We built our house that way and will do the next one that way as well.

You do need to be aware that if you take it on yourself and you have a mortgage you will need the bank's okay.
Also it is very difficult to meet deadlines when doing it yourself. Most people need extensions on closing the loan and that costs money.

This was one of our plans as well. We are actually building a single family home, which we will live in, and in front, connected with a courtyard will be 2 townhomes that we will rent. So far we have found a GC who will do the complete home for the single family and will allow us to finish the townhomes after he completes the shell. Of course, we have had the GC's say that the shell is the hard part and where the warranty is really important and the cream is all the other stuff so there is some complaining when you mention this route but the fact that we are thinking of letting them do the single family homes seem to keep them quiet. Makes one wonder just how much cream there is...(smiling) Good Luck and keep us posted

Don't do it. Big mistake. You will get so sick of it you'll be sorry. You'll get divorced before it's done (80 percent of all couples who build). You won't finish it by the time the construction loan period is over. This puts you in default which enables the lender to charge you whatever they want for extension fees and interest rates which if you are REALLY slow will bankrupt you. In general it will ruin your life. Hire a good GC and have him call you when the whole thing is finished. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Do seriously consider the advice already given. Since our build did not involve borrowed money and the old house had no mortgage either, a bank schedule was not a factor. I am glad I did finish it myself. It was slow.

I don't think you even have to have the GC do the shell if you don't want to. Get the Owner-Builder Book by Mark and Elaine Smith and study it. Find people in your area that have been the GC on their homes and find out who they've used as subs. You might be able to get this info. from www.OwnerBuilderBook.com on the forums.

We have been owner building our own home. We feel just the same about each other as we did before we started the build. We are taking quite long but that is because just one pair of hands (my DHs) is doing almost all of it (with help from me when there is something I can do). When we have used subcontractors (digging the footings, putting the trusses on, HVAC, and rough plumbing) we haven't had any problems at all since we really did our homework first on what subs we wanted to use. I truly feel that if you study the book and line up good subs, you can have your house built in the time frame you need (the book tells you how/when to schedule the subs also).

Good luck with whichever way you decide to go about it.

I assumed Pearl2007 meant they were going to build the rest of the house themselves. If they are planning to simply act as their own GC, then that's totally different.

Sierraeast, I don't care what you think is not cool. Looking at a project that can literally ruin your life through rose-colored glasses is not cool either. A person considering such a project needs to know both sides of the story. I know both sides well. I'll put the house we built up against anybody else here (who actually built it themselves with their own hands). From foundation to roof, we did it all. Would I do it again? NO!!! It is simply not worth the cost. Money is cheaper than happiness, it's cheaper than life. If they can't afford the house they envision, then envision something they can afford to have a GC build to turnkey. Building a house is a lot harder and takes a lot longer than most people think.

Considering the present housing slump, this may be a good timing for a person who wants to be their own GC. This is because you can probably get subs to at least call you back, which many times they won't bother to do when business is booming. I still would not suggest it.

Pearl2007 wrote: "any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA!"

Just my humble opinion.

Interesting comments....thank you all for sharing your experience and suggestions....however humble (or not) they may be.

Pearl, we hired a GC/carpenter/consultant for the first stages of our house. He was available for consultation during our foundation. He was onsite and working during our exterior framing, roof and exterior finish.

Once we were weather tight he went on to other jobs and my DH, my Dad and I got to work as labourers and GC. I hired a plumber and his work is done. We had an electrical consultant and his work is done. We also hired an HRV guy and he is done. We're well on our way to having the house we wanted and very happy with our choices to do the work ourselves.

In our case, doing our own work was great but being our own GC had some stress. Neither of us liked being demandng with the people we hired and that ended up being becessary with one tradesperson. We managed it though and we're happy with the reults.

We're not even divorced yet. Of course we have 3 months left to go!

building a house is like any other journey a married couple will undertake. If the marriage is a strong marriage built on faith, trust, discipline, courtesy, honesty, etc. a house is no more than an adventure that will further strengthen the bond between the two, as they will learn to work together and depend upon each other even more. You should go into something like this with realistic expectations, no fairytale dreams, and ready to fight through the struggles that may present themselves along the way. If you believe you can build a house then you can.

As far as 80% of all marriages ending from trying to build a house, it seems today 80% of all marriages are looking for an excuse anyway. Most people seem to think marriage is that segment of life that begins with the end of a fairytale described as "they lived happily ever after", and when they don't, they quit. Nothing can sever the bonds of marriage between two people willing to honor the commitment they made, love isn't always enough, it takes courage, standards, and integrity also, among other attributes.

