Before a family calls any builder, they search the question they are too shy to ask on the phone: “how much does it cost to build a house in Florida,” “cost per square foot to build,” “is it cheaper to build or buy.” They search it early, and they search it often.
Almost no builder website answers it. Builders are afraid of giving a number that turns out wrong, or of scaring someone off, or of a competitor seeing it. So the answers come from national websites that have never poured a slab in your county. That is a big gap, and it is a page you can write in an afternoon.
What the page needs to answer
Write it the way you would explain it to a neighbor at the mailbox. Plain words, in this order:
- Roughly what does it cost here? A real range for your area, per square foot and for a typical home you build. Say it is a range, say what year it is for, and say you will update it.
- What moves the number? The lot and site work. The size. The finishes. The roof and the windows. Impact windows versus not. A pool. Explain each in a sentence.
- What is not in that number? The land. Permits and impact fees, roughly. The driveway, the landscaping, the fence. Buyers get burned by surprises, and the builder who lists them first gets trusted.
- How long does it take? A range, with what makes it longer: permits, weather, changes mid-build.
- Build or buy? An honest paragraph. Sometimes a resale is the right call. Say so. It makes everything else on the page believable.
Stay honest and avoid the trap
Do not give a single number. Give a range and explain it. Do not quote a “starting at” price that leaves out the lot and the site work; that is how a buyer ends up angry at the first meeting. And date the page. “Updated for 2026” at the top, and go update it. A cost page from three years ago that nobody touched is worse than no page.
Make it specific to your area
The national cost websites say “it depends on your region.” You know what a lot in Pasco County needs for fill. You know what the county charges for impact fees. You know that a block home and a frame home price differently here. Write that down. It is the part nobody else can write, and it is why your page can beat theirs.
Answer the small questions too
Under the main page, a short list of the follow-up questions you hear at every first meeting, each with a two-sentence answer. Does the price include the lot? Can I use my own plans? What if I want to change something after we start? Do you build on acreage? Buyers type these into Google word for word, and a page that answers them in plain language shows up for them.
Link it to the right places
At the top, a link to your custom home page, because the next question is “how does it work.” In the middle, links to a few floor plan pages with their real price ranges, so the reader sees that the numbers are not made up. At the bottom, a calm invitation to a first meeting, where you will walk through their lot and their plan and give them a real number.
Put a real person on it
A short paragraph from the owner, with a photo: “I have built a lot of homes in this county. Here is what I tell every family that asks me what it costs.” That one paragraph does more than any list, because this is the moment the buyer feels lost and wants someone who has done it before.
What happens after you publish it
Buyers find the page months before they are ready. They save it. They come back to it. They read your community pages while they are there. By the time they book a tour, they feel like they know you, and they have already heard the price from you, in plain words, instead of from a competitor's sales office. That is the first meeting you want to have.
Want this done for you?
This page is one of the seven every builder site needs, and it is the one I see missing most often. If you want me to check yours, the audit is free.