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The Owner-Builder Book
So a few years latter when I decided that I could afford a new home, I asked my friend how he had built such an amazing house for so little. He pointed me to "The Owner-Builder Book." When I saw the subtitle to the book, I was a little suspicious: "How you can save over $100,000 in the building of your custom home." I had seen a few too many infomercials making similar promises, but my friend had done it, so I figured that I could too.
Now, a year later, I have completed building my $550,000 home for $320,000. Much of my 41% savings can be directly attributed to this book:
Chapter 1: You Can Save $100,000
Chapter 2: Learn The Wealth-Building Secret
This is the pep-talk part of the book written to give you incentive
to read the next 300 or so pages. This chapter talks about how custom
homebuilders know and use the ideas in this book all the time. Ever seen
an ad for a "builder's own home"? Why are they always the upper-end
homes? Hmm.
Chapter 3: Contractors Aren't What You Think They Are
Chapter 4: You Can Manage Better Than a Contractor
Chapter 5: You Will Profit By Building a True Custom House
These chapters dispel myths about contractors. Hint: A contractor is
very simply a project manager, and usually not a very good one at that.
Among other things, they rarely shop around for better material prices.
They usually use the same lumberyard that they have always gone to. I
saved over $20,000 just by telling my framer that I was going to purchase
the materials from a different lumberyard, all he had to do was give me
the list.
Chapter 6: Conquer Details Room By Room and Save 20%
Chapter 7: How to Get the Subs on Your Side
Chapter 8: How to Build a Budget That is a Powerful Miracle Tool
Chapter 9: Commando Shopping Techniques
Chapter 10: How to Schedule the Work at a Savings
These chapters talk about how to actually save money: The key points are
planning, getting down the details of exactly what you want, (i.e. I want
two phone outlets in every room with two strands of cat5 and coax.), and
make sure to shop around. As an example, I had bids ranging from $5,000
to $15,000 for my electrical. One would assume that with 5G's you would
get less than with 15G's, right? Not necessarily: for $5,000 I got
everything that I wanted, plus I was able to add a bunch of outlets that
I hadn't thought of at the last minute for free cause the subcontractor
was a nice guy. Now I love that TV above Jacuzzi tub.
Chapter 11: How to Make Your Lender Swoon
Chapter 12: Paperwork Before You Begin
Chapter 13: Six Months to Victory
These chapters help you get the paperwork ready that you will need
throughout the process. Remember contracts with liquidated damages and
lien release forms! I only had problems with one subcontractor that my
wife had been responsible to get fill out our contract with and had never
done it. But, luckily their own contract, which my wife had signed with
them, covered most of what we needed. I even got to keep an extra $2,000
dollars because they didn't have time to come back and stain the stairs.
Let's see, $50 in stain and supplies, 3 hours time. Yeah, I'll take the
$2,000.
Chapter 14: Smooth Execution Saves Money and Improves Quality
Chapter 15: Mistakes You Can Avoid And Successes You Can
Achieve
These chapters drill into your head what planning and details mean. I
had one major problem over the course of building my home. The truss
company built my trusses wrong. It took them three more tries and fourweeks to get me a completed set. Because of my contracts and planning, I
cut the cost of the trusses by almost half, but the time hit was the most
damaging. My total time to completion was 7.5 months. I had planned for
6.
Chapter 16: If You Decide to Use a Contractor
The final chapter discusses how to choose and work with a general
contractor if you decide that being your own general is too much for you.
Conclusion
Don't leave with any illusions: this book will not build a custom home
for you. By planning and following through on the information in this
book, you too can build your dream home.
The first page of each chapter is available online at: http://ownerbuilderbook.com/book/Ch1.cfm, and a free CD-ROM with software templates for budgets, contracts, the entire book in MP3 format, and a previous edition of the eBook in PDF format is available. You can purchase The Owner-Builder Book from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to submit yours, read the book review guidelines, then hit the submission page.
Contractor, schmontractor. I built my own house with my own two hands. It takes over a couple year's worth of weekends to do, but you get exactly what you want (or what you are willing to do,) and you pay as you go. Once built, it's paid for. Now I just have to finish paying for the 32 acres of land...
"What is the sound of one belly slapping?"
I hope the contractor who installed the TV did a proper job of bolting it to the wall. Otherwise it'll be 'TV in Jacuzzi tub', which could be unfortunate if you happen to be in there at the same time.
Best Slashdot Co
People can be real idiots. I'm sure the person who wrote this book, and the person who wrote the review, used software supplied by our friends from Microsoft. So I wonder what the markup on MS software is? Prolly a _lot_ more. Why aren't they complaining about that, and providing 15 easy steps to saving $$$$$ with computer software? I'm in the housing construction industry, and I don't see too many "fat-cats" around me. Most people make enough to provide for themselves and their families, but they're definitely not living in half million dollar homes. And I might add, the products they turn out with their daily work, generally aren't the cause of great frustration, without needing an monthly or yearly upgrade, etc, etc... This book is a variation of those "Get Rich While Sitting in Your Lawnchair Surrounded by Beautiful Babes" type books. The only people who benefit from this sort of book is the author and publishing company. Now that I've gotten rid of some steam, I'm going back to work :-)
Why did I post this? Ask me now!
