SwagerBuilds LLC · 4510 E 168 N, Rigby, ID 83442 · (208) 520-0636
Custom Home Builder Eastern Idaho: Fixed-Price Builds Across Bonneville, Madison, Jefferson, Bingham, and Teton Valley
I’m Bryce Swager. I build custom homes in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming. Fourth generation out of Rigby. I’m licensed in Idaho and Wyoming, and my BuildZoom score is 94. If you’re looking for a builder who quotes a real number, sticks to it, and knows the county fee schedules by heart, keep reading.
This page covers who I serve, how I price, what the permit landscape actually looks like on this side of the state, and the timeline you should plan around. If you want to skip to a conversation, my number is (208) 520-0636.
Who I Am and Where I Build
My family has been building in the Snake River Plain for four generations. I run Swager Builds out of Rigby and take on custom homes, remodels, and shops across four Idaho counties plus one Wyoming county:
That footprint isn’t a marketing radius. It’s the counties where I already know the plans examiners, the septic inspectors, the trades, and the fee schedules. I say no to work outside it because a builder who doesn’t know the local process is a builder who’s going to be slow and expensive on your job.
What Fixed-Price Means on My Contracts
Most custom home contracts in eastern Idaho are cost-plus. Allowances for cabinets, allowances for flooring, allowances for lighting, an open line item for “unforeseen.” The final number comes in whatever it comes in at, and you find out at the end.
I don’t work that way. I take the plans, spec out every finish, get real bids from real subs, and write a fixed contract price. If I miss something, that’s on me. If a sub raises their number after we’ve signed, that’s on me. The only line items that can move the price are documented change orders you initiate.
Why bother? Because the alternative punishes the homeowner. NAHB’s 2024 Cost of Constructing a Home study reports that construction costs account for 64.4% of the average new home price, with interior finishes alone eating 24.1% of construction cost. Those are the line items cost-plus builders leave loose. A fixed price forces us to bid finishes for real before you sign — which is the only way you actually know what your house costs.
Cost Ranges by County
Every custom home is different. Site conditions, foundation type, finish level, mechanical system, and lot access all move the number. That said, here’s what I’m seeing in 2026 on real projects across the region. Use these as a planning range, not a quote.
Area
Typical Turn-Key $/sf (2026)
Notes
Bonneville County (Idaho Falls, Ammon)
$275 – $400
City infrastructure available; standard finish
Jefferson County (Rigby, Menan)
$260 – $375
County-served permits, well/septic common
Madison County (Rexburg)
$275 – $395
10 working day plan review minimum
Bingham County (Blackfoot)
$255 – $360
Longer trade drives push subcontractor pricing up
Teton Valley ID (Driggs, Victor)
$375 – $550
Higher energy code, snow load, mountain logistics
Teton County WY (Jackson area)
$550 – $900+
Energy Mitigation fees, LDR review, remote site logistics
For context on what’s driving those numbers nationally: NAHB’s 2024 breakdown puts framing at 16.6%, major system rough-ins at 19.2%, and interior finishes at 24.1% of construction cost. Site work adds 7.6%. Foundations 10.5%. Eastern Idaho tracks close to those national ratios on standard builds; Teton Valley and Jackson skew heavier on foundations (frost depth, seismic), envelope (energy code), and site work (mountain access).
Idaho doesn’t have one permit process. Every county and city runs its own. Some counties handle building for their small cities; some don’t. Here’s the shape of it across my service area.
Inside Idaho Falls city limits, the Community Development Services / Building Division publishes the current 2025–2026 Fee Schedule as a PDF, alongside its Permit Processing page with residential submittal checklists. Building Division contact: 308 Constitution Way, 208-612-8100.
Jefferson County’s Planning, Zoning & Building Department handles building permits for the cities of Lewisville, Menan, and Rigby — those small cities don’t do their own plans review. The City of Rigby issues its own zoning permits for decks, fences, garages, sheds, sidewalks, signs, and solar, but structural review flows through the county.
Madison County adopted the 2018 I-Codes (IBC, IRC, IMC, IECC, IFGC, IEBC, IFC) plus the 2017 Idaho State Plumbing Code and 2017 NEC. Their building permit page is explicit: “the review process will require a minimum of ten (10) working days.” Non-accessory structures pay a non-refundable $500 submittal deposit that credits toward the permit fee. Accessory structures pay 10% up front, non-refundable.
MEP permits for county jobs run through the City of Rexburg building department, not the state. That’s a common surprise for owners who assumed the state handled trade permits.
Bingham County
Bingham County Planning & Development sits at 490 N Maple, Suite A, Blackfoot (208-782-3177). They also run the 2018 I-Codes, submit through ViewPoint Cloud, and adopted a new fee schedule under Resolution 2026-17, effective 3/6/2026.
Teton Valley (ID) and Teton County (WY)
The Teton County ID Building Department uses the 2018 I-Codes and publishes an Excel fee estimator for residential work. One quirk: personal checks over $5,000 aren’t accepted — anything above that is certified check.
Teton County WY is a different animal. Permit fees are calculated off ICC Building Valuation Data times a tiered multiplier per the 2026 Fee Schedule. On top of the standard permit and 65% plan review fee, homes over 2,500 sf trigger the Energy Mitigation Program — $4/sf between 2,501–5,000 sf and $8/sf above 5,000 sf (with credits for PV, super-insulated envelopes, and passive design). Since 2/1/2025, the county operates under the 2024 IRC and IBC. That’s the current baseline any Jackson-side custom home has to design against.
