Tierra Vida Construction

Planning & cost

What a build in the valley actually takes

How the number gets built, and what we need from you before we can give you one you can hold us to.

The honest answer

Nobody can price your project over the phone

Anyone who quotes you a per-square-foot number without seeing the lot is guessing. Here is what we look at instead.

01

Site conditions come first

Caliche, slope, drainage, utility runs and access decide a real share of the cost before a single finish is chosen. Two identical plans on two different lots in the valley are not the same number.

02

Scope, not adjectives

We price a written list of work with an allowance against each selection you have not made yet — cabinets, stone, tile, fixtures, appliances. An allowance without a number behind it is how budgets get lost.

03

Where the money actually goes

Structure and enclosure — foundation, framing, roofing, stucco, windows, insulation, mechanical, electrical and plumbing — take the largest share of most builds. Finish level moves the rest, sometimes by a wide margin.

04

Change orders priced first

Anything added mid-job is priced and approved in writing before the work happens, so the change does not silently reprice the whole project at the end.

What to bring

Gather these before we meet

  • The property

    Address and parcel number, and any survey, plat or HOA documents you have. Septic and well records if the property is outside city service.

  • The plan, if there is one

    Drawings, a sketch on paper, or the same house in the neighborhood you keep photographing. All of it helps.

  • How you live in it

    Who uses the space, what annoys you now, whether you cook, work from home, or need a door that closes.

  • Your number

    Even a range. Knowing whether the ceiling is a kitchen refresh or a structural rebuild decides the whole conversation.

  • Timing

    Is there a move-out date, a family event, a lease ending, or a tenant moving in? Hard dates change sequencing.

  • What stays

    Fixtures, floors, cabinets and trim you intend to keep — replacing them quietly adds cost.

Financing and paperwork

Paying for it

Draw schedule

Payments are tied to completed stages of work, written into the contract — not a large deposit up front.

Lender paperwork

For a construction loan or refinance, we provide the scope, schedule, draw requests and lien waivers your lender asks for.

Change orders

Anything added mid-job is priced and signed before it is built, so the change does not reprice the project at the end.

What is not included

The scope says so explicitly — permits, allowances, owner-supplied fixtures and anything outside the listed work.

Cost questions

Frequently asked

What does it cost to build or remodel in Las Cruces?

It depends on scope, site conditions and finish level, and honest ranges move every year with material pricing. We will not give you a per-square-foot number over the phone — we walk the project, write a scope with visible allowances, and price that. See the planning page for how the number is put together.

Do you work on existing homes or only new construction?

Both. Whole-home remodels, kitchens, baths, additions and casitas are a large part of what we build, including older adobe and Territorial homes in and around Mesilla.

How long does a project take?

A kitchen or bath is measured in weeks, a whole-home remodel in months, and a ground-up home is long enough that the schedule should be in writing before you commit. We give you the sequence and the milestones, not a promise of a single date.

Do you handle permits, engineering and inspections?

Yes. Drawings, stamped engineering where the work needs it, permit submission through the city or county, and inspections are part of the job.

Will you let me supply my own materials or fixtures?

Sometimes — it is worked out in the scope. Where you supply, we note who warranties what and what happens to the schedule if a delivery runs late.

Are you licensed and insured?

Ask, and it comes to you in writing: the New Mexico contractor's license number, the certificate of general liability and workers' compensation coverage, and the bond letter for any project that needs one. Nothing about licensure, coverage limits or bonding is printed on this website until the current certificate is in hand.

Do you serve El Paso or only New Mexico?

The core service area is Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico. Work further out — El Paso, Alamogordo, the lake — is taken case by case depending on scope and schedule.

How do payments work?

Draws tied to completed stages of work, spelled out in the contract, with lien waivers from subcontractors as those stages close.

Ready for a real number?

We'll walk the property, then put the scope and allowances in writing.