You’ve heard this before: With all billboards on the highways, banner ads on the internet, and brochures at the big home improvement stores, this has got to be true, right? This is a perfect example of argumentum ad populum, or “if many believe so, it is so.”
But is it? Let’s look at what it takes to build a house. First, you need a lot or some land. Then, you need a good house plan, a house plan that is designed or refined not only to fit your family’s needs but takes into consideration certain aspects that may help make it marketable should you decide to sell it in the future. Third, you need a budget and perhaps even financing. And last, you need to build it. Easy peasy.
But the devil is in the details. Let’s assume you already have some land. And, you bought a great little house plan you found in a book. You’ve even have some money budgeted, and a bank is willing to work with you. Ready to build, right?
Not so fast. Many times, a house plan may look good on paper, but when it comes down to it there is almost always an issue that pops up that is not immediately clear on the plans. Issues can range from something relatively insignificant, like the bar is two inches too short to accommodate that awesome refrigerator you have to have, to something major, such as the framing for the second floor was not properly reinforced.
Unless you are an experienced builder, how would you know that? How would you fix it? Whoops! Your budget is automatically compromised—maybe in a big way.
Then, as you progress into the adventure of house building, you realize you’re woefully short on realistic budgets for lighting, or plumbing fixtures, or flooring—because you decided at the last minute that you have to have that awesome slate instead of carpeting in your living room.
And then, you realize that because you can’t get contractors out on a timely basis because they put you on the back burner until they don’t have any other work to do—if they show up at all. (Hey, they’re going to take care of that builder who gives them regular work every time). Or maybe you hire a contractor who doesn’t do the job right. All of the sudden, you’re behind schedule and that interim mortgage is racking up by the minute, and your budget is going further south by the second.
This scenario does not take into consideration that myriad details of (the myriad of details in) home building that have the potential to drive you to the brink of insanity!
Let’s face it: there are some people out there that actually DO save money by being their own builder. But the vast majority of people who undertake building a home on their own either don’t save that much money (or even go over budget), experience frustration and anxiety (relationships have been known to fail over a house building project!), and sometimes when it’s all said and done realize they didn’t build the house they wanted. (Nor does it look anything like they had planned.) That’s a pretty high price!
So, is it really cheaper (financially or emotionally) to be your own builder? Look, we’re professional home builders, and we may be a bit biased, but we’ve seen it all. Problem with a house plan? If we don’t find it before we start building, we almost always can find solutions to rectify the problem without hurting the budget. We know how homes “work” and work with you to modify plans to better fit your lifestyle but keep it “sellable.”
Based on your house plan (whether provided by you or by us) we can help you establish real, workable allowances for every aspect of your house, and we even work to give you some “padding” (extra budgeting ) in case you find some amazing chandelier that could put your lighting allowance into the red.
Lastly, the contractors that we use are seasoned, reliable, talented professionals who we’ve trusted for years, and who show up on time and ready to work (FOR US)… which means we stay on track and on budget.
Hiring a good, experienced builder can actually save you money and frustration—we can even make it an exciting and gratifying experience! Before you make the leap of being your own builder, call us first. We’ll show you how you can get the house of your dreams, on budget, on time. And that’s the real savings!