I’m a big fan of “Rules of thumb(s),” and contractors I work with usually state it is about 1 month of construction time for each $75k dollars spent on a home construction project. Obviously, this can vary wildly, but let’s do some math. Let’s say you want to build a 1500 square foot home. If you use 1500sf x $400 per SF (base starting price per square foot for construction in Seattle, WA used for reference), that is $600k. Let’s say you have $50k of earthwork needed, because you usually don’t just go plop a house down on a piece of property without driveways, sewers, etc. Your construction budget is therefore $650k. Divide that by $75k and you have about 8.5 months of construction time. This isn’t an exact science and can vary depending on your project obviously, but this will allow you to start planning ahead on your project. Don’t forget, you could be looking at that same amount of time in the design and permitting phases as well.