October 19th, 2019

October 19, 2019

With the challenges of hiring a GC (turned down by everyone so far), my husband and I are highly considering building our house ourselves. We are just researching—no decisions yet. Bonus #1: We’ll save hundreds of thousands. Bonus #2: No mortgage. Has anyone here done this before? Built a house without a mortgage? 🤔👇🏼

Comments:

  • Seraphina Wesley my plan is to get a double wide mobile home and move it to some land
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Seraphina Wesley that’s awesome!!! We are doing a traditional stick build—but sourcing from an Estonia based cabin company. Basically all materials are included, everything is cut to size and you just put it together 🔨💪🏼
  • Active NowCole Abiah Wadsworth III You will be pleasantly surprised at what you think you will save vs what you will really save. Being your own GC will definitely help but it won’t in the hundreds of thousands like you are thinking. At least in all my experience. Things come up, change…See More
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Cole Abiah Wadsworth III yes very good insight! I’m truly surprised no one wants to assemble a cabin kit. It takes 2 weeks once the foundation is done. Our estimates so for for assembly have been $250k-$450k from GC’s that have actually got back with us. This obviously is labor only since we are sourcing materials.
    • Active NowJessica Kish Holy smokes · 
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Jessica Kish yep!! Adds up quick!! Which after we max out our loan, we are willing to cover the difference out of pocket but when the time comes to get serious, even the contractors that showed genuine interest back out
  • Cameron Davis Rees You can still hire subcontractors. The gc only coordinates all the work
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Cameron Davis Rees yep that’s what we are thinking. We pay the foundation/septic/cistern engineering one month, then pay for the foundation the next month, then the septic + cistern install the next month and just break it up as part of monthly budgeting until it’s done
    • Cameron Davis Rees Rachel McCash Cronin we were going to be our own gc when we built, but I lost the battle of location (my wife wanted to be closer to family). So the only lots we liked in town were with developers who weren’t willing to sell just the lot. You’ll probably save about 10-15% of total build cost. But that adds up!
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Cameron Davis Rees yes well we want to GC and actually build the entire house ourselves. Only subbing areas we can’t do—like plumbing, electrical and cement.
    • Cameron Davis Rees Rachel McCash Cronin plumbing and electrical are pretty easy. You might be able to save a little more by running all the line and then just have the licensed contractor do the final connections, but time vs money. You’ll save a few hundred on each, but they can usually bring a crew and do it 5 times faster.
  • Deborah Trem Williams Why are they all not interested in doing it? That seems weird to me 🤷‍♀️ what’s up with them?
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Deborah Trem Williams they don’t like the idea of a “kit home”. It goes against their personal branding. Though it’s 100% identical to traditional stick build. Everything shows up in the exact same materials they would source—except cut to size and can be easily, quickly, and effortlessly put together.
    • Deborah Trem Williams Rachel McCash Cronin I see! 
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Deborah Trem Williams so many are on board until we mention we are providing the materials and then they lose interest
    • Deborah Trem Williams Rachel McCash Cronin that’s too bad for them… and putting you guys in a hard spot. It will all fall Into place when it’s all
      Meant to be… although maybe not when you want it to be… at least that’s what I’ve found in my life experience ❤️❤️
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Deborah Trem Williams it really is too bad for them! We have an AMAZING secret 🎥 project that anyone who partners with us will be involved with. We don’t mention it until after a site visit and only after they seem to have a genuine interest
    • Deborah Trem Williams Rachel McCash Cronin and still know takers? Well… opportunities everywhere… you either take them or don’t… I guess one contractor is going to hit the lottery on this one 💖💖💖💖
    • Jessica Kish Probably because they make a cut on top of materials too. My father in law canceled having an addition built when he found out they were getting 10% on top. Here we are like 3 years later and the addition isn’t done still. They got the loan and everything. 
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Jessica Kish well if that’s the case, they could add 10% on to the labor?? I still don’t entirely understand 😕
    • Jessica Kish Rachel McCash Cronin just a guess anyway. That was the case in our experience. I don’t know why my MIL didn’t put her foot down to get her addition done in a couple months Versus years later still don’t have a completed dining room.