A nerd doesn't need a house, just a big fat T1 into his cardboard box. Pfah, homes are for wusses.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
"Learn the wealth building secret"
???
I think I got about 1000 email spams in my inbox with that subject line.
I didn't think it was possible but slashdot has hit a new low with this "news story".
Pathetic!
It's generally a good idea to meet with as many contractors as possible beforehand, to see who can be thrown the farthest.
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
...a coffee mug someone gave me:
"If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization."
"Oh God help us. We're in the hands of engineers."
_______
2B1ASK1
You forget that a good percentage of /. users are gainfully employed and a smaller percentage are well rewarded for their work. ;)
/.ers are married. While I can't fathom the notion, I suppose it's possible.
And the "Love" poll, a few polls back, indicated that several
Ehh having lived in California in a shitty 1900 ft^2 house with barely 4000 ft^2 in land, I can safely say that living in a bigger home is much much better. Sure our family of 6 lived fine in a house that small, but once we got the taste of a real home [read "we moved to Ohio"] of 4200 ft^2 [including a half-finished basement] we found out how much easier it is to live. I don't think I'll ever move back to cali to live, granted I lived in a shithole portion of San Jose. If you live in Cali in a house with a decent amount of land, look into moving to North Carolina. Our house in California sold for $260,000. Note how small it was. Our house in Ohio [with an acre of land] was $220,000. And our house here in NC [2 acres, 4100 ft^2] cost $230,000. You can be a king! King of the Rednecks really....but you're still a king :D
... you could put out a hit on the contractor, and (maybe) his wife. It's important to make sure the subcontractor you hire to do the job has a good reputation for quality work, and won't do things with shoddy tools. You don't want the $5000 sub to just use an ice pick that could leave the hit still alive, when the $15000 sub could use a proper high-caliber weapon to turn his face to mush.
Some are inclined to do their own contracting, but I've found that the federal inspectors tend to be grumpy in these kinds of situations. I'd suggest that folks leave the work to those with the right skills and cope with the additional cost.
EOM
Dental Hygene: Have some. Buy toothbrush and use it regularly, yet not more than four times a day. Unless you grew up in the sewers of Calcutta, at some point in your childhood a dentist showed you how to brush. Dredge your memory and do it - If it seems to take twice as long as normal, you're probably on the right track. Try to avoid having things caught between your teeth, even if it's a hunk of CAT-5 insulation.
Auto Repair: Go to garage. Pay money. Would you trust your mission critical software to a mechanic who "plays with software?" Didn't think so...
How to remove tough Stains: Point out stain to drycleaner. They will remove it. Unless you're the kind of person who regularly spills stuff on your clothes (in which case, try to stop,) it's cheaper to pay them occasionally than to buy a whole bunch of cleaning products that will sit unused under your sink 99% of the time.
Arctic Survival Skills: Stay warm. It only takes a tiny fire to warm an igloo. Remember the fire needs a chimney hole. Note "warm" doesn't mean room temperature - It's surprisingly easy to melt a hole in an igloo, or have the whole thing collapse on you while you sleep, which kind of defeats the point of survival. If you kill a polar bear, don't eat the liver, as it has a toxic level of Vitamin A.
Fashion (in general): Fashion is designed as "planned obsolescence" without an upgrade path. Designers want you to replace everything every six months - This is why fashion changes every year. The easiest rule to avoid wasting your money is only buy "the look" the year after it's first seen. If it's going to be around for a while, they'll be still selling it. If not, then you avoided having to toss out things after six months because that's "soooo last year." You do get what you pay for, but after a certain point, the incremental return is marginal. These points are (approximatly) Shirt: $45, Pant/Skirt: $80, Shoes: $130, Suit Jacket: $450.
Men's Fashion: "Sloppy Chic" is not only out, it was never really in. Shirts should have measurements for both sleeve and collar, not S/M/L/XL. No woman on earth is impressed by your "Mozilla 1.0" Tee Shirt. It you're wearing a tie, you should barely know it - if it's choking you, either you tied it too tight or your shirt collar is too small. Pants come in other fabrics than Denim. Shoes should have laces, not velcro or buckles, and cover your whole foot. Mixing and Matching Rules: Solid+Solid or Stripe+Solid or Pattern+Solid - There are no other valid combinations. Easiest way to accessorize and match: Go to Macy's/The Bay/Marks&Spencer and buy the exact same outfits the mannequins are wearing. Don't try this at K-Mart/Zellers/Tesco. It's far easier to be successful dressing "somewhat conservitive" than "modern and fashionable." If you saw it in a magazine and the model's hair was not combed, you have almost a 0 percent chance of wearing that garment successfully. Try mixing in at most one (1) "fun" or "trendy" thing with your outfits (i.e. shirt, tie, shoes.)
Women's Fashion: See "Men's Fashion," but you have both more choices and more lattitude. If a boot comes less than 1/2 the way up to your knee, you should not see the top of it (They're called pant boots for a reason.) Don't mix clunky with sleek. Undergarments should not show through clothes. If more than 1/2 the time you're wearing the outfit is indoors, wear hose or socks. Never be seen in public in a Mu-Muu.
Extreme Sports: Have a good medical plan and life insurance first.
Gourmet Coffee Reviews: I don't drink coffee, so I can't comment on this.