If you’ve ever dreamed of building a custom home in Boise or in Treasure Valley Idaho, you’ve probably asked the big question early on: What’s the actual cost to build a house on your land in Boise? It’s a smart—and necessary—question to ask.
The answer depends on a range of factors including the price of land, your builder, material choices, permitting fees, and more. In this article, we’ll walk you through the full breakdown of costs, from buying a buildable lot to budgeting for construction, utility hookups, and unexpected expenses. Whether you’re already a landowner or just starting the process, understanding the true cost of building on your land in Treasure Valley is the first step toward making your dream home a reality.
What Does It Really Cost To Build A House On Your Land In Boise or Elsewhere In Treasure Valley?
Land Purchase
In recent years the cost of land in and around Boise has skyrocketed along with home prices in the area. Current land listings within the city of Boise in spring 2025 range in cost per acre depending on location and other factors, but the cost per acre is typically 1 million and up for land within the city limits. Further outside the city, in other areas of Treasure Valley the cost per acre of land is typically much lower, like this property in Wilder, Idaho where cost per acre of land is just over $100,000. With such a wide range, land can be a highly variable cost and one that can significantly impact the cost to build a house on your land in Boise.
When buying land to build on it’s important to perform land purchase due diligence to make sure that land you are buying on is buildable. Beyond that there are other factors to look for when buying land to build on that can lower your overall cost to build by reducing the amount you need to pay for land preparation. As an example, a flatter lot will typically require less grading to prepare to build and therefore can lower your cost to build a house on your land.
Working with a real estate agent that is experienced in land sales, can be invaluable in saving you time and money on land purchase due diligence and your total cost to build a house on your land. If you are currently looking for land to build on, contact our realty team at Pathway Realty Group for more information.
A general estimate you can use for the land portion of your total cost to build a house on your land in the Boise area is between 25%-35% of your total cost.
Land Purchase as a portion of your total cost to build on your land: 25-35%
Construction & Building Materials
The construction cost and building materials make up the majority of the cost to build a house on your land. These costs include everything from laying your foundation to installing your roof and paint to kitchen cabinets and window framing. This also includes all of the labor from project management to contractors to the architect creating your custom floor plan.
In most situations, these costs will be dictated by the home builder you work with, which is why choosing a custom home builder is such an important decision when it comes to the cost of building on your land. The type of home builder contract you have as well as the custom options you select for your home will also have a high impact on the overall cost to build a house on your land in the Boise area.
Working with an on your land builder that has access to volume discounts on materials, may lower your costs for building materials as will working with an affordable custom home builder in Boise versus a luxury custom home builder.
Construction & Building Materials as a portion of your total cost to build on your land: 40-60%
Permitting, Impact Fees & Utility Hookups
Permitting, impact fees, and new utility hookups are a few of the most common hidden costs of building a custom home and they can really add up. When you build a house on your land in Boise, you’ll need a building permit. You may also need another permit if you need to demolish an existing structure on your property in the process of building your new home.
You can view the full list of building permits required on the City of Boise website and you can find the latest permit fee schedule here. The permit fee schedule in Boise is based on the cost of your build.
In Boise and many other municipalities in Treasure Valley, impact fees are assessed for the impact that your new home will have on the city parks, fire response systems, and police systems. You can get all the details about impact fees in Boise along with the fee schedule here.
To give you an idea of the cost of impact fees & building permit costs, if you are building a $300,000 house on your land in Boise, you’ll pay about $10,000 for your building permit and impact fees.
We’ve included links to the impact fee schedules and information for a few of the more common jurisdictions in Treasure Valley below. If the jurisdiction you are building in is not included here, you can visit your local county or city website to find the cost of impact fees in your jurisdiction.
- Canyon County Impact Fee Schedule
- Unincorporated Ada County Impact Fees
- Eagle, Idaho Impact Fee Schedule
- Nampa, Idaho Impact Fee Schedule
Along with your building permits and any impact fees, you’ll also need to pay for new utility hookups or a septic system if you won’t be connecting to a municipal wastewater system.
The costs of new utility hookups vary widely depending on what you need. In some of our previous projects, homeowners were required to pay to move the location of their electric hookup, which took more time as well as added to their cost to build a house on their land. When looking at the cost to build a house on your land, be sure to look at the utility requirements for your area including wastewater, fire district approvals, electricity, and water.
If you do need to install a septic system, you’ll likely need to do a soil test to be sure your land can support the septic system you want to install. This is usually required before you are approved for a septic system on your property. You can learn more waste water approvals in our pre permitting process information for Canyon County.