    • Handlebar Henry I suspect that there are several factors ..money and possible liability often enter in the mix. I know this is frustrating but I would hesitate on doing the work yourself. It is beyond difficult if you haven’t done this before. I haven’t built a house but i have been in one that was rebuilt after Hurricane Camille in 1969. It takes a lot of expertise to build a house..if you make a mistake it might prevent you from being able to resell your house in the future. Now I know you don’t want to think of reselling..but it is what people that lend money look at..they have to consider if a mortgage goes south..they want to insure that they will be able to recover the money. This assume that you get a mortgage. In our case..after Hurricane Katrina I actually paid cash for our house (which is three times nicer than the other one..and it was a very nice house). But we are the exception..very few people have the ability to just write a check. So our situation might be different from yours. Anyway..I hope you can find a contractor ..a good one..not just someone that says they can do this. There are probably going to be a lot of permits that you will need to get and inspections as well..so this is a red flag on doing it yourself..in my opinion. It’s just a lot of stuff that you have to add on to your already heavy load of stuff you are doing. Sorry for the long reply..just sort of thinking about it while writing.
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Deborah Trem Williams most don’t know about it—we literally only have mentioned it to 2 or 3 GC’s. It’s the last thing we say if they get to the end of the interview lol 
    • Robyn Brown I don’t understand why the builders are so hesitant either. Its literally 2 walls and a giant roof- they have built it all before, only the dimensions are different. At least that’s how it seems to me.
    • Deborah Trem Williams Rachel McCash Cronin Smart!
  • Torsten Bangerter We painted a house when I worked for a painting company that was being their own gc. Nothing was organized the owners forgot about things like porterpottys for the workers to use so we had to drive to use another work site, non of the schedules of the …See More
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Torsten Bangerter that is so crazy!!! Thank you for the insight!! I’m sure it’s a challenge but hoping it’s not too bad with it literally being Amazon/IKEA for houses lol. And I’m extremely organized (if I do say so myself haha). Quite proud of my IMDB…See More
    • Handlebar Henry Rachel McCash Cronin It will be quite a challenge. As an old guy I am glad I don’t have to do a whole lot anymore..lol..you are young and full of energy so that might win the day.
  • Torsten Bangerter I’m guessing they are complaining they don’t know the “quality” of the materials or aren’t familiar with them either so they loose interest · 
    • Jaclyn Easton Torsten Bangerter that’s my best guess too Rachel McCash Cronin because people associate kit houses with being cheap and having no resale value. Like modular homes. 
    • Rachel McCash Cronin Yeah it’s so sad! It’s the exact same materials though. They can read on the Avrame bid the exact materials they are getting. And they are cut to size. All they need to do is show up with a nail gun. And they get a Webex meeting with the creator so the…See More · 
    • Handlebar Henry Rachel McCash Cronin You hit the nail on the head with “comfort zone”. Most people want to take the easy way..do a little work and get a check, get a beer and watch tv..haha That’s just the nature of most people. However..some people are different..they like challenges..taking on new adventures. Anyway…going to get comfortable and have some supper..I still have amazing adventures but they are fewer now..but that’s ok too.
  • Chelsea Henning Why not do it yourselves? You should be able to pull most permits as a home owner and just learn how to do it all. My husband and I do alot of our own stuff. We never hire a GC for anything. Even with an electrical permit needed, we asked a friend elec…See More
  • Active NowMolly Stroud My Grandma and Grandpa built their house themselves. They’re country farm people and the house is just fine. Did it the two of them.
    • Robyn Brown Molly Stroud Yep. My great grand pa built one of the houses on our farm in the 1930’s. There’s no foundation and no slab- its sitting on cement blocks, nobody is sure how many and we can’t get under the house without digging. It is however still standi…See More
  • Mario J McCash Wow, wouldn’t it be nice to be like Samantha on Bewitched and just twinkle your nose and poof! – your house is all built and ready to move in? Sigh.
  • Indrek Kuldkepp I built my a-frame myself and have no mortgage nor utility bills. I’m off-grid.
  • Joanie Lovell We’re building our own home in TX… we’re doing everything ourselves, plumbing, electrical, cistern, all of it…my husband has built many houses…we’ll be 100% off grid… Its about a 5 year project for us from start to finish…
  • Adrianne Reyes Here’s the manuals for the ICC you have to follow. There’s building codes you will need to follow and know when to stop at certain stages for inspection.
  • Phillip Benoist I have a couple old buddies back in Tx that are GCs they make all of their money on marking up materials. So if you have all the materials already they can’t make any money of of that. Now my contractor friend is reputable and his markups are reasonable and I understand that’s how he makes his own living because I know he pays his workers well also. But I know that not all contractors are reputable and they might try and charge you the same amount as if they were sourcing materials and doing labor.
  • Phillip Benoist So sorry y’all have to to go through these frustrations but I’m sure you’ll do great if you build it yourself and you’ll have also done something that not to many people choose to do anymore.
  • Jayme Marquez Search on YouTube I’ve found quite a few who’ve done just this!