Home Builder

Are you looking for a home builder to construct your new home? This can be a stressful decision. A few things can help with that. Watch the video in the following link to see the Home Construction Spreadsheet and how it can help with building your new home.

You Could Be the Home Builder for Your House

The first idea I’d like to present is have you considered being the home builder or general contractor for your own house. Home builders charge a fee typically in the range of 20-30% of the cost of the home.

If you could learn to perform this yourself (and check the laws in your local area for what is required to be the home builder for your home), you could pocket that. For a $500,000 house, 20% is $100,000. A home builder does not perform any of the work himself/herself. They manage the work. They make sure the subcontractors (e.g. plumbers, electricians) perform their work at the right times to complete the project.

Be an Informed Client

If performing that management role seems like a bit more than you want to take on, you can use the Home Construction Spreadsheet (see link above for a tutorial) to estimate the cost of building your new home. This can help you check whether the fee the bidders (i.e., potential home builders for your home) are charging are close to the industry range.

This can also help you think through some of the material selections of the home. Some home builders will want to use the least expensive materials that are code compliant. When you see some of those decisions and do a bit of research on the implications, you may arrive at a different opinion of what should be installed in your new home. The particulars of those choices are too many for this article. But if you would like me to discuss a certain topic, please leave feedback of what you would like me to cover.

When the home builder receives his money from you, he walks away to his next project. But you have to live there.