Being An Owner-Builder: Lessons Learned 

Just finished building my house, and your points are spot on. I did most of the work myself except Sheetrock, finishing concrete, framing roof, cabinets, plumbing, shingles. Took an enormous amount of time and effort, but the experience was second to none!

Great stuff. Would love to hear a similar post experience video about the permits and getting the builder-owner loan itself

Great video and great advice - we have done this twice and also painted the inside. Just some advice for next time. We were advised to insulate the walls around any big open space - this would avoid the echo effect. Worked like a charm and we did that ourselves in just a few hours.

Thank you for your videos! Such a huge help.

Good stuff thanks. Good idea having a handyman as emergency backup. I’ll remember to do that.

Thanks for the update!

Worth watching for the handyman suggestion all by itself.

I'm just doing a remodel on our house and acting as a owner-builder. Really appreciate this video on things to keep in mind.

Excellent owner builder pointers, It will definitely help me in my own house project.

I'm about to get started, great info

Great info would love to hear more about the things that went great and not so great and the lessons learnt.

Awesome advices, thank you

Great Video!!!

well put!

Great Info!

Amazing content and information! Very good video.

I’m late to this party but you have great information looking forward to do the same.

Great content!

Put my "how did it go?" on your previous early vid. Now i see it finished!!. Thanks for the videos. I am in this business through UBuildIT in Houston. Enjoy the fruits of your management labor sir.

That punch list is necessary; something that needs to be signed by contractors, etc., before they begin a project. It's like a separate document that needs to secure part of a project. I would get their ID'S and certifications, references, before any work begins. I and my husband plan to do our own work; building a small two storey home.

Your points are dead on...the one other thing I'd add is to HOLD your various contractors to their quote. I had contractor after contractor come hat in hand saying they " didn't understand why it came to more then they quoted but would I please pay the additional"...yada yada yada of course wanting to be the good guy I did. Never again and I'm sure your aware that in BC- your supposed to hold back 10% of contracted price for 45 days to allow for default by them. In the courts your only going to get dinged for 10% of any liens applied to you so the 10 you hold back for 45 days covers that contingency...thanks for the vid. :)

Thanks for the video and advise..did you have any sort of lien waiver in place?

Great video and nice palace you have there! I am experienced and have all the tools for electrical, plumbing, hvac, etc but unfortunately no experience with framing/foundation. We relocated to a new area and looked at the homes out here that are getting multiple offers over asking price. They are poorly built homes. I am amazed people are paying top dollar for this type of low quality work. This is the reason we are now looking at owner builder.

We did a complete rehab, new electric, insulation, drywall, plumbing, metal roof, windows, doors and siding. We had a complete remodel permit. It took a year. It was just my husband and myself did it all. the frame was the only thing that we didn't have to do it. My husband has a handyman business. Now we want to sell and build a new house and start a house flipping business. We had no mortgage for 5 years. We would sub out the frame and foundation.

Cool video. Subscribed! I would really appreciate a cost breakdown video if you wouldn't mind. You could include total square footage, area you live (Midwest, South, etc. for cost similarities), and a breakdown of what each portion of the project cost, such as framing, foundation, painting, insulation, drywall, etc. I'd greatly appreciate it from someone who has just done it. Thanks!

Im just about to do this soon. In permit phase. You mind me chatting with you for a few minutes for pointers?

I'm about to be owner builder on a 2500 square ft 2 story block house. I have a lender lined up for construction. "NORMADY" just concerned about a lender to finance the home after the build

Great informative video! Please explain how things went sideways with the framers related to the billing increments... how did they end up getting too much money prior to completion? Should there not have also been a hold-back as well to ensure satisfaction?

I am a finish carpenter the only thing I don’t do is stairs. I build cabinets , base, crown , doors , casings ! I hv about 75,000 in tools? Licensed/bonded! Tons of ppl let pros do everything except finish? And it shows terribly ! Miters all open R full of caulk? Casing on doors and windows off the reveal ? Doors ghosting , reveals off , don’t close right!! Ect.,. Don’t forget the finish guy! A house that big might be 6 weeks or more ?

13:57 - If he only knew the full context of Netflix & Chilling 😂

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wait im confused, if ur an owner-builder, how did u have a general contractor involved? I thought that being an owner-builder meant you were basically your own general contractor. could you explain that a bit more to me?

Why weren't you using a quantity surveyor report?

Hello again from Houston. The house turned out amazing, Congrats! Did you own the land before you started? Against all recommendations, we really want to spend more on the land than the house. Not great for resale but we figure if we spend a lot on the land and are able to contract the house ourselves we can make it work. You have a new subscriber.

So I want to start making a home to sell and use the gains to make another and keep going. Anyway, we have good friend who will be our guide he is a contractor but we will be the builder. So saves us money. Anyhoo this video really helped. We want to get in touch the our friend but before we want to have am idea of what we are getting ourselves into.

Awesome info, thank you. I'm very interested in doing this and I believe I have the ability, but my biggest concern is simply bandwidth. Do you believe this can be accomplished (within a reasonable timeline) by someone who works full time?

thanks for ur video! any tips on best (cost effective) way to get builders insurance?

Thumbs up man! I am researching lenders to build my own house. Which lender did you use? Any idea where one could find a punch list from start to finish? Thanks

Wow great videos on this topic. I'm starting to study up on this for a build a few years from now and I can see there 's a lot to cover. Question: Are there pre-made architectural plans that can actually be approved and used for say something like a large single story ranch?

You should share the name of the framing company that scams its customers. Having info like that could save a lot of owner builders from getting scammed themselves.

You mention General Contractor but weren’t you an owner builder?

Those framers were scumbags. Their names should be put out there. They was paid to do a job So they cheated you out of a service that was due to you. Been there.

First ADU for me and we r still in the applying for pernit phase. My designer said I should just apply for Owner Builders permit even though Im planning to hire a contractor who’s licensed or bonded. It says on the owner builder’s application form that I assume all risks. So is owner builder permit the way to go? Pls help!

So you had a general contractor?

I didn’t hear you say what your ending price per square foot ended up being?

How are you a home owner builder with a GC? Typically a homeowner builder manages all the SUBS.

Has anyone ever told you that you sound like Christian Slater?

Flaky contractors are my biggest fear in self-building my house. You just can't trust people to do the right thing most times.

A GC? Unless the rules were different you can be owner builder around here if you use a GC. You're suppose to be the GC. 25k fine here

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