How To Save 20% On Building Estimate & Own Your New Home Cheaper?

By Guest | Jan 24, 2012

This is a guest post by Michael Luckado. Do you have your own tips when building a new home in reducing the expenses which you would like to share with our readers as a guest article? Read the guidelines and start writing.

There are some really good home deals on the market today. From foreclosures to short sales, finding a home with a low price is easier than it’s ever been. But what if you want a home that doesn’t come with all the baggage? What if you want a specific design with all new finishes that match your tastes? The best way to accomplish this is to build your own new home. And if you manage the process correctly, you can save 20% off the new home prices down the street.

The biggest advantage to building your own home is the elimination of the cost of the general contractor. Typical builder/general contractor margins are in the 10-15% range. You may need to hire a builder consultant to help you with scheduling, subcontractor selection, or budgeting, but I’m certain you can get a much better deal. Even if you used a builder consultant for a full eight hour day each week during the six month process, you still wouldn’t come anywhere near the price of a full service general contractor.

Another great cost advantage when building your own home is that you can take your time looking for excellent deals on materials and labor. I have a friend that just successfully built his own home (and no, he doesn’t work in the construction industry). He saved 80% on hardwood flooring that was being liquidated by a company that was going out of business. You should see his new hardwood…it is absolutely gorgeous. A general contractor may get some special pricing for buying a lot of material for the homes he builds, but in today’s slow building environment, those volume discounts are getting less by the day. Trust me, I’m a home builder.

When you build your own home, you can choose who does the work. You may choose to do some of the work yourself, eliminating the overhead and profit that subcontractors charge. You might have a friend that is a plumber that can do the work at cost. Most builders won’t let you supply your own labor when they control the project.

Another great way to save money when building your own home is by checking with friends that are in the building supply industry. I have a buddy whose company designs and builds trusses and he is able to get me great, preferred pricing for my personal projects.

One last way to save a bunch of money when building your own home is to choose to build in what I call weather friendly months. I built houses in the upper midwest for years. When building in the cold winter months, the costs went up 3-5%. A builder will build your new home when it’s convenient to their schedule. When you manage the process yourself, you decide when to start.

Building your own home is no simple task. You will need to dedicate some serious time to the project to make sure you build a quality home that will last for years. That being said, you can save some serious money and get exactly what you want by taking on the project yourself.

Byline: Michael Luckado has built, remodeled, and repaired thousands of homes throughout the U.S., over the past sixteen years. He created www.armchairbuilder.com and www.blog.armchairbuilder.com to help people build, remodel, and repair their own dream homes.