Owners often ask how long a custom home takes here. The honest answer depends heavily on where you’re building. Plan review alone runs from about a week in the city offices to 10 working days minimum in Madison County. Then you’re in the queue for inspections and dependent on trade availability.
Design + engineering: 8–16 weeks depending on complexity and how quickly you decide finishes
Plan review + permit issuance: 1–4 weeks in Bonneville/Ammon; 2–4 weeks in Madison; 6–12 weeks in Teton County WY when LDR review is involved
Site work + foundation: 3–6 weeks (frost, weather, and soils dependent)
Framing through dry-in: 6–10 weeks
MEP rough-in and inspections: 4–8 weeks
Finishes + punch: 10–16 weeks
Total: roughly 8–14 months for a typical eastern Idaho custom home from signed contract to closeout. Teton Valley and Jackson jobs run longer — 12–20 months isn’t uncommon once you factor mountain logistics and mandatory review windows.
Idaho has been running near the top of the country for new-home authorization for years. Per Construction Coverage’s 2025 analysis of Census Building Permits Survey data, Idaho leads the nation with 21.2 new units authorized per 1,000 existing homes — more than twice the national average. Trade demand is real, and it’s why calendar slots fill up fast.
Design Criteria You Should Know Before Drawing Plans
Idaho and Wyoming use the same base code families but the local climatic and geographic criteria change everything about what the house has to do. A few load-bearing numbers:
Bonneville County ground snow load: The ASCE 7 tool returns “Site Specific Location: Case Study Required” for Bonneville County. There’s no single county-wide value — you need an engineered analysis for your specific site.
Teton County WY design criteria: Wind 105 mph, Seismic Design Category D, frost depth 34 inches, winter design temperature -30°F, Climate Zone 7/8 requiring R-60 ceilings and R-20+5 walls per the county Design Criteria page.
Idaho statewide baseline: The Idaho Division of Building Safety adopts the 2018 IBC and IRC (Idaho Residential Code 2020 Edition), 2018 IECC, 2023 NEC, and 2017 Idaho State Plumbing Code per the 2025 DBS adopted codes list.
Those criteria drive foundation depth, envelope insulation, structural sheathing, and shear detailing. If your designer isn’t building them in from the first sketch, you’re going to eat change orders during framing.
Why a Licensed Cross-State GC Matters Here
Eastern Idaho and western Wyoming share a labor market, but they don’t share codes, contractor registrations, tax structures, or plans review processes. Wyoming doesn’t have a general contractor state license, but Teton County has its own contractor registration process, and every Jackson-side project has to sit through LDR review that doesn’t exist in Idaho.
I’m registered in Idaho (RCE) and hold what I need on the Wyoming side. That means I can pull a permit in Driggs on Tuesday and a permit in Alta or Wilson on Wednesday without you re-tooling contract paperwork or hunting for a second GC. It also means I already know the Teton County WY Energy Mitigation Program cost implications on day one of design — before your architect has drawn a plan you can’t afford to build.
My process page covers this in more detail, but the short version:
Free 45-minute discovery call to figure out fit
Feasibility + budget pre-design (paid): I take your plans or napkin sketch, get real subcontractor pricing, and hand you a range with sensitivities
Fixed-price contract after plans are locked and finishes are specified
Weekly on-site owner walks with schedule + spend update
Documented change orders — never verbal, never after-the-fact
You can see finished work in the portfolio, common questions in the FAQ, and past client feedback in reviews. I also keep a page on cost reality so you can see the math I use.
What I Build
Custom homes — 1,800 to 6,500 sf, single family, primary residence or second home
I don’t do speculative subdivisions or track builds. Every job is a one-off for a specific owner on a specific lot.
Trade Base and Why It Matters
A custom home is the sum of maybe 25 to 40 subcontractor relationships. Excavation, foundation, framing, roofing, siding, windows, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall, paint, cabinets, countertops, tile, flooring, low voltage, garage doors, appliances, landscape, driveway. Every one of those trades has to show up on the right day with the right materials for the schedule to work.
My trade base is local. Framers out of Rigby and Idaho Falls, HVAC and plumbing that runs the eastern Idaho corridor, cabinet shops in the region, and Wyoming-side trades for Teton County WY work when the drive from Idaho pushes an eastern Idaho sub off the job. Local relationships mean I can call and get a straight answer on lead times before I quote your job — not after we’ve signed and you’re waiting on a truss package that quoted 6 weeks and shipped in 14.
NAHB’s 2024 data puts overhead and general expenses at 5.7% of the sales price — that includes the office, the scheduling, and the project management that keeps 30+ trades sequenced. Owner-built and price-shopped jobs skip that line item and pay it back in schedule slip and rework.
Common Questions I Get at the First Call
Do you build on my lot or your lots? Your lot. I don’t develop or sell finished homes. If you don’t have a lot yet, I can point you at the questions to ask before you buy.
Do you take small remodels? Selectively. Kitchen and bath remodels in the $75k+ range and whole-house remodels — yes. Small handyman work — no.
Can you match a lower bid from another builder? No, and be careful of the ones who will. A fixed-price bid that comes in materially below the market almost always means an allowance-heavy contract where the “final price” is going to walk up 15–25% by move-in. Compare bids line by line — quantity, spec, and allowance — not just the bottom number.
How much design should I have before I call? Anything from a Pinterest board to fully permitted plans. If you’re still early, I’d rather look at floor plans before they’re engineered — that’s when small changes are cheap.
Start a Conversation
If you have a lot, a set of plans, or just an idea you’re kicking around, the fastest way to get a real answer is to fill out the intake form. It takes about four minutes and gives me enough to tell you whether I’m the right builder for your project before we spend an hour on the phone.
