An owner-builder is someone who both owns a property and acts as their own general contractor on the job. They either do the work themselves or hire employees or subcontractors to do the work.
When we built our last custom home in 2003, we hired a general contractor. While we sincerely appreciate that he was honest in our dealings with him, we found that in order for things to be done correctly, we still had to be at the home site every single day. We were the ones who caught almost every mistake. We were the ones who often called the subs to see where in the heck they were. We purchased many of the materials ourselves.
We were the ones who had the vision. And even though we paid for expertise, we still ended with a number of things that were never completed (even after years of punch-list submissions) and others that had serious flaws.
When we purchased the new property, we had decided to act as the contractor to build this house. We figured we could save the money and would probably not be doing much more work than we did before. But now, three years later, we are considering other options just to get the house built. Our lives as so busy that fitting the house building details into the mix just haven’t made it to the top of the list. And it’s time to just get on with the house building and get our family settled in the new home.
Our other possible home building options are:
- Hire a General Contractor
This is the traditional route. Considering the current state of the building industry—and the economy at large—there may be some savings available by doing things the old fashioned way.Our biggest concerns are cost and expertise. Since our home is not a typical wood frame house, we may be left to educate the contractor, which is a further drain on time.
- Hire a Project Manager
We are considering finding a construction foreman or other such person very familiar with the construction industry to hire to oversee the subcontractors. We would still be in charge, but could largely leave the day-to-day minutia and scheduling to him.The concern here is that whether or not this is cost-effective and a good exchange of time for value is an unknown and largely depends on finding just the right person.
- Use an Owner-Builder System
There are a few systems available to assist owner-builders in the process. We have discussed two of them with their owners:Our concern is that the services provided are very limited and we are not sure they are worth the actual cost.
This week, as we finish the stair detail and lot contour plot for the city, we will be considering how to proceed.
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This is just too much work for me. I don’t think I’d ever even build a house. All ours have been previously owned. But it would be neat to design your own house just how you wanted it.
Parish, I think that is the one and only good reason to build a home. You can get a home that is completely customized to your precise specifications. You can have all the little details that make a home livable. You can get rid of the things that you don’t use (formal dining room) and use the space for things you do (formal library/music room).
You bring up some really good things to think about. I’ve had a lifelong dream to build my own home, but honestly that may not be the best thing to do. Maybe I can check this off my “bucket list” if I change the goal to just build a custom home with someone else helping.
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