We did this with a master bed & bath addition to our current home. (Now building a new house completely GC'd and done by someone else.) My only advice is while we did it and got it all done, we are not professionals and you can see it. Everything we did was good enough for us and has been for 7 years now, but now that we're looking at selling the house I see the seams of the drywall, where the baseboard is seamed at an odd location, the little bit of grout missing on the vanity. There are a ton of things that just make it obvious we did it ourselves and not someone who's profession it is to build. If you are very well versed in doing things like hanging sheetrock, tiling and what not, as well as have a TON of free time then I'd go for it. Otherwise I'd at least just GC the house but not do the actual work on it. I can not imagine how long it would take to build one by ourselves. My FIL did build a home w/ he and another man by themselves and it looked wonderful but took forever. They we're obviously a little more handy than my dh and I as thier place looked awesome.

I plan to build my future house myself. My dad did this 20 years ago so I have an idea what's involved.

I would never do it with a construction loan/mortgage. I pay cash. I also assume it will take around 5 years. Slow process.

jrldh, That's how we are doing it. Even though you have an idea, get familiar with the total process. Being in and around the trades for over 25 years, i have had many learning curves and eye opening experiences on our build. One of your first steps would be to introduce yourself to the local building dept. and get all the steps and requirements down including the order that they run inspections. That way you can schedule the stages of your build accordingly w/o surprise elements. There are many variables to consider w/ endless decision making. Dont assume anything but rather find out the facts before proceeding w/ any step. Ask questions even if you think you are being a nuisance, ask away. Try to stay ahead as much as possible and be prepared for delays with subs, suppliers, even inspections. Getting familiar w/ the building dept, subs, suppliers by personally introducing yourself and getting them on board w/ your project can help big time. It's all about scheduling and is a juggling act, but if you know the steps the building dept requires, you can coincide that w/ scheduling your subs when it's their time to be onsite as well as having materials on board, etc. Best of luck. Despite a few head knockers mostly due to my own assuming, our build is going quite smoothly albeit very slow.

excellent advise sierraeast.

Hi jcal, I hadn't seen you on the boards until lately, thought maybe you headed out. Glad to see you are still around!

A lot of advise that i give has come from learning the hard way, so i try to pass it on so others might not stumble. I guess i'll never not assume, which has gotten me in trouble more times than i care to admit. I guess sometimes an old dog like me cant learn a new trick!

Naw, I'm still around looking but not posting much.

YES! It can be done, but you need to be prepared and the "type" to be able to do this. My dh and I are about 2 months shy of moving into our 4100+ sq ft dream home. We could not have done this without being our own GC (for the entire project) and doing a fair amount of work our selves. That along with 4 boys under 8 years and pregnant again (now). It has been somewhat stressful and more time consuming than imaginable. I don't work outside of the home and gc'ing this one. We could not have done this had I not been available so often. We have a strong 14 year marriage and it just seems amazing that we have accomplished this together. YES there is tension, Yes lots of hardwork, YES not enough time with the kids. On the flip side it has been WORTH IT! We have a large, dream home to raise our family in that we can still afford. We did tons of research and we have been very organized throughout and that is necessary. Read some initial books and see if it is something you want to do and have the TIME to do. Best wishes!

We are building/GC'ing our own home. Similar situation to the kcthatsme post. We don't have a mortgage company breathing down our necks but a tight budget is trying to be met because we had an unfortunate, life-changing occurance when my DH lost his job of 17 years due to 'outsourcing'. It took him 17 months to find another one in his field and it was at half the salary!!! That happened 1 year into the project.
There are so many factors to think about but I have posted here before and my best advise is always educate yourself. Ask questions and take one step at a time.
We have passed all town inspections except the final CO. The inspector is awed by our house each time he comes here. He leaves us alone. He knows we are trying to go by code. GOOD Luck!! Keep us posted.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Timber Frame

I don't know why that link didn't work. I will try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Timber Frame

Sorry there was a space in the URL. Should work now. If not I give up!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Timber Frame

Flowerchild.... thanks for sharing photos of your build.... very nice. Great view.
I love your front door... do you recall the manufacturer... ??

thanks

Thanks for the compliment. The door is my pride & joy. It is a special order product by Escon sold through Lowes. It is Mahogany. We purchased it unfinished and I stained it in natural mahogany. It took me 3 weeks to get the courage to do it myself. It turned out beautiful. The only thing I was disappointed in is the panels in the very center appear NOT to be solid wood (as described in pamphlet) but a veneer instead. I found that out when I tried to sand a clump of stain....the rest appears to be solid. It's very heavy.

Pearl,
We went through a reno on our house using a GC to complete. One of the main factors that we went that route was that we felt that the GC would have better and better access to subs. As it turned out, if I had organized the subs myself I probably would have been no further behind in terms of quality of subs as well as scheduling them.

If I were to do it again, I would just be GC and do whatever work I could do and had time for and sub the rest.
Best of luck.