Friday, November 9, 2007

You May Have Considered Building Your Own

However, there are ways so you should talk to your bank to find what their requirements are to get a construction loan. First, you control the project completely. If you decide to do the management work yourself, that 20% can be equity in the home when the building is finished. You will want to read a book to find the proper timeline for building the house. If this is your first project it may seem confusing and time consuming, but as you learn the right contacts things will flow much easier. All of this is work and can be very time consuming and stressful.You have several advantages when you are the general contractor.Subcontractors can be your biggest headache, if you don't hire the right ones. You will also have to work with the bank if you are getting a construction loan. Hence, if you have no experience at general contracting you may find it difficult to get a loan. Remember, that loans are a service and you may want to shop around to get the best price and deal available. The bank wants to make sure that their investment is backed by real estate.However, being the general contractor does have its negative side also. You get to decide what materials to put into the home and you and hire and manage the subcontractors. If you can handle and manage others then you may want to consider this option when finding your next home. These contractors will be doing a majority of the work and can make or break the project.Additionally, you can do some of the work yourself if you want to. You will have to hold your subcontractors to the same timeline.When a home is built, many different subcontractors to the work and usually the manager is the general contractor (GC). You can pick the very best and create a quality home that you know is built correctly. If you allow the plumber to get behind, he will delay thee drywall and the timeline will be blown. The general contractor is in charge of the entire house and has control of hiring and managing the subcontractors. Get references and do background checks on all of your subs. Your main advantage upon completion is that you have instant equity in the project.Your first hurdle working as an owner builder will be to secure financing. You will have a home that you could immediately sell for a profit on the market if you have completed the project correctly. You can do this by hiring a general contractor to handle the entire project or you can act as the general contractor by being an owner builder.In summary, you can build your own project by being an owner builder. Remember you are paying interest on the construction loan and the longer it takes to build the home will mean the more expensive it is. You may decide that you can paint the inside of the house cheaper than contracting the work. You can save a lot of money by doing it yourself, but you must remember the extra time, effort and stress involved by doing it yourself.You will have to work with the city to get building permits before construction. You must be able to manage and work with a variety of people. However, you will have to deal with a lot of people and stress during the project. You would not have this option if you were working with a general contractor. This allows you to create more equity in the home while it is being built. If you default on the loan they want.

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