Building and Remodeling Your Own Home by the Owner Builder Center

Building, or remodeling your own home is, and should be, a fairly intimidating undertaking for the first timer. After all, we are talking about a huge investment of both time and money. While we never want to diminish the complexity of building or remodeling a home, it should be of some comfort to you that over the past thirteen years more than a thousand people or couples just like you have successfully managed the building or remodeling of their homes, and saved tens of thousands of dollars for their efforts.

The following list of questions represent (in order of frequency asked) what most people want to know about before taking on this type of project.

What does it cost to build my own home?

As you can imagine, this is a complicated question. Costs will vary depending upon the complexity of the homes design, the topography of the lot, and the local variables, such as fees for school districts, water and sewer connection fees and any number of agencies which attach a fee to your building permit.

In general terms we have seen most people spending around $110 to $125 per square foot all inclusive. Can you build for less? Can you spend more? The sky is the limit on what you can spend but we do not think you can build for much less than $100 per foot even if you use economy products. Many cities and counties are charging upwards of $15 per square foot for their fees alone.

How long does it take to build a home, and how much time will I need to spend at the jobsite?

Most people plan for a six month construction period. Some finish as quickly as four months some take nine to twelve months. With good planning and no excessive delays, you should be able to finish in six months. We figure that you should spend about 10 hours a week planning your project and about 20 hours a week during the actual construction. Not all of the time is spent at the actual jobsite. Most of the time is spent coordinating contractors, checking materials deliveries against invoices, and shopping for materials. The subcontractors are professionals and don’t need you to watch them work. You will check in at the jobsite about as often as you would if you had hired a general contractor, probably everyday, just to check the progress of the work.

Can I get "contractor prices" on building materials and labor?

The short answer is Yes. The more complex answer is that there is no fixed discount called "contractor pricing". If you buy a train load of material you could expect a better discount than if you are buying a small amount. Most small contractors build one or two homes a year and for most purposes you will be treated in that same category by vendors and subcontractors. One of the benefits of working with the Owner Builder Center is that the various vendors perceive you as a group and tend to offer deeper discounts.

What about guarantees?

The truth is that if there was a problem with your plumbing and you had hired a general contractor to build your home or purchased a home from a developer, you would call them and they would call the plumber. They might even give you the name and number of the plumber and tell you it was his responsibility, call him. The guarantees are exactly the same, you just eliminate the middle man in the event of a problem. If you take the "Housebuilding Classes" offered here at the center, we will show you how to get a five year guarantee instead of the standard one year guarantee offered by virtually every contractor and developer.

Do you have a question?