If you enjoy that sort of thing, give it a try. Just be aware of what your strengths and weaknesses are.

As for whether it'll be cheaper--probably not. On the one hand, a general contractor will have a level of profit built in for his services. Similarly, any subs he uses will price their services to include a profit. So, your labor costs should be less. (If you count your labor as "free," it certainly should be less! But you have to weigh the value of your time. That's why I said that if you enjoy that--if it's as much fun as what you'd do on a vacation--that's great. But if you'd rather be spending your time doing something else, then it is costing you something in the time you're spending.

So, you save on labor. However, there's also the question of materials. It's likely the builder can buy the supplies for less than you can. There's also the variable of quality of materials, and their cost. So you'll probably spend more on materials than a builder would.

I don't think the primary factor in your decision should be cost, because I'm not sure you'll experience significant savings. But certainly look into that. Rather, the primary consideration should be whether you want to build the house yourself, the pride you take in doing it yourself. If that's an important consideration, it may well trump the cost issue.

Hope that helps.

No you don't need a general contractor - However, if you get all the permits yourself and god forbid something go wrong with your credit and you cannot get a permanent loan you cannot sell the house for 2 years without facing a lot of legal trouble. How do I know this? I have a client who bought land and was subing the house out themselves plus doing some of the work. The husband lost his job and now the couple cannot qualify to convert the construction loan to permanent and cannot sell it because you must live in it for 2 years. At this point they are looking at losing the house to the bank or taking a chance that the contract licensing board will not be too hard on them. They could face jail time plus high fines. If you find a good contractor they will build the house faster and most will let you do some of the work yourself and deduct from the price of the house. Also, most contractor have reliable subs that show up when needed. This cannot be said for the average homeowner.

You DO NOT need a general contractor to build your own house in NC. The FAQ section of the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors located at http://www.nclbgc.net/faq_fr.html states:

Can I build my own house without a license?
If the land is in your name and the home is solely to be occupied by you and your family for 12 months after completion, you may build your own home without a license. Refer to GS 87-1.

We did it ourselves 16 years ago. My husband did all the molding, arch doorway, cabinets, and the rest of woodwork. We did save about 20-30K back then. You do need a licensed general contractor/builder to supervise the whole process. The toughest part is to line up all the sub-contractors so they don't delay your building process. Find a small builder who has his OWN team of sub-contractors. If you need any recommendation, please send me an email.

Check out http://www.ferncreeknc.com. There are 4 vacant lots (size 3.7-6.2 acres) on the west side of Jordan Lake (off hwy 64). They are about 10 miles from the city of Apex.

Thanks,

Jean

You can act as the general contractor as long as you plan to live in the property for one or two years, I don't remember which. You can save a lot of money by doing the work yourself, as labor is the most expensive part of building a home. Depending on how far from the RTP you which to go, and if you want to be on the Durham or Wake side of RTP, you'll be able to find land to build on. I have a client who did this, and walked away with $100,000 equity on a $400,000 home (according to the appraisals at the time)

Getting lending for this can be tough, as well as finding the land, especially if you want to be in a neighborhood. Please let me know if I can be of assistance in finding the land for you.

Daniel

Hello,
It could be a very complicated, if you try to do portions yourself, then you would of course save money. There is a great neighborhood near RTP with a great builder that I would be happy to show you and for all of the standard features homes are priced around $100 per sq ft. Standard features include a lot of site finished hardwoods, crown molding downstairs, 42" maple cabinets to name a few. Contact me via my website if you would like to see the neighborhood.

Any time you can do work yourself, you will probably save money versus paying someone else to do the same work. However, be aware that nearly every county in the area requires a licensed general contractor be involved in any project with a value greater than $30,000. And unless you are planning to pay for the project in cash, you will probably also need to have a builder/contractor of record when applying for a construction loan. There may be some contractors who are willing to have you do some or much of the work in return for a lower contracting fee, but there will need to be some level of comfort on both sides of the transaction.