Custom home builders in the Tri-Cities start around $450,000 for a finished home including the land. There is no reliable per square foot price on a custom home: two identical 2,000 square foot houses can differ by tens of thousands of dollars on finishes alone. Cabinetry can run $24,000 or $50,000 in the same kitchen.
The short version
- The entry point in the Tri-Cities is roughly $450,000 for a basic home with land.
- Two identical floor plans can differ by tens of thousands of dollars based only on finish selections.
- Site work on rural land (well, septic, power) is a second budget, separate from the house.
- Washington’s energy code adds roughly $20,000 to $30,000 to a home, and almost nobody warns you about it.
- A real number requires quotes from every trade on your specific plan. There is no shortcut.
Why won’t custom home builders give a price per square foot?
Because the number would be misleading. A custom home’s cost is set by the owner’s choices, not by its size. The same 2,000 square feet can carry a metal roof or composite shingles, stucco or lap siding, construction grade quartz or a designer slab. A per foot figure hides all of it.
John Worlund explains it better than we do.
“When you buy a bag of groceries, do you put milk and bread in it, or steak and salmon and shrimp?” he says. “It’s two different costs per bag. It’s the same thing with a house.”
A production builder in a subdivision can quote by the foot because those costs are already set in a row. A truly custom home does not work that way, so any builder handing you a per foot number is either building the same house repeatedly or guessing.
What actually drives the price of a custom home?
Finishes, mostly. On past Anasazi projects an appliance package has run from about $8,000 to $30,000, and kitchen cabinetry from roughly $24,000 to $50,000 for the same room. Roof type, exterior material and countertop grade move the number the same way. These are past examples, not quotes.
| Decision | Range in past Anasazi projects |
|---|---|
| Appliance package | around $8,000 at the low end, up to $30,000 |
| Kitchen cabinetry | roughly $24,000 to $50,000 for the same room |
| Roof | composite shingle or standing seam metal |
| Exterior | lap siding or stucco |
| Countertops | construction grade granite and quartz, or designer slabs |
The cabinetry range is the one that surprises people. Same kitchen, same footprint, and the number moves by $26,000 based on what you pick. That is not a builder marking things up. That is the actual cost of the choice.
If your budget is tight, this is good news, because it means you have real control. Shrinking the house is usually the wrong first move. The footprint matters less than the finishes, and past a certain size the math stops working. Adjusting cabinetry or putting carpet in the bedrooms instead of LVP throughout will do more for your budget than cutting 200 square feet.
How much does land and site work cost on top of the house?
If you are building on raw acreage you are managing two budgets. On past Anasazi projects a well ran up to about $19,000 for roughly 270 feet, a gravity flow septic system ran $10,000 to $14,000, and an engineered system ran $14,000 to $25,000. A finished subdivision lot with utilities stubbed in needs very little of this.
Three things set the price of a well: how deep you have to drill, the diameter of the pipe, and the size of the pump. Septic cost depends on the ground, the code, the size of the house, and what the health district requires.
There is no honest all in figure for raw acreage, because most of what people are really asking about is the price of the land itself, and that is a real estate question rather than a construction one.
If you are looking at land now, talk to a builder before you buy it. Anasazi walks lots for free, and that visit has saved more than one client from a parcel that looked fine on paper.
What is the hidden cost most custom home builders never mention?
Washington State energy code compliance adds roughly $20,000 to $30,000 to a home. It is not an upgrade you chose and not a line item you can see. The state keeps raising energy requirements for new construction, and meeting them costs real money in insulation, air sealing, windows and mechanical systems.
Most buyers find out about it after they have already set their budget.
Anasazi has built in Fairbanks, Alaska and in North Dakota, where a badly built envelope is a survival problem rather than a comfort one. The habits from those jobs carry over here, which is one reason the energy requirements feel less like a burden and more like how they already work. It still costs what it costs, and you should know that going in.
What is not included in a custom home builder’s price?
