I don't think things are usually broken into Kitchen allowances. But I'll give some comparables in NC.

$600k build not including land. We were very kitchen focused with money

$30k appliances
$8k granite (It was really $10k but included master bath)
$24k cabinets (Really $32k for whole house)

Not really feasible to break out flooring and lighting.

So just based on the 3 big ticket components we are $62k or right at 10%.

We are in Northern VA (not so cheap either!) Here are additional comparables...

900K build not including land

37K allowance for cabinetry for the entire house but will spend about 43K...that's getting everything we wanted and not cutting out anything (all Shiloh cabinetry with a few custom pieces)

30K appliances

Not sure about countertop cost, we just specified soapstone in our contract so we are covered for it

Flooring is hardwood and we specified the exact hardwood we wanted in the house in the contract

hth

how do you spend 30k on appliances?

48" subzero and 48" wolf range.....

Just for comparison, here in Phoenix, I would expect to see no less than 10% for a home of that price.

I think others are spot on. ~$45k for cabinets, ~$25k for appliances and ~$15k for stone.

I think you are going about this a little backwards. Make a list of everything that you want in your kitchen, price it out, and see if it's in your budget. If not then you can decide if you want to go over or make compromises.

But I agree with worthy, our allowances were for the whole house- not just the kitchen.

But here's some basic info:

30K appliances
20K cabinets- Shiloh ( we don't have any uppers)
$15/ sq foot wide plank flooring installed
countertops were pretty cheap - honed absolute black granite
plumbing was a bit of a splurge with a shaw farmhouse sink and 2 Moen Showhouse fixtures.
we didn't do a tile backsplash
lighting $1500

I think total was probably 70k total.

10-15% of a build price----but only if that doesn't mean skimping on the bones of the house. What usually happens is that so many other allowances were too cheap for what was actually chosen that the kitchen ends up being the thing skimped on because it's one of the last things put in. What should really happen is that the other allowances should be narrowed down so that you can really account for their actual expense rather than an unrealistically low estimate. "Allowances" always end up too low. And that means that you always end up eating into your contingency or else something close to the end stage ends up being skimped on. And since cabinets are a big expense, skimping on them seems to be the place most people choose to get back on budget track. They really shouldn't though! Skimp on appliances or counters---those can be replaced at a later time a heck of a lot easier than cabinetry!

Make sure you have a generous contingency budget! At least 20%. Building a custom home usually means bringing money to the table at closing since it won't appraise for what it cost to build, so put that in the budget as well.

I agree, roughly 10% of the total build to get something in line with the quality of the rest of the house.

80k in this case would get you a pretty nice kitchen appropriate for the house come resale time.

30k appliances = 48 subzero, 48 dual fuel wolf range, wolf vent; warming drawer; dishwasher drawers, but basic microwave and wine fridge.

or 30k appliances - 2 kitchenaid dishwashers, 36 inch wolf rangetop, 36" sz all fridge TR36, kitchenaid fridge/freezer drawers, electrolux icon professional oven and speed oven, hoshzisaki ice maker and had some left over . . .

Oh also had two drink fridges, a wolf hood insert and remote blower . . . think that is it!

@athensmomof3... So you went with Electrolux Icon Pro speed oven? I thought you chose the GE Monogram. Why did you choose the electrolux? I'm still deciding right now. lol.

I did. The oven and the speed oven are stacked and I wanted them to match. I had heard too many bad things about the GE oven to risk that. The speed ovens seemed comparable from a review standpoint and both seemed to meet my needs. Not a huge fan of the grills on top and bottom of the Electrolux but know that is something that I won't even notice when they are installed. It is in a pretty unobtrusive place too which also made me realize I wouldn't notice them much at all. . ..

They will be installed in a couple of weeks (waiting on door hardware so the house can be locked up), and we will be moving in April or May so I will give a full report then. . .

"Make sure you have a generous contingency budget! At least 20%. Building a custom home usually means bringing money to the table at closing since it won't appraise for what it cost to build, so put that in the budget as well."

I agree on the appraisal part! Make sure you have extra cash to bring to closing. I don't necessarily agree that all custom builds go over. If the builder has a fixed price and you stay within the allowances that were properly set to begin with, then there should be no surprises. IMO.

"Make sure you have a generous contingency budget! At least 20%. Building a custom home usually means bringing money to the table at closing since it won't appraise for what it cost to build, so put that in the budget as well."

Yeah, this is not the way ours worked either. We don't have a separate closing when the house is complete - everything is done in advance. The appraiser has already looked at the plans and detailed specs. Any upgrades from now on we just pay cash. We just can't change major things (i.e. lose a bathroom/bedroom). Granted, our downpayment was well over 20% so that may affect things.

Our house is not as expensive as yours - about $540k. Our cabinetry allowance was $25k (kitchen and 3 baths) and appliances $11.5k. I upgraded that from the builder standard of $16k and $6k respectively. That still puts us at about 6.7% which is lower than people here seem to quote.

In this area, houses have to be above $1 million before they start getting the 48 inch SZs and Wolfs.

Keep in mind that doing something like glass doored uppers will have profound effects on the budget.

I did two kitchens with glass doored uppers and the domino effect of matching interiors etc., tripled the cost of each glass doored cabinet over its conventional counterpart. Two different manufacturers.

So if you want this type of thing, or special finishes, it could mean the allowance will increase. One $400-oddK house I did some design work on (not the kitchen) the kitchen was 20 % of the entire budget, not 10 % --because of upgrades like this in the kitchen, and the only upgraded appliance was the cooktop...all the other appliances were middling.

Does the appraiser look at the cost of the kitchen as a proportion of the house? We are kitchen people and currently have some high-ish appliances, but don't want to spend a huge amount in our possible new build. For example, we might try IKEA cabs and replace the doors or get the doors separately. We'll have a professional style stove, but maybe 36 inch. Subzero is not in our budget but maybe an LG FD fridge. We also plan to have a pantry which might contain additional cabs and fridge for storage, but at a lesser cost. Will this make it hard for the house to appraise?

The appraise goes by comps. The bank wants to make sure they can sell your house if they have to in the future.

Thank you all! This is very helpful!!!

So is the conventional wisdom to take total (or some area's) allowances divided by (Final Price - Land cost)?

Or does one divide by Total Final Price(Cost)?

I think each market is local and it is hard to compare. But if you subtract out land cost, then things get closer. I built a $600k house on the ocean. The house cost was $280 and the rest was land. You can't compare that house to an inland house with an $80k lot and the same total cost. On that kitchen we spent $9k on the kitchen. The reality is on the low end the % is much different. You can spend $30k on appliances and $2k on appliances. It is harder to vary that much on other items in a house. Yes - you can always find really expensive stuff. But plenty of people put in nearly the most expensive appliances but rather modest lighting and flooring.

My only point is that the variability in kitchen expense is greater than that in flooring or other items.