WHY BUILD IT YOUR SELF ?

      There are three reasons that most people build their own home.  Can you find your reason among these   ?

      * To design just what you want
      * To save money
      * To  have the pleasure of doing it your self
         Let's consider them separately.
     
      Can You Design Your Own Home ?
   
       Absolutely ! After all, haven't you been living in homes all your life ?  Now's your chance to take all that practical living experience and winnow it down to what you really like and what you truly dislike.  Then you get to put together a home that's built just the way you would like it to be.
  
       Designing it yourself means you can choose  how big ( within your budget )  the home will be, how the rooms will flow, what kind of rooms you will have ( media room, great room, number of car spaces in garage, and so on ), how much storage and where it will be located, which direction the house will present itself ( front to the street, back to the view ) , and on and on.
   
        Instead of having to accept what a builder thinks you want, you get to decide for yourself.  Even on a strict budget, there are an enormous number of design decisions you can make. As a result, probably for the fist time in your life, you'll end up with a home that truly fits you !
 
      TRAP
   
      There is a downside here you  have to be careful of.    Beware that if you build a home that is too specific to your needs, you might be creating a white elephant, a house that others ( who likely will have different desires and needs ) might not want to buy later on when you decide to sell.  And rest assured, even though you believe you'll never sell the dream home you're constructing, you probably will.  Statistics reveal that most people will sell after about 8 years . You need to balance your designs with common sense.

      Can You Save Money Building Your Own Home ?
 
      The answer here is a definite yes !  While you can hire a contractor to do all the work, you can also do all or a part of it yourself.  Just by being your own general contractor ( and subcontracting out all the physical work ), you can save anywhere from a low of around 15 percent to a high of 35 percent.  The savings can go much higher if you do some of the actual physical work yourself.
   
       Be sure you understand how significant this is.  If your home costs $ 100.000 to build ( not including the land ), that's a savings of from $ 15,000 to 35,000 or more.  That money may make the difference in your getting a lot in a better location ( where you want to live but otherwise can't afford to ) or a bigger house, or a house with more quality finishing ( better appliances, cabinets, carpets and so forth ) . Or, of course, you could just pocket the savings ! ( On the first home I built, without lifting a hammer, my savings were 35 percent ! ).
      What's involved is doing work that the  general contractor ( GC ) normallly does.

      TIP

      You have a better chance of getting exactly what you want if you act as your own GC . Most  GCs have set ways of doing things and a few set plans they like to follow.  Deviate from what they know or  have previously done and they get nervous, tend to jack up the price, and fight you at  almost every turn.


      Will It Be Fun  ?

      For this answer I can only tell you of my own experience and that of others.  In a way, when you get two or more people together who have built their own homes, it sounds like a group of  army buddies discussing war adventures.
      Typically they will all have their own horror stories to recount, describing how the subcontractor put a roof on crooked, or  how the plumber hooked the cold water line to the electrical service, or how the carpenters fogot to put on the diagonal bracing - and on and on.  An observer might guess that these people hard all shared terrible experiences.
   
       Yet if you were to ask them if they would do it again, the vast majority would immediately say they'd jump at the chance. Indeed, most who have built their own homes say that the experience was one of the best of their lives. Yes, there were all sort of things that went wrong - there always are. And most were caused by their own inexperience. But, overall, it was one of the most satisfying expriences they've ever had.  In short, it was a ball, a ton of fun !
    
        Have I sparked your interest ?  you're ready to move forward with building your own home. So let's get stared.  Finding a general contractor ( or being one yourself and  hiring subcontructors ) getting a set of plans, getting bids and cost-cutting ideas, and arranging for financing.

                                                                Robert Irwin