Читать книгу Building Your Custom Home For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 20

When you talk about building a custom home, people often assume you’re planning on pounding hammers and nails yourself. In reality, hardly anyone does the actual construction on their own custom-home project. Many people, however, do consider acting as their own general contractor. Still, doing so is such a large undertaking that less than 20 percent of all custom homes are managed by owner-builders. In many of these cases, the owner is a contractor or already has some construction experience. This factor isn’t necessary, but it can make a big difference in the ultimate success of the project.

Even though the primary motivation for considering becoming an owner-builder may be saving money, the real issues to consider are time and management experience. This project will be one of the largest undertakings of your life, even with a contractor. Consider the following questions in exploring the owner-builder subject:

 How is my security at my current job?

 Do I have extra time and a flexible schedule?

 Can I make more money at my job with the time I spend on the home?

 Do I have a good understanding of the construction process?

 Do I have extra time to train myself on the process?

 Am I good at managing people and projects?

 Do I have a good eye for quality of construction?

 Do I have access to good resources?

 Am I good at problem solving?

 Am I good with multitasking and constant change?

 Am I well organized?

 Am I good at managing finances and budgets?

 Will my partner and kids stay with me if I mess up the project?

If you honestly answered no to any of these questions, you probably need to hire a contractor (see Chapters 2 and 7). Most owner-builders are gambling that they can do a job equal to or better than an experienced, licensed contractor, thereby saving the cost of that contractor. Although an owner-builder may end up saving money, you need to weigh the risk of that gamble against the money you may save. If you’re wrong, it can cost you far more money than you planned to save in the first place.

One option if your answers were somewhat mixed is to hire an owner-builder consultant. One company called UBuildIt (www.ubuildit.com) offers expert consulting and procedures to guide you through the construction management process. The company charges you consulting fees and offers you products and services that are marked up, but the costs can be significantly less than a contractor’s fees. UBuildIt is a good alternative for saving money and shortening the learning curve; however, you still need to have the time and the management skills to make for a successful project.