Landscaping, landscape grading, fencing and window coverings are not included unless they are specifically bid. Appliances are carried as an allowance rather than a fixed cost. The driveway is always defined explicitly, since a short subdivision approach and a long rural run are different jobs. Final grading around the house is included.
Anasazi carries all of this outside the bid so nothing gets assumed. A 40 foot approach in a subdivision and a 600 foot gravel run to a rural building site are not remotely the same job, and pretending otherwise is how disputes start.
Anasazi does not focus on remodels or additions. They build custom homes.
How do custom home builders calculate your real number?
By sending your specific plan and your selections to every trade on the team and working through the questions that come back. John Worlund counts close to thirty separate contacts across subcontractors, cities and counties before a real total exists. Nobody can price a custom home accurately on a first phone call.
Before that comes the design work: two or three rounds with the architect. Then the selections, which often happen at the supply houses rather than over a catalog, because most people cannot picture a tile from a photograph.
“So many times we take people to the supply houses,” John says. “It’s visual, it enables someone to make that choice.”
When the quotes are in, John does something odd and useful. He writes the real total on a piece of paper face down. You and your spouse write what you think it will be. Everyone flips at once. On one project he wrote $554,000, the husband wrote $590,000, the wife wrote $560,000, and the rest of the sale was simple. It keeps everyone looking at the same reality.
If the number lands above your budget, that is where the real work starts. The full process is here, stage by stage.
Does the price change once your custom home is under construction?
Only if you change it. Anasazi builds on a fixed price turnkey contract signed three ways, by you, by Anasazi and by your bank. If you want something different after work starts, that becomes a separate contract with its own fixed price, quoted to you before you agree to it.
Some of those changes run alongside the house without touching the schedule. On one project a set of long retaining walls with staircases between them got added mid build, and because the work was outside, the house kept moving. Other changes do affect the timeline. John will tell you which kind you are looking at before you decide.
This matters because the opposite model is the single most common complaint John hears about other builders. “Overcharging, underbidding and then charging extras, and not being clear, and not having a set turnkey price,” he says. “The job just goes on and on and they get charged more and more.”
What if your budget will not cover a custom home yet?
Then a good builder tells you so. John’s advice is to buy something existing, keep saving, get your debt to income ratio in shape, and avoid taking on credit while a loan application is in progress. Building a smaller home is a real option too.
What he will not do is talk you into a project that does not work.
One client came in after losing her husband, wanting to build with the insurance settlement specifically so she would not carry a mortgage. As the pricing came together the number kept climbing, and when she saw the total it shook her. Then she said she would rather settle for a house that was free and clear. They went back through it together, took things out, rearranged, and found a home she could afford and was happy with, knowing she could add to it later.
“Very few can walk themselves back and be satisfied,” John says.
Questions homeowners often ask
What is the cheapest a custom home builder in the Tri-Cities can build?
Around $450,000 for a basic home including land. Below that, most people are better served buying something existing.
Why won’t you give me a price per square foot?
Because two identical floor plans can differ by tens of thousands of dollars based on finishes alone. A square foot price on a custom home describes a house nobody is building.
Do I need to be pre-approved before you will quote me?
Not for the first conversation, which is free. But before real numbers and design work begin, you need lender pre-approval, because what your lender approves defines the scope of the build.
How much do I need for a down payment?
A custom construction loan generally requires about 20 percent down, compared with roughly 3 percent to buy a finished spec home. Most people do not know this going in, and it changes the plan for some of them.
Is the site work included in the price you quote me?
It is quoted, but as its own component. On a build on your lot project you get two numbers, the home and the site development, and you see both before signing anything.
Does the contract price change during construction?
Not unless you request a change. Anything you add becomes a separate contract at a price you approve first.
Every project starts the same way, with a phone call that costs nothing and commits you to nothing. If you want to know what your budget actually builds in Pasco, Kennewick, or Richland, schedule a free first conversation and John will walk you through it honestly.
You can also see homes Anasazi has built or read more about how a fully custom home comes together.
