General Contracting your Home Build

I found that I spent about the same, I was just able to get more bang for the buck...

The two biggest cons I can think of are:

1. The amount of time it would take. Unless you have a LOT of spare time, there is no way you could manage the jobsite, get bids, etc.

2. You have no recourse if anything major goes wrong (IE structural deficiencies). Since you are the GC, you'd have nobody to sue.

For example lets say your slab cracks and starts sinking in the ground, you could try to sue whoever poured your slab, but they would immediately say that the soil wasn't compacted properly and it wasn't their fault (and they'd be right). It would have been up to you to do a soil compaction test.

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came out to $85/sqft not counting land

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Is that $85.00 living sqft or total sqft?

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came out to $85/sqft not counting land


Is that $85.00 living sqft or total sqft?

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living

as long as you know how things are done and make sure your subs do quality work you shouldnt have to sue anybody. if you dont know how things are built, do some research. you dont need to be able to do the work yourself, but you should have a good understanding of how it is done.

dont just pick subs out of the yellow pages. try to get references. check the BBB. drive by some of the nicer houses being built(not dr horton) and see who their subs are. you usually get what you pay for.

if you know your dirt needs to be compacted, or something needs to be waterproofed a certain way, or you expect a certain finish, talk to your sub before they do the work and make sure they are going to perform the work the right way. dont wait until they perform the work to talk about those things.

you should go by the site everyday after work has been done, if possible, and inspect the work. if something looks wrong get it fixed asap. being your own GC means you write the checks. dont pay until the work is done to your liking.

there are a ton of books, youtube videos, television shows, and websites that can help you learn how stuff is done. the gardenweb forums are pretty good and have a lot of info and horror stories. watch holmes on homes on HGTV to see what not to do.

Just GC our house in 2010. Would do it again if I needed to.

Pros:
Saved about $30000 on a 3400 sq ft house.
Pick your own subs. You do not get stuck with the builders "guy".
Put exactly what I wanted in house (ie flooring, granite, insulation, home audio)
I know what I put into house and quality of the work.

Cons:
Banks are going to give you more shite about $$$ if you do it yourself.
Its going to take you longer. Subs will blow you off, plus you are going to mess up the schedule at some point.
Better know what you are doing or trust your subs.
Very time consuming. I was at the house almost every morning and every evening and alot of lunch hours. Plus plenty of times you get calls that a sub needs you at the house ASAP.

I now have an awesome house with alot of bells and whistles and I know exactly how it was built for way less than a builder would do it. But I had to work for it.

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I'd rather pay someone $30k and sleep better at night.

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To each his own. But I sleep just fine in my brand new house with the $30000 in my pocket.

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Anyone have any pro or cons or experience with this method?

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I would never recommend it for anyone unless they have experience. If you have no experience and insist on doing the work you better be damn sure to have a great set of plans. A good contractor is worth every penny and so is an home designer/architect.

what to expect as a self contractor....
- you will pay the sub more than the contractor would pay (a decent contractor could build the house for about the same that it would cost you and he would still make money)
- the subs will do shittier work for you knowing that you can't dangle the next job over their head.
- every sub will try to convince you that something "isn't my job" or it is an extra. I've had HVAC guys try to get out of venting a dryer. I've had plumbers try to get out of installing dishwashers. It's amazing what someone will try to do if they don't think you know what you are doing.
- you will spend a few grand (if not more) on things you never budgeted for just at home depot & lowes'
- you usually (but not always) get what you pay for

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- you will pay the sub more than the contractor would pay (a decent contractor could build the house for about the same that it would cost you and he would still make money)
- the subs will do shittier work for you knowing that you can't dangle the next job over their head.

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Totally untrue.

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to the OP.... The only leverage you have is money. Don't pay for something that isn't correct. And MOST importantly, don't give anyone an advance. I can't count how many times I've seen people do this and they get screwed. If the sub can't manage his money to get thru the job, then you don't want him on your site. If the sub needs money to "buy materials", don't give it to him. Go pay the material bill yourself.

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Now that is true, we ran into that when we started. After almost getting burned, we figured out how to manage the subs. Get prices for everything, get numerous bids, get references, go look at their work.