You know what they say, you always end up with wayyyy more $$$ into it than what you initially planned for. Now if you can afford it, it doesn't matter. But if you decide to build and base your plan off of the max you can afford, it's likely to grow unaffordable before it's finished.
I have 2 good friends both married, that built new house over the past couple years and they ended up having to go back to the bank and borrowing more money after a month or two of building. Never fails. I intended on spending around $5k to build my little shop at my house, spent $7,500. I'm happy with it and it didn't hurt me too bad to spend that little extra to do it right, but the ratio is a little more when you're talking about the costs of building a house.
My best friend finally finished college and landed a good job this past year and ended up buying a house in a sub division down the road from mine last year. It was only a few years old and in great shape. Move in, no problems, worry free. He's done little things like build a sweet back deck on it, fire pit, and is about to have the whole driveway concreted. That's the way to go in my opinion, starting out. Buy one in good shape in your price range, then customize it to fit your needs. Then one day on down the road when you're making bank or get married and have another source of income, you can build the house of your dreams or whatever.
My house is small 2 bed 2 bath, but was only 3 1/2 years old when I bought it so it was still like new. I'm 27 years old and it has served me well for what will be 5 years this June. I do not plan to buy another house until I get married so the new house budget will be reflected from 2 sources of income....and yes, I am not marrying a bitch that don't work. Also being that I've been on my own for 5 years, my idea of what I want in a house has changed vastly. When I bought this house, I was just looking for a problem free, cheap to maintain, and cheap to operate home so I could get out of my parent's house. Location is not terrible, but my next house will be in a better location.
So over the years, you will think of all sorts of stuff you desire in a house and it's likely it will be very different than what's on your mind right now. My vote is buy a house that seemingly will hold a good resale value and live in it until you get ready to build.
Just my $0.02 from my experience and I know everyone is not like me. Just some of that "wish I knew then what I know now" sort of stuff.
