What Actually Changes a Build Quote in Central Virginia — and Why You Can't Trust a Single Number

You'll see it on every builder's website. "Build a home from $X per square foot." Some say $155. Some say $200. Some say $300+.

So you do the math in your head — 1,500 square feet times whatever number — and you walk into the consultation expecting a quote that matches.

Then the real number comes in and it's different. Sometimes a little different. Sometimes a lot different.

Here's the truth nobody on the builder side wants to say out loud: there is no single number. Two clients building the exact same plan, the exact same size, with the exact same builder, can end up with quotes thousands of dollars apart. And neither of them is being ripped off.

The number depends on five things. They don't show up in your Pinterest board. They don't show up in the floor plan. But they decide your final price.

Here's what they are.

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Variable #1: City vs. County (and Which County)

The single biggest variable in a Central Virginia build that buyers underestimate is which jurisdiction your lot sits in.

Richmond City, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Hanover County, Goochland County, Powhatan County, Petersburg City, Dinwiddie County — every one of these is a separate world for new construction.

What changes when you cross a county line:

• Impact fees (the one-time charges localities bill you for adding a home to their water/sewer/road system) — can vary by thousands of dollars between two counties that touch
• Permit fees for building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing — different schedules in every locality
• Plan review process — some jurisdictions are 2-week turnaround, some are 6+ weeks. That's interest on your construction loan we're talking about.
• Inspection regimes — different inspectors, different stages, different tolerance for "we'll fix it on the next pass"

A buildable lot 30 miles east of Richmond and a buildable lot 30 miles west of Richmond can produce quotes that differ meaningfully before we even break ground — just because of the locality.

This is the first thing I look at when somebody sends me a lot. Before the floor plan. Before the finishes. Before the loan. Where's the lot?

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Variable #2: Water and Sewer Hookups

This one is invisible until it's a major line item.

Three scenarios:

Scenario A — Public water + public sewer at the curb. Most affordable. The locality charges a connection fee, the contractor runs the line a few feet, you're connected. This is what most suburban infill lots have.

Scenario B — Public water at the curb, no sewer (septic required). Connection fee plus a private septic system. Septic adds real cost and a soil test (perc test) that has to happen before you can confirm the lot is even buildable.

Scenario C — No public water OR sewer (well + septic). You're drilling a well and installing a septic system. Both can run into real money depending on the lot.

A beautiful wooded acre at the end of a country road is romantic — until the septic perc test fails and the well driller hits dry rock at 400 feet. We've seen it happen.

This is also why two lots that look almost identical on Zillow can have wildly different all-in costs. One has public utilities at the curb. The other doesn't.

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Variable #3: Permits, Impact Fees, and Plan Approval

Every locality bills permits differently. Some charge a flat fee per project. Some scale with square footage. Some scale with declared construction value. Some have separate impact fees for schools, roads, parks, water, and sewer — each billed independently.

The "permits and fees" line in a build budget can range widely depending on:

• The locality
• The size of the home
• Whether there are additional impact fees for new construction in that growth area
• Whether the lot triggers any special review (floodplain, historic district, conservation overlay)

And the timeline matters as much as the cost. A 4-week permit delay on a construction loan is real money you're spending just to wait.

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Variable #4: Land Prep

Land prep is the single biggest "I didn't know that wasn't included" cost in residential construction.

Things that decide the land prep number:

• How much clearing (mature trees? brush? open lot?)
• How much grading (flat lot? slope? need to bring in fill dirt? need to haul dirt away?)
• Tree removal (selective? full clear? are there protected trees that legally can't come down?)
• Soil conditions (clay that needs amendment? rock that has to be blasted? wetlands?)
• Existing structures (old shed? abandoned foundation? buried oil tank from a house that burned down in 1962?)
• Access (can a concrete truck back up to the foundation, or do we need to build a temporary road?)

I've seen identical floor plans price out far apart based on land prep alone — one lot was a graded, cleared, ready-to-build parcel; the other was a wooded acre with a 12-foot drop from the road to the building pad.

This is why I always — always — walk a lot with a buyer before we firm up any number. Photos don't tell the truth. The dirt tells the truth.

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Variable #5: The Build Itself

Once the locality, the utilities, the permits, and the land prep are squared away, then the actual home pricing comes in. And even here, the variables stack:

• Plan-based (we've built this before) vs. fully custom (designing from scratch)
• Slab on grade vs. crawlspace vs. basement
• Single-story vs. two-story (two-story is more efficient per sqft on the footprint, but more complex to frame and finish)
• Footprint and square footage (1,200 vs. 1,800 vs. 2,400 sqft — non-linear pricing because some line items are fixed and some scale)
• Finish package (the "standard" package vs. the "I want quartz everywhere and hardwood floors" package — this alone can swing a quote significantly)
• Garage, porch, deck (any of these can be in the base plan or an add-on)
• Appliances (most builders include some — most exclude the refrigerator and washer/dryer)

Two clients with the same square footage and the same builder can end up far apart at the same price-per-square-foot quote just because one wanted the upgraded finish package and one didn't.

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So What Does This Mean for You?

It means: be careful of any builder who quotes you a flat number before they've seen your lot, asked about your locality, and walked you through what's actually in (and not in) the quote.

A "starting at" number is a marketing number. It's not your number.

Your number requires:

1. The lot — or the area you want to build in
2. The plan — or at least the size and style range
3. A real conversation about what's included, what's not, and what the all-in path looks like

That's what we do on a 15-minute consult. Not a sales pitch. Not a contract. Just an honest read on what's possible for your specific situation.

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What's NOT a Real Number

A few things to watch out for when shopping builders:

• "Starting at $X per sqft" with no detail on what that includes. Always ask: foundation type included? finish package included? utility connections included? loan interest included?
• A bid that's significantly lower than three other bids for the same scope. Either it's missing something, or somebody's about to find out they took on more than they can deliver.
• A bid with no draw schedule. New construction draws happen at specific stages (foundation, framing, dried-in, etc.). If the builder hasn't laid out when they get paid, the lender is going to push back. Better to know that on the front end.
• A bid that doesn't separate land + site work + construction + permits + utilities. Those are different categories and they belong in separate line items. A single lump sum hides what's actually included.

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Derrick Marlow is an Associate Broker with United Real Estate Richmond and the lead of Marlow's Team. He specializes in new construction across the Richmond region — Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan, Petersburg, Dinwiddie, and within ~70 miles of Richmond.