The popularity of HGTV, books, websites, and YouTube make even the average homeowner believe they are fully prepared to take on the role of or know how to be a builder so they can save money building a house. This isn’t to say that you couldn’t be your own general contractor but if you don’t have the know-how, you might not save much money by assuming all of the risks and significant time involved with building your own home.
The brief overview of being a builder is compiling bids, ordering materials, and scheduling work but the job is much more complicated than that.
A builder reviews the plans to look for problems, estimates the cost of materials, locks in quotes for materials, schedules inspections and deliveries, and tracks accounts payables and receivables. Builders also develop relationships with subcontractors and suppliers, which makes it easier to work with them. Repeatedly working with a subcontractor saves money since negotiations can take place which create better deals. When you hire a custom builder to build a house, you get someone to handle all of these complicated processes.
Builders usually charge 20 to 30 percent over the construction costs in order to compensate themselves for their services. This extra cost goes into the following:
This builder markup covers the above costs and much more, in the form of knowledge, insurance, and procedures.
Now that you’ve started to weigh the pros and cons of being your own builder, try starting with a smaller project to see if you are up to the task. Try your hand at a home remodeling project on your current home. Treat this smaller job just like you would for building a house. This will give you the chance to see how you would handle and try to resolve any issues that arise. If it doesn’t work, you can hire a general contractor for the home renovation.
Many home building projects that aren’t well organized tend to go over by as much as 50%, even with clear guidelines for the overall investment. Having a ballpark estimate is a good starting point. You can do a search for “custom home builders near me” to inquire about rough estimates. Make sure to clarify to the contractor you are looking to get a rough estimate for the cost of building a home.
With Kurk Homes, you not only get our quality construction but our 20-year structural warranty, twice the industry standard, and a quality team of professionals that can guide you every step of the way.
If organization, bookkeeping, scheduling, handyman abilities, homebuilding know-how, and time management aren’t your strong suits then being your own builder may not be for you. Unexpected project interruptions and bad contractor work can tarnish the fun and excitement of building a home. Remember, the main benefit builders have are the relationships they’ve established with the subcontractors who complete their work, and the ability to stand behind their work with a warranty program.
In the end, time constraints and unfinished or bad subcontractor work can extend the project, costing more in the long run. The following are some ways to save costs, which will help you get more out of your budget.
Whether you want to build on your lot, design a home from an existing custom plan, a Southern Living plan, or create a plan from scratch, Kurk Homes can handle it all. We take pride in going above and beyond to make your dream home a dream building experience. Kurk Homes has been designing and building from the Gulf Coast to the Hill Country for over 30 years. Contact us today to make your dream home a reality.
“I could not speak more highly of this company. Kurk Homes offered me such a wonderful building experience. From the first day we started designing the home, we were so impressed with the level of customer service we received.”
Mariana R.
“After months of researching those who build in the Texas hill country, we decided on Kurk Homes with the help of Paul in the New Braunfels office. One thing we observed from the start was the involvement and professionalism of co-owner, Chris McGinley. Along with other prospective clients, we were able meet him at one of his “Hard Hat Home Tours” where we saw the quality being built into that home.
After signing a contract, Lisa, the pre-construction coordinator, provided a written list of initial steps which was quite helpful. Once activity started at the site, the Construction Manager, Larry, emailed an update every weekend detailing that week’s progress. Upon Larry’s retirement, Lorenzo took the role of Construction Manager, and continued the updates. Someone was always available to answer questions and provide help in a timely manner. We saw Lorenzo overcome many challenges toward the end of the project, always with a smile (behind his mask!), a helpful solution, and willing support from Cole. It is obvious that the McGinley family has taken care to hire staff with an extremely positive attitude and high degree of competence.
We received the keys to our home two days ago, and it has turned out to be all that we hoped for.”
Wayne M.