Knoxville pod
$225 to $325 per sq ft
Custom work in Knox, Blount, and Sevier counties. A 2,000 sq ft custom home plans at $450,000 to $650,000 before land and site work. True $1M builds live mostly in this pod and on lake property.
Grandmark qualification
Build a custom home
with the paperwork done first.
Most custom home failures are decided before the contract: the wrong lot math, a budget built on last year's prices, a builder chosen on a sales call. Grandmark qualifies all of it first.
Grandmark qualifies the project and matches it to an independent licensed builder. You contract directly with the builder. Fees are published. See the fee page.
Cost reality, Tennessee 2026
Plan on ranges. Builders quote projects.
Planning ranges below come from current Tennessee costs. They are for budgeting a consult, not a bid.
Tri-Cities pod
$200 to $285 per sq ft
Kingsport, Johnson City, Bristol, and the surrounding counties. A 2,000 sq ft custom home plans at $400,000 to $570,000 before land and site work.
Site work
Budget it separately
Septic or sewer tap, driveway and access, grading, utility runs, and slope work sit outside the per-square-foot range and decide more budgets than finishes do. The consult prices your lot honestly.
Timeline
9 to 18 months
Design, permitting, and construction on a custom home in this market. Qualification takes about 2 weeks. The packet is built before a builder is approached, so his bid starts from facts.
Fit
Who this is for.
Land owned, under contract, or a serious search with financing in motion, and a total budget at $200,000 or above. If the numbers do not work yet, the consult will tell you that too, with the math shown.
How it runs
Qualify first. Then one builder, on paper.
Step 1
Qualification consult
A 30 to 45 minute call with Ben Long. Land status, budget against current Tennessee cost ranges, financing path, timeline, decision makers, red flags. You get a written summary and an honest go or no-go.
Step 2
The qualification packet
Your project written up the way a builder underwrites it: scope, site facts, budget band, financing evidence, timeline, open items. The packet is yours to keep, whatever you decide.
Step 3
The disclosure gate
Before any builder hears your name, 3 documents are signed: your qualification agreement, your flat fee, and a disclosure naming the builder, his license number and limit, and every fee in dollars. No builder name moves before this gate clears.
Step 4
One builder, matched
One independent licensed builder, chosen on size, project type, county, capacity, and a running scorecard. He bids in his own name and contracts directly with you. A second builder is added only if the first passes or goes quiet for 3 business days.
Step 5
Paper at the end
Contract copy, completion photos from the builder, and a confirmation call at completion. With your written permission, the project becomes a case packet for the next client.
Fees, in the open
What Grandmark charges, before you ever call.
Clients pay a flat qualification fee: $2,950 under $350,000, $4,950 from $350,000 to $750,000, $7,500 above $750,000. The builder pays a tiered origination fee on a signed contract, and Grandmark's combined fees are capped at $24,999 per project. No percentage is ever charged to the client, and nothing is collected at closing.
A builder should earn your project on a packet, not on a sales call.
The Grandmark Standard