House Building question

I want to start building soon. What are some important steps and procedures I need to make sure to follow when building? I plan on self-contracting. What am I looking at saving $$$ wise by self-contracting? I also plan on doing all the wiring/flooring/painting. I am scared shitless I will be building for a while if I plan on doing all that myself. I believe I am a skilled handyman since i put a fan up by myself one time, but I am worried I am in over my head.

I've seen a lot of people save a lot of money doing it. However, most houses showed how much of a "skilled handyman" the owner was.

I'm not sure if he can legally wire his house for electricity, unless he's a licensed electrician, but even if he can, I would certainly not advise it. Cable, internet, security, phone, etc. are all good, but no way should he do electricity.

Painting is a good way to save money, as is flooring, if it's simple flooring.

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I'm not sure if he can legally wire his house for electricity, unless he's a licensed electrician, but even if he can, I would certainly not advise it. Cable, internet, security, phone, etc. are all good, but no way should he do electricity.

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He would probably need to check this out with the local inspector. In many states you're allowed to do your own electrical work, but getting through inspection might be a problem.

As far as the OP, the biggest issue is managing sub-contractors and the whole permitting/inspection process. Home construction subs can be a nightmare to deal with. He needs to make sure to have clear agreements that lay out milestones, payment process, scheduling, etc. He also needs to understand that they may screw something up and refuse to pay for it, may disappear, may show up wasted, etc.

Also, doing stuff yourself can save money, but if you're doing a construction loan you have to think about time and interest as well. (I guess there's still such a thing as a personal construction loan)

If it was up to me I would not self-contract it, but he thinks he can save big $ by doing it himself.
As far as the electrical goes, that was the first thing I asked him and he said he has a relative that has a residential contracting license? so he will just sign off on the electrical work. Not sure if that is a smart idea but its his house to burn down

That is what I'm paying him to contract it all out. I'm not doing anything myself. I'm still having to pay for the actual labor and materials.

I was going to build my own but now paying 10k, which isn't bad. I won't have the sweat equity I wanted but it'll get done faster and probably better quality and probably save me from getting divorced in a few months.

That's pretty much correct. My time is worth more than 8-12% the cost of the build.

I built my house myself. Savings were about 25% of total. In Louisiana you can do whatever you want yourself as long as it passes code. I got a construction loan. You just have the bank put money into your construction account as needed to save on intrest. The most important things to follow are to not cut corners, do what the inspector tells you to do the first time, and measure twice, cut once.

aaronb023

Are you in BR? What builder are you using? I'm looking for a contractor right now...

I sub contracted my home and thought it was pretty simple, get good people and inspectors will make sure shiite is right. I saved 20k