F R E E · 1 1 – P A G E · P D F
What a custom home actually costs in the Valley.
11 pages. Plain English. Real numbers from real RGV jobs. The line items every builder shows. The ones most builders bury. Written by Daniel, not a marketing team, not a templated PDF you’ve seen on six other websites.
What is inside the guide.
No padding, no “in today’s market…” filler. Eleven sections, each with real RGV numbers from real jobs we built or bid in the last 18 months.
What “base price” actually means
And the four line items most builders leave out of theirs. With an example side by side.
$/sqft ranges by build type
Production, semi-custom, full custom. Three tiers, three real ranges for the RGV in 2026.
The 14 line items in a Sisu bid
Every category, with a sample dollar range. The order we build them in, too.
Lot, site work, and what kills budgets
Soils, drainage, utilities, demolition, fill. The site-work surprises that double a foundation.
Allowances vs hard prices
What an “allowance” really is, and the three categories where they almost always go over.
Finishes, three Sisu tiers
Essentials, Signature, Custom. What’s in each, with sample selections and price points.
Energy package for Zone 2A
Spray foam vs batt, window U-factor, HVAC sizing, and what each is worth on your bill.
How draws and change orders work
The seven draws on a typical Sisu build. Change-order pricing. Real example.
Financing, construction-to-perm
The three local banks worth a call. What documentation they need. What a “spread” really is.
Timeline, week by week
An honest 26-week schedule. Where weather slips, where it doesn’t.
What we won’t build
Below 1,400 sqft, outside Hidalgo/Cameron, and the scope shapes we always turn down.
Sample budget, a real 2,400 sqft McAllen build
The full bid Daniel sent a client in March 2026, with names and addresses removed. Every line item.
If a builder’s “base” doesn’t include insulation, paint, or trim, that’s not a base price. That’s a marketing trick. From page 4 of the guide
The reason this guide exists: every other “cost guide” we’d read for the RGV either had numbers from 2018, or stopped at “it depends.” Buyers deserve better than that. So Daniel wrote one.
It took six months of nights. Every number was double-checked against an actual job we bid, built, or walked. When something didn’t have a defensible number, we said so.
Who this is for. And who it is not.
You’ll get the most out of this if
- You’re 6 to 18 months out from breaking ground on a custom home in the RGV.
- You’ve gotten one bid and the numbers don’t add up to what you’ve read online.
- You own a lot (or are about to) and want to sanity-check what’s reasonable to spend.
- You’ve been told $/sqft figures that vary by $80 and you can’t tell who’s right.
- You want to talk to a builder armed with the right questions.
You’ll find this less useful if
- You’re building outside Hidalgo or Cameron County. Numbers don’t transfer cleanly.
- You’re buying a finished spec home. (Try our Pecan Heights page.)
- You want a generic “5 tips for building a home” PDF. This is the opposite of that.
- You’re a builder. We’re flattered, but write your own.
Why we give it away.
Because the alternative is buyers walking into bids without a way to read them. We can’t fix that for every house in the Valley, but we can fix it for ours.
If you read the guide and we never hear from you again, that’s fine. We trust that buyers who know what they’re looking at make better clients for everyone, including the builders we didn’t pick.
And if you do call, you’ll already be ahead of the conversation.
S E N D · I T · T O · M E
Get the guide. Read it tonight.
One email, no phone tree, no calendar pop up. The PDF will be in your inbox in under a minute.
- 11 pages, plain English, real RGV numbers from 2025 to 2026 jobs.
- Bonus sample budget, every line item from a 2,400 sqft McAllen build.
- One follow up note from Daniel a week later. After that, the next move is yours.
Quick questions about the guide.
Is it really free?+
Yes. The numbers in it took six months to compile but the PDF costs us nothing to send. If you find it useful, tell a neighbor.
Will I get added to a drip campaign?+
No. You’ll get one note from Daniel a week later asking if the guide was helpful and if there’s anything we can answer. That’s it. Unsubscribe is one click.
Are the numbers up to date?+
Last revised May 2026. We re-bid the sample budget against current supplier pricing every quarter. If something changes by more than 5%, the guide gets a new revision and we’ll email you the update.
Can I share it with my realtor or banker?+
Please do. The conversation gets easier when everyone is reading off the same line items.
¿Lo tienen en Español?+
Sí. Toda esta página, y la guía completa, están disponibles en Español.
N O T · A · R E A D E R ?
Skip the PDF. Call Daniel.
Fifteen minutes on the phone covers more ground than most cost guides.
