Becoming Your Own General Contractor

Posted by jhbryant1 on April 29th, 2019

You’ve done your research about being your own general contractor on the new house you plan to build. You know it will be lots of work, and even some headaches dealing with some subcontractors, but the money you’ll save makes it pretty tempting to go this route. But then you wouldn’t have to deal with those headaches if you hired a residential or local commercial contractor in Sacramento, CA. Here are the pros and cons of being your own general contractor.

 Pros and Cons

#1 – You Will Save Lots of Money – A general contractor will tell you if it was lucrative to be in the building industry everyone would be doing it. A general contractor has the advantage, based on years of experience, or who are the best subcontracting companies to hire. Who’s going to get the job done right at the cheapest price. He also knows where to buy the best, most affordable materials. If he’s a large builder he gets discounts on volume. You won’t get those discounts as once your house is built you won’t be coming back for more materials.

 #2 – Hiring the Best Subcontractors – A genal contractor knows the ins and outs of electrical, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, painting, sheet rocking, etc., etc. He knows quality work that will pass building inspections and meets building codes. He also knows a fair price. So, this gives the general contractor an advantage when negotiating. Also, some subcontractors like working for general contractors that feed them lots of work so they are more responsive to the general contractor over the homeowner for whom they will be working one time.

 However, now that you know what you are up against if you are tenacious, willing to go the extra mile, stay organized and have good business and financial skills, you can pull this off. Experts estimate a general contractor can make 15% to 25% when a house is sold. For you, that is between 15% and 25% that you’ll save, which is significant money depending on the appraisal of your house.

 What You’ll Need to Know

You will need to learn several things. One, how to read blueprints. Two, how to estimate the costs of materials and labor. Three, how to obtain building permits and meet approvals. Four, finding and managing subcontractors. Five, ordering materials. Six, managing cash flow and hitting certain dates for the construction loan. And there are of course many other things you need to learn. But if you up for lots of research, you can pull this off.

 So, go into this knowing it will be lots of work, with a few headaches along the way. Or if it seems too much consider hiring a residential or local commercial contractor in Sacramento, CA.