Did you know that adding a small addition to your home is not necessarily cheaper? Let me tell you why; many of the trades used in construction are going to charge for a minimum amount of work. Subcontractors have fixed costs when setting up a job; the smaller the job the more expensive per square foot. All trades involved have a minimum for their work so it is important to ask your contractor what size addition makes the most sense given your budget.
Everyone has an opinion of how much their remodel should cost, and sometimes people base it on the cost per square feet of new construction. Using the square foot method to price an addition is a risky and inaccurate way of pricing an addition. There are many aspects that impact the value of a remodel, such as access to the project.
Many times we encounter clients who have an idea of what they want and would like a quick estimate. It is important to clarify that only a very rough estimate can be provided under these circumstances as there are many unknowns at this point. If you really want to compare bids you need to have a set of plans and specifications with finishes selected so that each contractor can bid apples to apples.