"...Am I nuts for thinking I can do this?..."

Probably not. But your sense of economics, quality functioning, durability and enjoyable, low maintenance living may not be in synch.

Good luck with your project.

Care to elaborate?

All cash build. No loan. 5 years. Working 3 full time jobs. 1 day job. 1 night and 1 weekends. More $$$ than your original total by far. And that’s if the municipality allows open permits for longer than a year. And if your insurance company will insure you. And that’s if you already own the land and have done all of the 50K worth of improvements to it.

You need a bank and a loan? Nope. The bank wants a finished foreclosable property with enough value to secure that loan. Not a 5 year unfinished project.

It may be worth the experience to do it that way.

As far as "nuts", there may be other things that contribute to that diagnosis, so the jury is still out on that one.

Growing up in a rural farm community, I know lots of people who've gone this route. Typically they lived in a trailer on the property and spent a decade building the house, then they'd haul the trailer away and live in the house for the rest of their lives. I don't think such people are really big on permits; rather, they count on "doing it right" themselves.

I'd expect everything to cost more than you anticipate ... it always does, especially when you do things "piece meal" instead of having a contractor hire it all at once. And I'd be wary of hiring friends. if something goes wrong ... and it will ... this could be a good way to lose those friends.

It's do-able, but I think it could be soul-sucking to always, always, always have that project hanging over your head. The question is, Do you want to live this way for the next decade?

There is no one-answer-fits-all here. I like the trailer-on-the-property idea. Living in it will provide plenty of motivation. It sounds like you have the circumstances to make it work.

Sophie already said what I was going to say. There is no way you can get a construction loan or a mortgage for this idea, so you have to go into this knowing it's a cash build.

That means you have to have the cash flow to sustain this. Do you want to have that much money tied up in an uninhabitable structure for months/years on end?

My DH and I went this route by building owner/builder. We hired subs for the excavation, concrete, framing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and drywall. We did all the finishes both exterior and interior ourselves. We worked 9 months at least 6 days a week and 10 hours a day. I think if we could only work at night or on the weekends, it would have taken at least 5 more months to finish. Don't underestimate what back-breaking work construction is. I didn't really consider it fun, but I know my husband enjoyed the process.

Also, if you are going to build yourself, you will need a lot of expensive tools and equipment. We spent $1,600.00 just on a lift for four days so we could put the siding on the outside of the house 30 feet in the air. We had to learn how to do a lot of things that we had never done before such as install insulation and lay brick.

You will have to be the one to estimate the quantity of materials, find out where to get the materials, find the best price, and then go get them. This aspect of construction is much more involved and time-consuming than people think.

I think if you are young and able, have buddies that will help you, are realistic about the "fun" factor of building and the time involved, then it's definitely doable.

My husband built our home, much in this way. 1st year put up shell and closed everything in, took 3 years total. But this was 30 years ago and codes and permitting are so much different now. Good luck if you choose this route, it is doable but it is also difficult if you are relying on family and friends for assistance.

Theres a house in our neighborhood going up like this. We passed the 3 year mark headed into year 4.

I'm unsure why you'd want to stack three 900 sq ft spaces. Is one level underground (basement)? All those space-eating stairs. 1800 sq ft above ground? Is this a small lot?

What's the finish in this 'turn key' house for $250K? What existing RE can you buy cheaper?

Our HVAC tech has buddies from HS who are all in different trades. The group cooperated on building their own homes ten years ago -- and are still friends! I can see that. I can't see one person or a couple devoting years of their young lives to doing this while holding down real jobs. (That includes raising kids.) They'd have 'no life'.

You aren't nuts. We are in the midst of doing the same thing. Our builder finished the shell a couple of months ago and my husband and I are in the midst of doing all the interior. We both have full time jobs, 2 kids ages 10 & 12 that are involved in sports, and we are moving right a long. Ours is also not a cash build. We have a loan with a bank that has been extremely supportive and helpful during our process. We will have been under construction for one year come the first of October and I estimate we have about another 6 months to go from that point. Our build is a lake house, in an association, that is an hour away from our home, and while there have been some obstacles along the way, so far it has been a fun and rewarding experience. Are we busy? Sure we are but we are enjoying it so much.

And remember, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger" - Friedrich Nietzsche

“All cash build. No loan. 5 years. Working 3 full time jobs. 1 day job. 1 night and 1 weekends. More $$$ than your original total by far. And that’s if the municipality allows open permits for longer than a year. ”

Pretty much. It was 3.5 years in my case.

About open permits: Chances are the municipality adopted a code like IRC which regulates this.

For example IRC 105.5, which essentially means you can’t stop working on it for more than 180 days. I had to call in an inspection (any) once every 180 days to keep the permit valid.

I'm not sure where you are located, but around here every trade is experiencing a severe labor shortage. My husband is in the trades, and there isn't one guy who is interested in doing any extra work. And plumbers, HVAC, and electricians are booked out for months and months. My friend called 10 different companies to get a new furnace installed and most of them are booked through December.