Build Your Own Home and Save

Build Your Own Home

Maybe you've dreamed about taking on a new project to build your own home. Sure, you can hire a general contractor or home builder to handle the project but the bids you are getting are way too high. You have visited the local home builders and they don't have a plan that fits your needs. Or, they have the plan you want but they don't build in the location that you want to live. These are all good reasons to take control of the project and build your own home. Here are several others for you to think about...

Save Money

When you take on the role of the general contractor and build your own house, you save the typical percentage that home builders charge. This can range anywhere from 10% to 25% depending on the project, location, economy...etc. In addition to the general contractor markup, you can also save money by doing some of the actual labor yourself...if you want to. In general for this discussion, we are talking about managing the process rather than doing the actual physical labor to build your own home.

Choose Who Does the Work

Most contractors won't let you do any of the work or supply your own subcontractors because they don't think they can meet the schedule. They may also be concerned about he conflict of interest. If your brother-n-law does the plumbing and something goes wrong, who will make sure it gets fixed? Of course you will, but contractors don't want the potential conflict.

The other nice benefit when you build your own home is that you can do some of the work. You can save serious money if you have the time and experience to do some of the physical work yourself. But if you don't have the time...that's OK, hire someone to do it. Or, maybe your brother is a plumber and owes you a favor. The good news is, when you build your own home, you decide.

Control Timing

You can have complete control of when the project starts and finishes when building your own home as an owner builder. Builders and remodelers have other projects going...so your project may have to wait until they have the time to get started. The other issue that comes up...your project may be small so the builders don't give it as much attention as it deserves. They focus on the big custom homes with the high margins and put your project at the bottom of the list. When you build your own home, you choose when to start. This will probably coincide with the beginning of the building season if you live in a cold climate so you can save time and money.

Get Exactly What you Want

Many builders only offer a handful of plans in order to be efficient. Some just build in their own communities they have developed which may not be your first choice. In addition, many home builders have contracts with certain suppliers/manufacturers so they can't give you the exact cabinets or stone that you want. I know some general contractors that don't want to bother with green building. When you build your own home, you have an unlimited number of options to choose from.

Big Time Pride and Bragging Rights

When you build your own home you get the pride of knowing that you created and built a project that will last a lifetime!

These are some of the big reasons to take control of your project and become an owner-builder. Check out the video, Build My Own Home, to find out what qualifications and licenses you need.