I would say you are on the right track. Painting is certainly a DIY item, and installing more tile and flooring is as well (leave carpet to the pros...install costs are nothing these days).
Trim work is probably best left to a skilled person depending on how elaborate the trim is and what type. painted trim is far more forgiving then stained wood as you can fill the cracks and gaps prior to painting.
Other areas would be landscaping, possibly installing things like vanity cabinets and closet things.
Drywalling is something that is also best left to the pros. They can be in and out in less then a week. Mudding can be an art form to get it right. If you have ever hung and taped drywall (I have many times on smaller jobs) then trust me, its money well spent for an entire house.
If you are doing a basement and finishing it, I would suggest not finishing it right away and DIY that later.

Better look for a bank that is OK with you doing some of the labor besides a GC. Any of that is few and far between. Construction runs on a schedule, and DIYers are SLOW. That, and the poor quality of their work, is the reason pros hate to work with them on a build. They get in the way and cost money, not save money.

For a beginner DIYer, let the pros do the house and take all the time you want in constructing a storage shed to go with it. You can always repaint the walls to a more pleasing shade after you move in, and if you have the builder install cheap carpet, you can always rip that out and install hardwood later. What I would NOT suggest is attempting to do either as part of an actual build. Time delays and errors will cost YOU money, and make the build an unhappy one for you and the trades.

I think doing some stuff once the house is up may be your best bet. Like learning how to instal a light. I think if your are not skilled in areas it would cause delays and irritate the crew. Your GC would probably have a hard time dealing with it too. My bank would have also turned me down on this. I think you should get your feet wet with a small project and work your way up. Even painting requires a level of skill that most DIYers get wrong and inevitably shows the imperfections.

I remember my dad redoing our kitchen when I was a kid. Took him 3 years because he was learning and he had a full time job Needless to say my mother was not happy with him and it was embarrassing having a kitchen that looked like a war zone for a long time.

My husband is a more experienced DIYer and he did a lot of work on our house. He was at the job site doing work everyday the house was under construction. Neither our bank nor our contractor had a problem with him being there and working.

lzerarc - Thanks for the ideas for additional projects! I'm hoping to be able to put as much money into the 'shell' of the house leaving many other things for post move in. Extensive trim is one of the things on my list as well as closet storage.

hollysprings - I've spoken with my contractor and he doesn't seem concerned about bank approval. If I were to take on something requiring licensing like electrical, then yes, I'm sure a bank would have a problem. Neither of us seems to think that a bank would deny a loan over something as simple as paint and floors. Since I don't want to be delaying the build significantly, I think I'll leave drywall up to them which leaves mostly cosmetic stuff as projects for me. Flooring and painting would be the ones that could delay them by a few days, but not any longer. Since I'm on a third shift schedule, I'm confident that I can use some vacation time to do the work at night. That way I won't be in the crew's way and they can continue working.

I do plan on having an unfinished basement and possibly an unfinished bonus room, so I think I'll leave them that way as future extensive projects when I won't be on a time crunch.

adam - Thanks for the link! If nothing else, it'll be nice to be informed of what's going on and I'll certainly be able to use the information in the future for finishing the basement.

gaonmymind - I certainly don't plan on taking on anything so big as to take 3 years! I'll admit my limitations and stick to what I feel comfortable doing so that I don't delay anything or annoy anyone. I'm not really concerned about imperfections as long as it's still functional. I wouldn't say I'm a perfectionist, but from my past projects, the imperfections were only noticable to myself. Those slight imperfections were part of what made the project mine. Nothing that I attempt on my house while still in the build process would be first time learning experience. My parents house has plenty of areas that they're looking to upgrade/redo and are more than happy to let me loose on it (free labor :D).

Consider getting involved with your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. As volunteer labor, you'll learn lots of skills. They're geared towards organizing "unskilled" labor under close supervision by pros in all aspects of construction.

Do you own scaffolding? (Own, not rent.) Can you set it up by yourself? (No one can.) Ladders? A decent air compressor and pro quality spray rig? (Not $99 Craftsman crap quality.) You will need to have that in order to paint in a timely fashion and do a decent job. If you hand roll everything, you'll take twice as long and still need the scaffolding and ladders and more manpower. Have you ever actually seen how fast a pro with a spray rig can do a room? It's mind boggling. And it takes plenty of practice to develop that skill.

As long as you are purchasing an air compressor, you'll need the pneumatic nailer for the flooring. And a chop saw, level, tape, and some math abilities. And that's if you're doing prefinished. If you are doing site finished, add a whole other level of complexity and skill set including sanding evenly without gouges and applying a finish without crud in it.

