid closing costs at resale — typically 5–7% of the sale price.
Build cost per square foot, and what moves it
The single biggest input in your ground-up budget is the dollar figure per finished square foot. Get this wrong and nothing else matters. In metro Atlanta in 2026, the rough bands look like:
- $150–$200/sqft. Builder-grade, simple plan, flat lot, vinyl or fiber-cement siding, builder-spec finishes.
- $200–$275/sqft. Mid-range product — better trim packages, higher-end appliances, a finished basement, modest brick or stone.
- $275–$350+/sqft. Custom plans, complex rooflines, premium finishes, hardscape, pools, sloped or wooded lots that need extra site work.
What moves the number: plan complexity, ceiling heights, the finish level your target buyer expects in that neighborhood, site work (grading, retaining walls, long driveways), current labor and materials pricing, and how well you negotiated with your general contractor. Quote it from a real GC bid, not a national average.
What ground-up investors target — and how it differs from a flip
On the profit side, ground-up investors typically look for a 15–20% margin on the projected resale value, with 20% or better considered a strong project. The reason the bar is higher than a flip isn't greed — it's exposure. A ground-up timeline is 9–14 months versus 3–6 for a flip, you're carrying a construction loan that whole time, and a soft market when you list is much more likely after a year than after a single quarter.
The biggest practical difference: on a flip your resale value is set by recently renovated houses in the area. On a ground-up build it's set by recent new constructionsales — and those comps behave differently. New builds sell at a premium per square foot, hold up better in soft markets, but are also more sensitive to plan choices and the new-build cohort the appraiser draws from. Pick comps that actually match what you're building, not just what's nearby.
From cost-to-build to a full Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
A cost-to-build estimate is the supply side of a ground-up project — what it takes to deliver the house. The demand side — what the finished house will actually sell for — comes from a real Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of nearby new-construction sales, weighted by recency, distance, square footage, and finish level. Both sides have to hold up for the deal to work.
Fundry builds the full ground-up analysis on any Georgia lot for free. Create a free account and let the comparable new-construction sales come to you.
Frequently asked questions
What goes into the cost to build a house?+
A ground-up budget has five buckets: land (the lot you buy), hard costs (everything physically built — framing, foundation, mechanicals, finishes), soft costs (architecture, permits, engineering, surveys, insurance), holding and financing costs (interest on the construction loan, property taxes, utilities during the build), and selling costs (agent commissions and closing costs at resale). Miss any one of them and your real margin shrinks.
What is a typical build cost per square foot?+
In metro Atlanta in 2026, builder-grade new construction usually runs between $150 and $200 per square foot of finished space, mid-range product lands closer to $200 to $275, and custom or high-end finishes push past $300. Your number depends on plan complexity, framing type, finish level, site work, and current labor and materials pricing.
What profit margin do ground-up investors target?+
Most ground-up investors look for at least a 15% to 20% profit margin on the projected resale value, with 20% or better considered a strong project. Margins below 10% leave very little cushion for construction overruns, interest carrying longer than planned, or a soft market when you list.
How is ground-up different from a flip?+
A flip starts with an existing house and a known structure — you renovate inside the envelope you bought. Ground-up starts with a lot and a plan: the build timeline is longer (typically 9 to 14 months versus 3 to 6 for a flip), the financing is a construction loan that draws in stages, soft costs and permits are a much larger line, and your resale value is set by what new homes — not renovated ones — sell for in the same neighborhood.
Why is soft cost set at 15% by default?+
Fifteen percent of hard construction cost is a workable industry rule of thumb for permits, architectural plans, engineering, surveys, builder's risk insurance, and similar non-physical line items on a metro Atlanta ground-up project. Custom or complex builds can push soft costs to 20% or more; simple builder plans on a flat lot can come in under 12%.
Is this cost-to-build calculator free?+
Yes. The calculator is completely free and requires no sign-up. If you want Fundry to pull comparable new-construction sales and pre-fill a ground-up analysis on any Georgia address, you can create a free account.
Where deals get decided
Search any Georgia lot. Fundry pulls the matched new-construction comparable sales, builds the resale value, and runs the full ground-up pro forma. Free.
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