Thinking About Managing Your Own Custom Home Build? Read This First

Building a custom home is exciting. You get to choose the floor plan, finishes, countertops, flooring, fixtures and all the little details that make the house feel like yours.

But there is one part of building a custom home that I think homeowners sometimes underestimate: actually managing the build.

I completely understand why someone would consider doing it themselves. You may have experience in construction, you may have friends or family in the industry, or you may simply think, “How hard can it really be? I can hire the subcontractors myself and save the builder fee.”

And on paper, that can sound like a great way to save money.

But if you're planning to build a custom home in Oklahoma—especially on land you already own—there is much more involved than hiring someone to pour the foundation, someone to frame the house and someone to install the cabinets.

There is a lot happening behind the scenes.

And when something goes wrong, the person managing the project becomes the person responsible for figuring it out.

YOU ARE NOT JUST BUILDING A HOUSE. YOU ARE MANAGING A BUSINESS.

When you hire a building company, you're not just paying someone to swing a hammer.

You're paying for experience, relationships, scheduling, coordination, problem solving, oversight, quality control, accountability and someone who knows what needs to happen next.

A custom home involves a long list of moving parts: dirt work, engineering, permits, foundation, framing, roofing, windows, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, insulation, drywall, trim, cabinets, countertops, flooring, painting, exterior work, landscaping and inspections.

And those are just the major categories.

All of those trades have to show up at the right time and do their work in the right order.

If the electrician can't start because the framing isn't finished, the electrician has to be rescheduled.

If the cabinets are delayed, that can affect countertops.

If the countertops are delayed, that can affect plumbing.

If one trade gets behind, it can create a domino effect throughout the entire project.

That is the part of building that isn't always visible when you're looking at the finished house.

THE SUBCONTRACTORS DON'T MANAGE THE PROJECT FOR YOU

This is one of the biggest things I think homeowners overlook.

You may know a great framer. You may have a great electrician. You may have a plumber you've used before.

That's fantastic.

But each of those people is responsible for their portion of the job. They aren't necessarily responsible for making sure the entire house stays on schedule.

Someone has to coordinate all of them.

Someone has to know when the plumber needs to be there before the concrete is poured.

Someone needs to make sure the electrician knows about changes to the floor plan.

Someone needs to make sure the insulation gets installed after the appropriate inspections and before drywall.

Someone has to catch it when something isn't being done according to the plans.

And someone has to be the one making the phone calls when the schedule starts falling apart.

If you're managing the build yourself, that someone is you.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SUBCONTRACTOR DOESN'T COME BACK?

This is another part of managing a build that homeowners may not think about until it happens.

What happens when a subcontractor gets most of their money but still has work left to finish?

What happens when something doesn't pass inspection and they need to return?

What happens when you discover a problem several months later and need them to perform warranty work?

And what happens if they simply don't come back?

A subcontractor's price only matters if the work gets completed correctly—and if someone stands behind it afterward.

Professional builders typically have something an individual homeowner doesn't: ongoing purchasing power and long-term relationships with their trade partners.

A trade working for an established builder isn't just thinking about one house. They may be thinking about the next 10, 20 or 50 homes they could work on with that builder. That ongoing relationship creates accountability.

A homeowner building one house usually doesn't have that same leverage.

If the original subcontractor won't return, you may have to hire another company to finish or repair the work. And the second company may not simply pick up where the first one left off.

They may need to:

Diagnose someone else's work
Remove or tear out improperly completed work
Purchase additional materials
Correct hidden problems
Bring the work up to their own standards
Complete the original scope

Now you're potentially paying twice for the same portion of the house.

This is one of the reasons the cheapest price isn't always the lowest final cost. We discuss this in more detail in Why Inexperienced Builders Are Often the Most Expensive Choice.

THE CHEAPEST PRICE ISN'T ALWAYS THE CHEAPEST BUILD

Another thing I've seen homeowners learn the hard way is that saving money on one part of the project doesn't necessarily mean you're saving money overall.

Maybe you find a subcontractor who is $5,000 cheaper.

Sounds great.

But what happens if they're two weeks behind?

What happens if their work has to be corrected?

What happens if they don't show up when they're supposed to and now another trade has to be rescheduled?

What happens when a mistake made early in the build isn't discovered until months later?

What happens if you have to hire someone else to finish their work?

Those costs can add up quickly.

And sometimes the biggest cost isn't even the money. It's the time, frustration and stress that comes with trying to fix the problem yourself.

If you're trying to determine what you might actually save, it's helpful to first understand what it really costs to build a home in Oklahoma and all of the components that go into that number.

THE RISK MOST HOMEOWNERS NEVER CALCULATE

There is another side of acting as your own general contractor that has nothing to do with countertops, schedules or construction selections.

Risk.

A home under construction is an active jobsite. People are climbing ladders, working on roofs, operating equipment, using power tools and performing work that can result in property damage or serious injury.

If you're acting as your own general contractor, you need to understand exactly who is carrying that risk.

Before allowing a contractor or trade onto your property, important questions include:

Does the contractor carry appropriate general liability insurance?
Do they carry workers' compensation coverage when required?
Have you obtained and verified current Certificates of Insurance?
Who is responsible if a trade damages your property?
What insurance is protecting the home itself while it is under construction?
What happens if there is a fire, theft, vandalism or severe weather loss during construction?
What happens if someone is seriously injured on the jobsite?

These are not questions most homeowners are thinking about when they calculate how much they might save by eliminating the builder's fee.

And you should never simply assume that your normal homeowners insurance policy covers every risk associated with constructing a new home. Policies, exclusions, limits and responsibilities vary.

