- Paperback
- Publisher: STOREY BOOKS (2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1580173748
- ISBN-13: 978-1580173742
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Making a Toad look like a Prince,
By
This review is from: BE YOUR OWN HOUSE CONTRACTOR: HOW TO SAVE 25 PER CENT WITHOUT LIFTING A HAMMER (Paperback)
We design custom homes and sell a custom component package to customers in the USA. About 15% of my customers are owner contractors and I have worked with over 50 owner builders in the past ten years. This book is deceptive in that it exaggerates the potential savings and downplays the potential pitfalls. A typical custom home contractor has a 15% profit margin based on National Home Builders Association reports, I concur with that as well. Saving 25% is a dream unless you not only act as the contractor but do much of the work yourself. For every successful owner built project I see there are 5 that are a complete fiasco. Unless you have considerable carpentry and building experience, know how to deal with subcontractors and all the pitfalls of working with them, and have full time to devote to you homebuilding project then don't even attempt to build your own house! Keep your sanity and marriage intact and hire a good contractor. My experience with owner builders is that they don't know how to negotiate with the trades, they are unaware of the workmans comp insurance and lien pitfalls and in many cases they pay the subcontractors more than they should because of their inexperience. Save the cost of this book and go to a movie instead. Unless you are the unusual one in ten owner builder who has all the right skills and the personality to handle a difficult learning curve you would be well advised to look elsewhere for saving money, perhaps building a slightly smaller house with a contractor would be a wiser option and in most cases the contractor built house will be much better built and worth much more money when all is said and done. Spend some time doing research on the web about being your own contractor and read about all the horror stories. You don't make your own car, sew your own clothes, grow your own food, or assemble your television. Use good common sense and realize that owner building you home is a crap shot at best and a personal and financial catastrophe at worst. The best thing I can say about this book is that it will give you a good overview of the process of homebuilding but it will in no way equip you for the realities of building your own home. There is no substitute for long term experience, this book makes a toad look like a prince, pretty far fetched in my experience.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent step by step guide,
By
This review is from: Be Your Own House Contractor (Paperback)
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews) 91 of 91 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How To Save 25% Without Lifting a Hammer,
By Larry A. Panhorst - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Be Your Own House Contractor (Paperback)
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.
54 of 54 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Concise, money-saving organization of your building project.,
By Casey Stewart "kcfoxy: accept no substitute" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Be Your Own House Contractor (Paperback)
The author provides an easily understood yet detailed plan to organize the building of your home. Various steps of the building project are well-covered and crucial elements...such as legal requirements for lien waivers, insurance and code requirements are spelled out clearly.I found this book helpful in deciding if I would be able to manage the general contractor process, and was intrigued at the idea of saving up to 25% of labor costs. The sample contracts and other forms were a plus. 69 of 73 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent book! It' concise & non-technical,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Be Your Own House Contractor (Paperback)
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!
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