Starting an Owner Builder Network in Kern County

[Kyle Bergren]

BP members, just curious if any of you who live in Kern or LA county are frustrated with high price of homes and decided to take a leap into building your own home either as a DIY Owner Builder or as acting as your own GC to save money?  (There sure isnt any shortages of buildable land out there!) I just started out and found there to be significant savings but thought it might be neat for some of us owner-builders to network and share experiences and skillsets. There's been a lot folks out there telling me Im crazy but saving 3-4 years of income for taking charge far outweighs the financial burden of a large mortgage.  What are your thoughts?

[Gene Hacker]

I have watched a few acquaintances go the owner builder route.  They unusually assume that acting as the GC will bring them significant savings. 

I every case they ended up dramatically over budget in both time and expense.

The big builders have economy of scale on their side which makes their prices relatively reasonable.