On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:34:39 -0500, Boater
wrote:

Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market to build
a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor. Has anyone in the
group done this and do they have any words of advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity. You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the general I
hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia turned out to be way
overextended financially from previous projects, and could not line up
the subs I wanted, and was teetering.

I can imagine the waste of time. I had the misfortune to have my
house torched once - if it wasn't for a neighbor coming home at 2 AM
and raising the alarm we might have been killed.
Anyway, I hired a private adjuster, and you wouldn't believe the ****
I went through with him and his crews.
Had to show his "carpenter" how to cut stringers.
Came home from work one day and his "plaster guys" had done the
kitchen with 1/2" drywall, no shims, to replace the nearly full inch
of plaster and lath. There was almost a half inch gap between the
door and window casings and the drywall.
Had it all torn out by the next day I got home from work, but there
was always some BS waiting for me.
I'd leave work saying, "Let's see what they ****ed up today."
Anyway, I finally got everything done about 85% right, but I never
yelled so much and got in so many faces in such a short period of
time. Actually, I went easy on the crews, they were what they were,
but laid into the adjuster, who's really a GC, a lot.
What was good is the adjuster did keep us in the house because he was
real good at getting the essentials quickly restored.
That was important to me as I had the wife and 4 little kids to think
about, and work, so there was no way I even had time to be my own
general.
Win some, lose some.

--Vic