By the time you buy the tools a pro already owns to be able to do a pro quality job, you won't actually be "saving" very much money. You will be costing the build time as well. That comes out of your pocket.

This is a case of take the lowest quality paint and flooring and plumbing and lighting that the builder offers and do the "upgrades" on your own time. That's the only true way to save both time and money.

We knew we weren't going to diy the house build, but we worked with a project manager who ended up disappearing after the major part of the house was done. (He made his money off the materials and labor being brought in and once the lion's share of that was done, out he went.) We had a number of subs who were "friends of the family" who we wanted on the job, so the project mgr route allowed that to happen, which was good, but that meant we did a lot of coordinating ourselves. So we ended up GC'ing a lot of the house at the end anyway. Believe me, that was enough involvement. Even with the project manager there was a LOT of communication, coordination, research on products and materials and sourcing that meant we were very busy the whole time. We were building green with a lot of green elements the project manager and the architect weren't familiar with so we had to educate ourselves first and then educate them. Making sure mistakes weren't made or mistakes were fixed if made throughout the whole build, kept us on our toes. I don't think it saved us any money, but I think we did get a better product in the end.

"Do you own scaffolding? (Own, not rent.) Can you set it up by yourself? (No one can.) "

I have set up scaffolding by myself many times.

It is not all that hard.

Hi catsmeowth-

We actually are planning on DYI a lot of things when we build also - mostly so that we can afford some of the things that we want to have, makes the dollar stretch a whole lot more!

Thus far in our current home we finished our basement a few years back and did most of the work and updated the main level as well.
We were comfortable with:
Drywall hanging (will not do that again-too heavy for me), insulation (batting not spray), priming and painting, tile floors, hardwood floors, backsplashes, some wiring but definitely NOT plumbing and we did NOT mud the drywall - that is a horrible messy job and if you don't get it right it doesn't matter how good a painter you are it will show!

We also did do a stacked stone fireplace ourselves. That project took much longer than we anticipated (a week or so instead of a couple of days) but it's definitely one of our favorite parts of the basement and we did it together so that made it all the more uniquely special and 'custom' since we placed every stone. It was sort of like a gigantic puzzle and the more stones placed the less you have to choose from. Only thing I'd love to take with me when we move but I am sure we'll be doing another one. :)

DH is handy and will try anything once (put an egress window in, cut the cement floor for plumbing for a bathroom, replaced windows) which has scared me a couple of times but he's always done just fine. I am the painter of the house and have done that job many many times.

I think you definitely have some possibilities that you could do but just be sure you stay within your comfort level. It's stressful enough going through a build I imagine (and will be there eventually myself). If you get going and decide you cannot do it to where you'd be satisfied or if time is not permitting, then sub it out. Make sure you have/rent the right tools for the job too - it will save you loads of time and heartache.

Good luck!

weedyacres - That's a great idea! I volunteered once for them during college, but there were so many other people there that they didn't need most of us and had to find just manual labor projects like painting and hauling bricks. I've been to one of the habitat for humanity stores where they have the leftover doors and other materials at great prices. I was considering checking them out for a good deal.

live_wire_oak - I don't own scaffolding, but I own/have access to several various ladders. I don't plan on having vaulted ceilings so scaffolding won't be necessary. If I do change my mind on the floor plan later, I'll leave that to the professionals. I realize I'll take longer to paint without a compressor, but with friends and family close by, all I'll be out is the cost of drinks and pizza. I see no reason why painting can't be done at nights and on weekends when the crew isn't there anyways. It wouldn't extend the time of the build.

I have family that have done their own flooring, spending a few hundred in tools. Assuming that I can't just borrow theirs (since they do live pretty far), a few hundred in tool costs compared to the thousands for painters is well worth it.

I'm still considering the cost of just putting in everything cheap and going back and redo-ing it later. I'll probably talk to my contractor more about any time constraints or other concerns in that area.

AnnieDeighnaugh - From what I've read, the time it takes to GC a build is quite overwhelming! My contractor is not only well known in the community, but also built my parents house. I trust that with him I won't have to worry about anyone bailing on the build. I think if I were to GC anything myself it would be something much smaller.

autumn - Thanks for the advice! I absolutely love my parents stone fireplace (they have their back porch in stone too), but because of the expense it's something I think I'll be postponing. (I love puzzles which only makes stone work that much more appealing to me). But I do plan on have a large unfinished basement, so hopefully in the future I can take on the same projects that your family did!