The wife and I have settled on a home plan and are getting geared up to start building next spring.United Built homes Aspen 28'x50' including 8' front porch.28'x42' heated.post and beam,2x4 walls,that concrete board siding.No floor coverings or applinces 77,800 dollars!My question is say I do all the work myself,were out of city limites in small town OKLA. I dont need any permits.How much could a fella save doing it his self?Central heat and air wont be used and I want 2x6 walls.Windows and bathroom fixtures I can get way below market price locally.Kitchen cabnets can be baught at the factory in Mckinney TX. at a big ol savings too. Triangle pacific I think the name is.I guess my real question is how much of that 77'800 dollars is labor , profit and mark up for United Homes?
Well, I may not be the one to ask, with all the problems I am having with my builder [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] , but I hear if you GC your own house, you will save about 10%. Of corse the more work you do yourself, and the less you have to sub out the cheeper it will be. Just keep one thing in mind. If you have to have a construction loan, you have to pay intrest on that loan, till the house is done. That can add up. Sometimes it may be cheeper to pay someone to come in a few day, to do a job it would take you a few weeks to do.
Paul makes an excellent point re; a construction loan. I think if you GC your house yourself you should be able to save about 25% without picking up a hammer. The tough part is getting subs to show up on time, do what you want and be done on time so the next guys can be in. Most owner builder projects experience most of their problems right there. It only takes one contractor failing to perform to mess up a schedule for everyone behind him. The reaon owner builders have so many problems is the subs know this is a one shot deal for you and the other guys are a source of ongoing work so they get priority. Another problem is that if you don't know what you (and they) are doing, you can have all of your anticipated savings eaten up and more.
I'm not trying to discourage you from doing this. I'm just trying to make sure you go in with your eyes open if that's what you choose to do.
Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helps. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
<font color="red"> The tough part is getting subs to show up on time, do what you want and be done on time so the next guys can be in. Most owner builder projects experience most of their problems right there. </font color>
Of corse you can get this with a builder also. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
What I have found is that you can save 25% to 30% if you GC your own home and do some of the work yourself. We moved into a new home last May and the builders in our area wanted around a $125 dollars a square foot for the turn key project. The final cost was $77 dollars a square foot with me as GC. We also laid the hardwood and tile floors, installed the electric, painted the interior and did the finish grading. That is a savings of almost 40%. I have never done that well before.
We saved more than $25,000 in labor doing the those parts of the job. My wife and son work with me and we stay out of the other subs way. That is probably the most important thing.
This project went very well and finished ahead of schedule. I had great subs and they did quality work. Most important they were on time and did it right the first time. I cannot say it enough. Hire the best subs you can get and pay a little more if you have to. It will be well worth it in the end.
Our family is on to the next project, our son's new home. All the subs are under contract now and we do not break ground until September. They are that busy. The good ones always are in our area.
Let me warn you about trying to do to much. I have found that there are just some jobs that are better left to the pros. I have done all the building trades but always contract the concrete and framing out. In our plan long sheets of drywall were used and I just did not want to do it. The sub made it look easy and saved my back too. Sixteen foot 5/8 drywall is not for me to lift in place on a nine foot ceiling.
Take your time and remember there are always problems that will come up. The success of the project is measured by how well people solve those problems.
You fellas are gonna laugh butt ,My plan is to get the exterior walls and a lid on it with what we can save between now and spring. After that ,its gonna be payday at a time. We have a mobil home now paid for and falling apart . Gonna build rite behind it. I built my shop 30'x40' that way. We have never owned any land or house outrite before till now. I cant imagine going into hock on our place again If the intrest was 0%. I wonder how long It will take me to smash up a 14x80 oak creek mobil home,than dig a nice big ol hole and bury that sucker with the mighty 4200 J.D.?
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I wonder how long It will take me to smash up a 14x80 oak creek mobil home,than dig a nice big ol hole and bury that sucker with the mighty 4200 J.D.?
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When you find out let me know.. The piece of junk 1984 14x70 mobile home I am currently living in might receive same treatment after I move into my new house later this year! [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Actually, I wouldn't laugh. The wife and I did almost the same thing. Our cabin is on a different piece of land, so we didn't have to take it down. But, we built the house a little bit at a time. Hired some work out and did some ourselves. Just hold off moving in until the place is pretty much done. I know it's hard to do, but if you don't it might never get finished. Once the rooms are full of furniture, it's a problem emptying them out to sand drywall.
As far as saving enough this spring/summer to get the walls and roof up, it depends on what the paychecks look like and how involved the construction is.
One thing to consider is that contractors usually get a discount at the lumber yard. The good news is that I have been told that Depot will extend that courtesy to owner builders if they agree to buy everything from there.
Good luck. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
The GC's that I worked for generally made 10-15% profit on each house. In other words, if the house cost 100k, the GC made btwn 10 and 15k. But that was using subs for everything. The more you can do the more you will save as mentioned above.
I would reccommend picking up a book or two on how to be your own GC. Try this link .
Before you even begin have a decent floor plan and materials list, otherwise you will nickle and dime yourself to death. I have seen lumber yards offer entire house kits for a reasonable price. It was a few years ago, but something to the effect of 50k for a 1600 sq ft house -- granted lumber prices change, but it was not a bad deal, and I think it included all the fun stuff like doors, cabinets, etc.
we just moved into our house in early april....I g c 'ed the whole shabang....never had a problem with any subs, because you dont pay them until they finish.....some (plumber/electrician/drywall) will be paid in 3 draws, but no one gets final draw until everything passes inspection and lien releases are signed!....major build on your lot builder here in dallas area wanted 360K to build our 4205 sq ft home.....we did it ourselves for right at 210K.....and that includes a $12K driveway and a $7500 aerobic septic.... i paid all subs on time and never had a problem with them coming back to finish the jobs.....it can be done, just pick your subs ahead of time and get all bids in writing.....I let the framers and the drywallers supply their own materials so as not to get into a argument about wasting material, but I purchased almost all the other materials.....fixtures/flooring/bricks/stone etc....
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