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Building a home with a contractor -- is it possible? Alex 03-22-2007
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Posted by Alex on March 22, 2007, 9:08 pm
Hi Everyone,

This question has probably been asked a zillion times before, but I
thought I'd ask since the market is always changing. We're looking at
possibly building a house in a few years, and we're thinking of first
finding an acre or two someplace and buying it now with the hope of
paying it off rather quickly (3-4 years) then starting construction of
a house afterwards. My question is that if we spend those years
researching the in's and out's of building a house, talk to local
folks, etc, would it be possible for us to basically build the house
without a general contractor?

I honestly don't know alot beyond general house repairs and
construction, plus what I've read in Handyman Magazine and seen on
television, but I'd like to think if I spent the time it'll take to
pay off/down the properly I can self-educate myself to contract the
house myself and save some money... plus possibly get involved in
building the house to some degree to cut corners.

Is this common to do or maybe majorly not suggested?

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas in this re guard, and take care --

Alex


Posted by John A. Weeks III on March 22, 2007, 10:02 pm

> This question has probably been asked a zillion times before, but I
> thought I'd ask since the market is always changing. We're looking at
> possibly building a house in a few years, and we're thinking of first
> finding an acre or two someplace and buying it now with the hope of
> paying it off rather quickly (3-4 years) then starting construction of
> a house afterwards. My question is that if we spend those years
> researching the in's and out's of building a house, talk to local
> folks, etc, would it be possible for us to basically build the house
> without a general contractor?

It is possible, but why would you want to do that? A contractor
is going to be able to get everything at wholesale prices, then
they charge you a markup. You will pay retail, then have to do
a lot of work just to get that.

Subs are going to want to work with contractors since a contractor
can give them job after job. No sub is going to go out of their
way to work for you since you are just one job, and you are a pain
in the butt since you don't know how things are supposed to work.

Finally, few banks are going to want to deal with you. They know
that do-it-yourself contractors are just are just like do-it-
yourself brain surgeons--a plan for disaster.

-john-

--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
======================================================================

Posted by Rick Blaine on March 22, 2007, 10:44 pm

>My question is that if we spend those years
>researching the in's and out's of building a house, talk to local
>folks, etc, would it be possible for us to basically build the house
>without a general contractor?

Is it possible? Sure. Is it advisable? No. There are so many reasons it's hard
to know where to begin.

- You won't know which subs are reliable and which ones haven't a clue.
- You won't know how to catch the mistakes the subs are making or the shortcuts
they'll take when they realize you haven't a clue.
- You won't get access to the good subs because they're busy working for
contractors that will send followon work their way.

A friend of mine bought an owner built house and regrets it to this day. He is
constantly dealing with repairs to improper construction and non-standard
parts/construction techniques.

Posted by willshak on March 22, 2007, 11:09 pm
Alex wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> This question has probably been asked a zillion times before, but I
> thought I'd ask since the market is always changing. We're looking at
> possibly building a house in a few years, and we're thinking of first
> finding an acre or two someplace and buying it now with the hope of
> paying it off rather quickly (3-4 years) then starting construction of
> a house afterwards. My question is that if we spend those years
> researching the in's and out's of building a house, talk to local
> folks, etc, would it be possible for us to basically build the house
> without a general contractor?
>
> I honestly don't know alot beyond general house repairs and
> construction, plus what I've read in Handyman Magazine and seen on
> television, but I'd like to think if I spent the time it'll take to
> pay off/down the properly I can self-educate myself to contract the
> house myself and save some money... plus possibly get involved in
> building the house to some degree to cut corners.
>
> Is this common to do or maybe majorly not suggested?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or ideas in this re guard, and take care --
>
> Alex
>


Do what I did. Find a GC that needs a worker. Do the work at minimum
wage until you learn. Then ask the GC to build your house. Work for the
GS while building your house.


--
Bill
I am a peripheral visionary.
I can see the future, but it is off to the side.
Steven Wright

Posted by RicodJour on March 22, 2007, 10:44 pm

willshak wrote:
> Alex wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > This question has probably been asked a zillion times before, but I
> > thought I'd ask since the market is always changing. We're looking at
> > possibly building a house in a few years, and we're thinking of first
> > finding an acre or two someplace and buying it now with the hope of
> > paying it off rather quickly (3-4 years) then starting construction of
> > a house afterwards. My question is that if we spend those years
> > researching the in's and out's of building a house, talk to local
> > folks, etc, would it be possible for us to basically build the house
> > without a general contractor?
> >
> > I honestly don't know alot beyond general house repairs and
> > construction, plus what I've read in Handyman Magazine and seen on
> > television, but I'd like to think if I spent the time it'll take to
> > pay off/down the properly I can self-educate myself to contract the
> > house myself and save some money... plus possibly get involved in
> > building the house to some degree to cut corners.
> >
> > Is this common to do or maybe majorly not suggested?
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions or ideas in this re guard, and take care --
> >
> > Alex
> >
>
>
> Do what I did. Find a GC that needs a worker. Do the work at minimum
> wage until you learn. Then ask the GC to build your house. Work for the
> GS while building your house.
>
>
> --
> Bill
> I am a peripheral visionary.
> I can see the future, but it is off to the side.
> Steven Wright


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