Home building budget app for homeowners
Groundbase is a home building budget tracker built for homeowners. It replaces your build spreadsheet: budget, funding, loan draws and the finished payment, in one live plan.
Stress-test a real build
What could go wrong? Tap it and watch the plan react.
Finished payment on the sample build:
$3,595/mo · 32.2% DTI
Project Health
Despite some shortfalls, your available funds cover the remaining budget.
Change orders
Your builder sends a $15,000 change order. Approve it below and follow it through the plan.
Change order
$15,000
Paint. Pending, so not counted yet.
Projected cost
$740,816
Budget plus approved changes and overages.
Over budget
$28,816
Against the $712,000 budget.
Left over
$66,584
After the loan, sale, cash and extras.
Reserve
$30,984
To spare over the 5% reserve of $35,600.
One approval, five numbers. In a spreadsheet, that is five edits.
What to watch
Whether the build stays on budget, what the construction loan costs while it goes up, and whether the finished payment fits your income. Groundbase keeps all three current from the same numbers, so you see trouble while you can still change course.
Budget
Over budget$0
over budget, and exactly why.
Budget $712,000Projected $740,816
Construction loan
2 of 4 draws funded$0/mo
in draw interest, rising as the loan draws.
Drawn $302,000 of $390,000Full draw $2,182/mo
After move-in
Under the 43% limit0%
finished-home DTI with a $3,594/mo mortgage.
Mortgage, taxes and insurance$3,594
Other monthly debts$1,100
Gross monthly income$14,583
$4,694 ÷ $14,58332%
Draw schedule
This is your builder's draw schedule: each bar is one payment for a stage of the work. As each one is paid, Groundbase records whether the construction loan or your own cash covered it, so you always know what is paid, what is next, and what is left to fund.
0 of 8 draws paid
Loan drawdown
0% of your $400,000 loan drawn
Construction loan
See what each draw paid for, what is left to draw, and the interest it adds.
Spreadsheet vs builder portal vs Groundbase
A home build budget spreadsheet only knows what you type into it, and a builder's portal shows the job from the builder's side. Groundbase is built for the homeowner: your construction budget, allowances, loan draws, cash and finished mortgage, connected in one place.
| What it tracks | Spreadsheet | Builder's portal | Groundbase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual costs against the budget | By hand | The builder's view | Yes |
| Allowances and selections | By hand | Sometimes | Yes |
| Change orders in the projected total | By hand | Their total | Yes |
| Construction loan draws and interest | No | No | Yes |
| Cash, equity and sale proceeds | No | No | Yes |
| Finished mortgage and DTI | No | No | Yes |
| Contracts, receipts and photos, attached to the line | A separate folder | Their documents | Yes |
Still on a spreadsheet? Get the free home building budget template, and see where it will start to strain.
Selections
Every allowance from your contract, with each pick and its price under it. Compare quotes and see right away whether you are over, by how much, and who pays the difference. Try it: pick a garage door.
Garage door
$5,375 of $5,000$375 overGarage door with opener
3 quotes. Pick one:
You pay the $375 over, usually as a change order. It counts against the budget now.
FAQ
Straight answers about what Groundbase is, who it's for, and how it works.
Groundbase is a home building budget tracker app for homeowners building a new or custom home. It tracks your construction budget, allowances, actual costs, and change orders, and connects them to how you are paying for the build: cash, home equity, sale proceeds, and your construction loan and its draws. From there it shows construction loan interest, your DTI, and the finished mortgage payment, so you can see whether the whole financial plan works, not just what has been spent.
Homeowners, not contractors. Groundbase is for the person paying for the build, whether you are working with a custom builder or acting as your own general contractor. Builder software manages crews, schedules, and invoicing. Groundbase manages your side of the money: the budget, the funding, the construction loan, and whether the finished home still fits your life.
Start with a budget broken into categories and allowances, plus a contingency line. As invoices and draws come in, record the actual cost against each line. The useful number is not just what you have spent. It is the projected total: actual costs so far, plus what is left to spend, plus approved change orders and allowance overages. Groundbase keeps that projected total current and shows which lines are pushing it over.
How to budget a custom home buildHow change orders affect your budget
List each allowance from your builder contract, then add your selections under it with their real prices, including the ones you are still deciding on. The total shows whether you are over or under before you commit. Groundbase counts an overage the moment it appears and holds back savings until every pick under that allowance is final, so the budget never looks better than it is.
A draw is a payment from your construction loan, released in stages as work is completed and usually checked by a lender inspection. Many custom builds have somewhere between 6 and 10. Draws touch your budget in two ways. During the build you typically pay interest only on what has been drawn, so the monthly interest grows as the project moves. And when a cost runs over what the loan covers, the difference comes from your cash. Groundbase tracks each draw, what the bank and your cash paid, and the interest it adds.
How construction draws workConstruction loan interest calculator
Yes. That is the main difference between Groundbase and a plain construction budget tracker. Your construction loan, its bank draws, closing costs, and interest sit next to the budget, along with cash, home equity, and sale proceeds. You can see what the loan has covered, what is left to draw, and whether everything together still covers the projected cost.
A common starting point is 10 to 15% of the construction cost. Lean toward the higher end for a custom design, a difficult site, or a build with many allowances still undecided. Contingency is not extra money for upgrades. It is what keeps a surprise from turning into a funding gap. Groundbase lists what is eating into that buffer, largest first.
Yes, that is what it is built for. A spreadsheet holds numbers, but you have to maintain every link between them yourself. In Groundbase they are connected: when a change order is approved, the projected cost, contingency, and funding position move with it. When a draw is funded, the loan balance and interest update. The whole plan stays current without rebuilding the math after every meeting. Contracts, receipts and photos attach to the draw, selection or change order they belong to, instead of living in email.
Free home building budget spreadsheetSee Groundbase with real screens
No. Groundbase is a planning and tracking tool: you enter your numbers and it keeps them connected. Nothing links to your financial accounts, loan servicer, or lender. Your data stays in Groundbase.
$9.99 per month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing. One plan includes everything: budget planning, draw tracking, funding analysis, affordability tools, and change-order monitoring.
7 days free, then $9.99/month. One plan, everything included.
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