Being an Owner-Builder VS Hiring a General Contractor
Building our own home is something that a lot of people have thought about at one point in our lives. A lot of people do not do anything about this thought because of rationalizing that it is either not possible, or is too expensive. However, some people pursue to find out more information about the idea and then discovering that there are some things that the general contractors hope you would never find out.
Being an owner-builder is something that can save you a lot of money in comparison to hiring a General Contractor. In order to be an owner-builder, you must be aware of the role and responsibilities that a general contractor would generally take care of. Setting up a construction budget, hiring subcontractors, purchasing the necessary materials, and overseeing the progress of the construction are some of the important tasks that involves building a home.
It must be expected that there would be times when household interests would bump into each other. Moreover, there are necessary paperwork that the owner-builder must take care of such as the building permit. With all these, anyone who has tried to become an owner-builder could say that it is never easy to build a home. But, with all those effort to be exerted, there is a great reward.
In general, contractors charge about 20{ef0c690a0dc04c5b10a78e5498a65a0b209f78385451fd7e27f21fe41deac322} of the total value of the house to be built which mean you can save a lot of cash without hiring them. With that being said, the 20{ef0c690a0dc04c5b10a78e5498a65a0b209f78385451fd7e27f21fe41deac322} that you would have paid to the general contractor could be used for other expenses and become part of your home equity.
The general contractor’s fee will still cost you a lot more money in comparison to the expenses that you will have to include in the budget for being an owner-builder. Also, it must always be considered that the general contractors take over and control the entire project which means there would be less work for you, but in return you will need to pay a large fee. Project managers to monitor the overall project are also needed if you are going to hire a general contractor and this can cost you more money to be deducted to your potential equity.
Being an owner-builder is probably one of the hardest responsibilities that a person can take but these responsibilities will give you a lot to gain. You can enjoy many many advantages by being an owner-builder as long as you have the drive to accomplish every task.