Be Your Own House Contractor: Save 25% Without Lifting a Hammer

Carl Heldmann breaks down build process into simple steps. His emphasis is that if you hire reputable subs for each job, being your own GC is simple - and he gives plenty of insight as to finding good subs.Mr. Heldmann recommends against doing any of the labor yourself (unless you are an expert in the trade) since he places a high value on your time, which many owner-builders tend to undervalue.

In 1990 I had my ten acres paid for, and was ready to being building my retirement home. A friend gave me Carl Heldmann's book, Be Your Own House Contractor. I had a set of plans made from my sketching, and got three bids for building. The cheapest was $97,500.00. I decided to try my own general contracting, with little to no experience in construction. With the help of some friends whom I bounced ideas off of, I started out with a spread sheet of sub-contracters, getting three bids from each in their order of appearance. In six months, we finished our home, and without cutting any real expenses, built our home for $67,500. All due to the teachings and following of Carl Heldmann's book. Even if you do decide to use general contractor, this book is still invaluable in the detail and advise given. I have since given this book to three friends who have built homes, and all three were very impressed with the subject matter. A MUST read, in my opinion, for anyone who is going to undertake building or having a new home built. I know of no where else one get such a step by step explanation covering the do's and don't of every phase of the process.

I am very glad i read the other reviews of Mr. Heldmann's book besides that of the "reader from Hartford". It is obvious that the "reader" didn't read the whole book, as that which he (or she) claims to be lacking is in fact covered totally in chapter 8, "building the house". I was very discouraged from "building my own house" before reading "Be Your Own House Contractor", because other books made the process seem overwhelming. We broke ground last month and are well underway thanks to this fantastic, encouraging, non intimidating book.

A very good guide to help you understand the process of building a home and saving money. It also covers areas on calculating building cost, understanding the steps to completing your new home from buying a lot, to moving into it. Lots of info to help you avoid making mistakes on your first home.

The concept of self-contracting really works. We contracted all the work on our home, chose all the things that we wanted and that we could afford and got our dream home at a savings of more than 25%. We weren't going to do it because of all the naysayers we ran across, but Mr. Heldmann's book convinced us we could do it, and we did! Bravo!