How much did it cost you to build your house?

To build a house, you need someone to be the "general contractor." Although you could potentially save money if you are the GC, from your questions you don't have the expertise.

The general contractor runs the show. You need to get a set of house plans, pull permits, line up subcontractors, line up inspections, make sure everyone is doing what they say they'll do, do the jobs no one else will do (like keep the site clean).

You could potentially hire someone knowledgeable and with a lot of local contacts to be your GC. You could save some money as you could do many of the tasks (like permits and approvals preparing lien releases, etc.) yourself under the GC's direction. The main problem with this is getting subs, as they will give priority to someone who is building lots of houses, and yours will just be fill-in work for them. This will tend to make the time required spread out, as you will be often waiting for a sub to show up. Another problem is finances. If you are borrowing the money to build the house, the banks are royal pains when it comes to disbursements. They will drag their feet and piss off your subs by making them wait for their money, and they will stick their nose in everywhere.

If you want the house to take less than a year to get built, your best bet is to work with a local builder. They will have a couple different sets of plans for houses they've already built and access and priority with lots of local subs, and experience with all the dealings.

Even working with a builder, make sure you check out what's going on at the site every day. Make a note of anything that looks funny and make sure you tell the GC immediately so things can be addressed (but don't talk to the subs yourself).

It is almost impossible to estimate the cost of building a house with any degree of accuracy unless you know a)the type of house you require b)the type of construction you require i.e. traditional,timberframe kit etc c)who is going to design the property d)are the services close by for connection e)is the plot easily accessible from public roads f)the cost of construction is also regional .Consult a good builder in the area. There are many other considerations. Beware of underestimation of the construction costs always allow a fairly large contingency and a longer time for completing the building than the builder estimates