Anyone considering acting as their own general contractor should discuss the project with a qualified insurance professional before construction begins and make sure they understand exactly what coverage is—and is not—in place.

We've written an entire guide about this issue because we think it's that important: Builder Insurance in Oklahoma: The Hidden Risk Most Homebuyers Miss.

THERE'S ALSO THE BUSINESS SIDE: PAYMENTS, CONTRACTS AND LIENS

Managing construction also means managing the business side of construction.

Who has been paid?

Has the subcontractor paid their suppliers?

What documentation should you collect before releasing payment?

Are change orders documented?

Are you keeping accurate records of contracts, invoices and payments?

Have the appropriate lien releases been obtained?

A homeowner can pay a contractor and still find themselves dealing with a dispute involving someone else who supplied labor or materials to the project.

This doesn't mean these problems happen on every project. They don't.

But when you become your own general contractor, these are now issues you are responsible for understanding and managing.

YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW

This is probably the biggest reason I would encourage homeowners to think carefully before managing their own build.

You don't know what you don't know.

You may know exactly what you want your kitchen to look like. You may have spent months looking at house plans and Pinterest boards. You may know every finish you want in the house.

But construction is a different world.

There are details that happen behind the walls and underneath the floors that most homeowners never have to think about.

There are building codes, engineering requirements, inspections, sequencing, material specifications and construction details that can make a huge difference in the finished home.

And Oklahoma adds its own challenges—from expansive soils and severe weather to heat, humidity and energy performance.

We cover many of those lessons in What Your Builder Wishes You Knew About Building a Home in Oklahoma.

Some construction mistakes are easy to see.

Others aren't.

The problem with a construction mistake is that sometimes you don't find out about it until the person who made the mistake is long gone and the wall is already closed up.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG?

This is another question I would ask before deciding to manage your own build.

If you hire a professional builder and something goes wrong, you have someone whose job it is to help resolve the problem.

But if you are acting as the project manager, who do you call?

If the framer says the plumber caused the problem and the plumber says the framer caused it, you're the one standing in the middle.

If a trade doesn't return, you're the one finding the replacement.

If work has to be torn out and redone, you're the one determining who is responsible and who is going to pay for it.

If there's a warranty issue after you move in, you're the one tracking down the original contractor—or hiring someone else.

You become the coordinator, the negotiator and sometimes the referee.

And that can be a very uncomfortable position when you're also the homeowner.

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING INVOLVED AND BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING

I actually think homeowners should be involved in their build.

I want our homeowners asking questions.

I want them to understand what's happening.

I want them to make decisions and feel like they're part of the process.

But there's a big difference between being involved in your home and being responsible for managing the entire construction project.

One can be exciting.

The other can become a full-time job.

And if you already have a full-time job, a family, other responsibilities and a life outside of construction, you have to ask yourself whether that is really how you want to spend the next several months.

WHAT ARE YOU REALLY SAVING?

Before deciding to manage your own build, I'd sit down and honestly calculate what you're saving.

Don't just look at the builder's fee.

Consider:

Your time
The cost of mistakes and rework
Construction delays
Additional loan interest and carrying costs caused by delays
Additional material costs
The cost of replacing a subcontractor who doesn't finish
The cost of hiring another trade to perform warranty work
Insurance and risk management
Contracts, payments and lien documentation
The time required to obtain quotes, schedule trades, inspect work, answer questions and solve problems

Then ask yourself a simple question:

Is the potential savings worth taking on all of that responsibility?

For some people, the answer may be yes.

If you have construction experience, understand the process, have strong relationships with reliable trades, understand the business and insurance side of construction, and have the time to manage everything, you may be comfortable taking that on.

But for the average homeowner, I think it's worth looking at the decision from the other side.

WHAT YOU'RE REALLY BUYING FROM A BUILDER

When you choose an experienced building company, you're not simply paying for someone to build the house.

You're paying someone to manage the process.

You're paying for experience that can help identify problems before they become bigger problems.

You're paying for established relationships with trades.

You're paying for quality control and accountability.

You're paying for someone who knows what needs to happen next.

You're paying for someone who has been through the process before.

You're paying for someone to manage problems when they occur and warranty issues after the home is complete.

And perhaps most importantly, you're paying for a professional company to manage a large portion of the responsibility and risk associated with building your home.

At Two Structures Homes, we've been building homes since 2009, and one of the things experience has taught us is that building a home isn't just about the finished product.

It's about everything that happens along the way to get there.

There will always be things that come up during a build. That's construction. The goal isn't to pretend that nothing will ever go wrong.

The goal is to have the experience, relationships and systems in place to deal with those things when they do.

SO BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BE YOUR OWN BUILDER...

I'm not going to tell you that you can't manage your own custom home build.

You can.

But I would encourage you to understand what you're actually taking on before you make that decision.

Building your own home can be incredibly rewarding. Managing the construction of that home is a completely different responsibility.

Before you decide to save the builder's fee, make sure you understand what that fee is actually paying for.

Because at the end of the day, you're not just paying someone to build your house.

You're paying someone to manage cost, coordination, quality, accountability, warranty and risk.

You're paying someone to help make sure your house gets built correctly, in the right order, with the right people—and with someone experienced enough to know what to do when something doesn't go according to plan.

And in my experience, that can be worth a lot more than the number on the bottom of the builder's contract.

THINKING ABOUT BUILDING A CUSTOM HOME IN OKLAHOMA?

If you're considering building a custom home in the Oklahoma City area or building on land you already own, talk with our team before deciding which route makes the most sense.

We'll help you understand the process, costs and responsibilities involved so you can make an informed decision about your build.

Schedule a build consultation with Two Structures Homes or call or text us at (405) 509-9435.

Built For A Lifetime.
Two Structures Homes