Permitting, Impact Fees & Utility Hookups as a portion of your total cost to build on your land: 5-10%
Financial Fees
If you are financing your home build with cash, these costs don’t apply to you. However, if you are using traditional financing to fund your home build, part of the cost of building on your land includes financing and related fees.
The financial fees when you build a house on your land also include items that are common in a traditional home purchase like loan origination fees, underwriting fees, insurance, a recording fee, an appraisal. As with a traditional home purchase these fees can add up, so be prepared to pay between 3-5% of your loan cost in fees when building a house on your land.
For more information about financing your home build, check out the fundamentals of financing a custom home build.
When considering the cost to build on your land, you’ll also want to consider the cost of interest on your loan, which is typically a little higher than a traditional mortgage when you are using a construction loan.
Financing Fees as a portion of your total cost to build on your land: 2-5%
Contingency Budget
If you’ve built a home on your land in Idaho, or elsewhere, you know there are unforeseeable instances that can pop up during construction that add to the cost of building your home.
To be able to adequately prepare for these occurrences and be able to continue funding your home building project, it’s necessary to factor in a contingency budget from the start. How large the budget needs to be varies based on the cost of the home you are building and other factors involved. The type of homebuilder contract you sign can also impact the amount of added costs you may encounter during the building process, so you’ll want to factor that in too.
At Pathway Builders, we encourage our clients to allocate a contingency budget of at least 5% of the building and construction costs. If the land you own is more difficult to develop due to soil composition, topography, location or other factors, it would be beneficial to build a larger contingency budget. Likewise if you are building a luxury custom home on your land or you are working with a builder on a cost plus home builder contract, you may also want to consider a larger contingency budget.
Contingency Budget as a portion of your total cost to build on your land: 5-10%
Total Cost To Build A House On Your Land In Boise & Treasure Valley
There are many, many factors that go into the total cost to build a home on your land in Boise area and throughout Treasure Valley; however, you can use the portions we’ve outlined here to better understand how different items impact the costs to build a custom home on your land. You can also use our instant quote tool to get the cost to build any of our home plans on your land in Treasure Valley.
Keep in mind that the building & material cost will typically be the greatest portion of your cost, which means you’ll have the biggest impact on your total cost to build a house on your land when you adjust your construction & building material costs. Working with an affordable custom home builder in Boise, is one easy way you can lower these costs. For more information, see our top 7 ways to save money building a custom home.
Similarly, keeping the cost of land and any associated land preparation costs low, is another area where you can make a greater impact on your overall cost to build on your land. Working with a real estate agent experienced in land purchases can be invaluable in this regard.
If you don’t yet have land and you are looking to build in Treasure Valley, you can connect with our real estate team at Pathway Realty Group to connect with an experienced agent.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Cost To Build A House On Your Land In Boise Area
Is building a house on your land more affordable than buying a comparable home in Boise?
The answer here is – it depends. How much you pay for land, the builder you choose to work with, the location of the property, the size of the home, and many other factors have an impact on the cost to build versus the cost to buy a comparable home in Boise.
For example, if you have a developed piece of land and you are building with an affordable home builder with little customization to your home plan, it can cost less to build a house on your land in Boise versus buying a home.
Is it cheaper to build if you own land?
If you already own land and you are comparing just the cost to build a house on your land in Boise versus the cost to buy a house, then, yes, in most cases, it is cheaper to build a house on your land than buy a comparable existing home.
This is because, if you own the land already you are removing the cost of land from your home building costs, which can be 30% or more of the cost to build a house on your land. If you are planning to finance the purchase of your home or use a construction loan to build, then the financing costs will be comparable. Unless you find a comparable existing home that is a lower price than your building costs plus the costs of permits and utility hookups, it is cheaper to build if you own land.
If you want to learn more about the costs of building versus buying in Boise, if you don’t already own land, see our complete guide to building versus buying in Idaho.
How much does it cost to build a 2,000 sq ft house in Boise?
At Pathway Builders, our aim is to be the most affordable custom home builder in the Boise area. The cost per square foot of our house plans ranges from $135 per square foot on the low end to around $180 per square foot on our premier home plans. When you build a house on your land with us, the average cost to build a 2,000 square foot house on your land in Boise is $315,000.
Our Palouse home plan is a great example of a 2,000 square foot home plan that starts at $305,000 to build on your land in Boise and Treasure Valley area. Our Preston home plan is another popular home plan with just over 2,000 square feet and starts at $316,000 to build on your land in Idaho.
For more information about the cost to build a house on your land, contact us. We would love to help you make your dream home a reality.
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