You don't need to depend on (or pay) a general contractor to manage your construction project. Whether you're building a new home or renovating an existing one, you can manage the job yourself. Carl Heldmann outlines how to purchase your own land, set a reasonable budget and schedule, describe your needs and vision to an architect, and hire subcontractors to do the actual building. Cut out the middleman and save as much as 25 percent on your beautiful new home! Carl Heldmann is a construction loan consultant and an expert on residential construction costs. A licensed homebuilder and real estate broker, he is co-founder of the Michigan School of Home Building and founder of the North Carolina School of Home Building. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chapter 1 Be Your Own General Contractor and Save (3) Chapter 2 Where to Start (14) Chapter 3 Financing (30) Chapter 4 Cost Estimating (41) Chapter 5 Further Preparations (52) Chapter 6 Subcontractors (57) Chapter 7 Suppliers (65) Chapter 8 Building the House (69) Chapter 9 Additions to an Existing Home (88) Simple language with no technical jargon. (The New York Times) This excellent book offers the average person a way to say 25% of the high cost of a new house. Recommended. (Library Journal) For those who are considering building a home (or addition) this book is a must! (American Homeowners Foundation) If you can balance a checkbook, read, and deal with people in a fair manner, you can build your own house or addition. You don't need any technical knowledge or building skills - in fact, you'll never pick up a hammer. With veteran contractor Carl Heldmann as a guide, you'll learn that you can get exactly the house you want, done the way you want it, for less. In this completely revised and updated fourth edition of his classic how-to book (more than 185,000 copies in print), Heldmann gives an overview of all the steps of building and includes a glossary of building and business terms and sample contracts. He tells how to: Select land Secure financing Develop house plans Establish schedules Identify cost-saving options Select subcontractors Negotiate contracts Buy materials and supplies Estimate building costs "If you are bound and determined to plunge ahead…pick up a copy of this little book before you start." "If you are thinking about building a new house, or renovating your current home, first read [this book]."- San Diego Union-Tribune
"If you are bound and determined to plunge ahead…pick up a copy of this little book before you start."- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"If you're intrigued by the idea of being your own contractor for your dream house, here's where to begin."- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"…Heldmann offers something that you can hold dear for a lifetime: the skinny on homebuilding." - Timber Home Building
"Carl Heldmann has written the bible for people who want to act as their own general contractor….Strewn through the book are interesting tidbits a layman probably wouldn't hear unless he showed up at a job site at break time with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts." – Los Angeles Times
