Inappropriate4AT
Banned
My dad and I built a house not too long ago. He's a contractor now, and at the time he was superintendant for another construction company. He got the lot for 40K, and materials at cost. I don't remember the square footage, but it was a biggun with a 3 car garage. Cost was in the 250K range I think, but we also did a lot of the work ourselves.
If you have connections you can save some money, but if not, the only advantage to building it yourself really is being able to pick and choose the lot and draw up your own draft. The draft alone costs like 2K and it has to be looked over and approved.
Do it if you want more freedom over the build, but don't do it if you're expecting to save a boatload of cash. In my dad's case he had his own license, knew all of the laborers in the business and which ones did good work, could get materials at cost, and had the skill/knowledge to draw up the draft and do a good portion of the work himself. He probably saved a decent deal of money, but the main reason he did it was because he wanted to design it himself, and most builders out there cut corners and use cheapass materials, which in the long run is bad for the buyer.
If you have connections you can save some money, but if not, the only advantage to building it yourself really is being able to pick and choose the lot and draw up your own draft. The draft alone costs like 2K and it has to be looked over and approved.
Do it if you want more freedom over the build, but don't do it if you're expecting to save a boatload of cash. In my dad's case he had his own license, knew all of the laborers in the business and which ones did good work, could get materials at cost, and had the skill/knowledge to draw up the draft and do a good portion of the work himself. He probably saved a decent deal of money, but the main reason he did it was because he wanted to design it himself, and most builders out there cut corners and use cheapass materials, which in the long run is bad for the buyer.
