Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Mar 05, 2012 9:41 am My DH is a Building Supervisor for one of Perth's homebuilders. He's been with them for nearly 3 years, before that he worked for a different company for 2 years, before that he was a brickie for 12 years. He is also studying for his builders ticket, We have sold our place, have a block of land to build on and have been looking at displays and getting prices to build a 4 x 2 with study, triple garage, large games room, it's a fairly standard house. We're not really into up speccing thing, we just need more space. We have a plan that we really like but even if DH builds with the company he works for, it is still about $20,000 more than we had budgeted for, coming in at around $260,000. Because he knows what's involved in building a house, he is slightly apprehensive to go owner builder. I would do all the paperwork for him, I am at home with 3 kids (4, 2 and 6 months) but he would do all the trade coordinating etc. We would also have to do the whole tile/tap/fitting/appliance/everything else/ shopping around thing with the kids, or go separately to avoid the drama of taking them with us. He has a great base of trades and would have no problem finding guys to do the jobs, it's more the time that it would take from his day job and if there could be any conflict there. I have every faith in him that he would be more than capable of handling an owner build, and given that it's our house he is building, he doesn't have to answer to any clients when things go wrong. I guess what it will come down to is how much money we would save, how much time it would take (building with the company he works with now, we would be at lock up before Christmas if we got the ball rolling now) and what sort of conflict could arise from him doing this while he is supervising 20 other houses for his job. Any words of advice? Should we, shouldn't we? Where do we start? Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 2Mar 05, 2012 10:46 am Being you are saying you are building a Standard house I would have thought it would probably be cheaper going through the company he works for (or another building co.) due to the better buying power they will have with suppliers. eg Bricks, Timber, Roofing, windows etc. will always be cheaper for a builder due to the volumes they put through. Then once you add on Draftsmens fees etc to draw up plans (as you cant use the Builders version) I wouldnt think you will save much (if anything) Being in the game he would have a better idea but for a "Standard Spec home" owner building isnt necessarily a cheaper option. If it was a custom design build the sums may be different. But unless he can source all the materials at the same price as the company he works for I don't know where your savings will come from. Why not take your plans to a Building estimator and have it priced and compare it to the builders quotes. At least then you have something to work off to help with your decision. Good luck https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 3Mar 05, 2012 10:49 am My biggest question is always when considering OB-ing - do you have access to cash / savings / equity in another property etc to fund the build? Most lenders will only lend 60% of the value of the home being built by OBs so if you require more then that amount you either have to have a second property with equity in it or cash savings of your own. I know nothing about OB-ing but as a former lending manager that is always my first question to anyone considering it. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 4Mar 05, 2012 12:41 pm We have only just started our O/B project and through our experience you will not build a builders plan house for anything close to what they can do it for. Our house is our design and not like any displays we saw, and even if we did see a display we liked it was so expensive to get changes made we made the call to design and build ourselves. After we had the plans drawn up we had a quantity surveyor and a major builder price it up, both came in 40-50k over what we believe we can do it for. An interesting point to note was that the builder who priced it for us was also about 50k higher than any of the standard houses they build. After collecting all our quotes we were very close to what we expected, and i still think there are savings to be made as we go because we will do all the legwork. Another note, the whole process has taken almost 2 years to get to the point we can start. If you are happy with a design that you have seen and don't want to make too many changes then i would suggest to just go with the builder. The time and stress of doing all this is not worth a 10-20k saving even if you can save that much, 50k its worth thinking about. Just my 2 cents worth, hope it helps. Site Cut 17.02.12 Slab poured 29.03.12 Frame up 23.04.12 Roof on 10.05.12 Lock up 18.07.12 Moved in 26.10.12 252 days or 36 weeks to complete. Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 5Mar 05, 2012 12:55 pm Most people in our street have owner-built due to the excessive-sloping blocks and many builders charging a premium to build on these blocks. They saved thousands on site costs alone than if they went with a project builder. The one thing they saved on was premium items. Most were able to purchase higher quality fixtures and fittings for the same price that a builder would charge for standard items. As a previous poster mentioned, finance is quite difficult to obtain when owner building in comparison to going through a project builder. You would need to have a good slush fund or equity to pull out of your current home to get enough finance to complete the project. With regard to time taken to manage the project, does your husband trust the company he works for enough to not need to project manage them? We went with a project builder, picking a design that they have built hundreds of times in the past few years, yet we were project managing the job due to errors, omissions and issuing invoices for work not done yet. Toward the end it may have been better if we had owner-built. At least then we could talk direct to the builders rather than jumping through circus hoops and people's BS. Land at Chermside At tender stage Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 6Mar 05, 2012 4:05 pm friends of ours years ago built through the builder the husband was working for. He had a good idea of which tradies were the best to have on the job , he did the brickwork himself etc. This was the best option. He got the builders price savings but built to his own design. If your hubby is a S.S. he'll know exactly what nonsense certain tradies can pull, he'll know exactly what to, look out for etc and because he works for the company hopefully he might be able to suggest which tradies he wishes for his/your house. I'd say he's in a perfect position to use the company he works for provided they'll build the house you want. Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 7Mar 09, 2012 8:59 pm We are just at lock up on our two story house with suspended slab. Our kids are teenagers. I have taken holidays to do all the running around, phone calls, dealing with the council, water authority, getting quotes etc. It is so time consuming, but we are getting what we want. We are not in a huge hurry to get it complete, (but would like to be in it in the next 6 months). It does get stressful at times. If I were you, I would consider going with the company he works for and get it in the contract that you want him to be your supervisor. Don't know if you can do it, but perhaps he could also list the best tradies for each stage to work on your house in the contract. Worth a try on that one. May back fire if you had to wait too long for them if you were on a limited time frame. Just don't think I could have done it with little kids. Good luck, hope it goes well. Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 8Mar 10, 2012 9:33 pm I love our home, but I dont know if I would ever OB again. If I waited long enough to forget all the stress it gives, maybe.... I was pregnant and had a young bub along our journey - we moved in when she was 18months old I really do believe that someone needs to be able to be there most of the time to supervise and inspect what he tradies are doing - and I found it quite demanding with only the one bub! Just be prepared for it not to be as easy as you had hoped Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: DH is a Building Supervisor but should we do it? 9May 12, 2012 11:59 am Tough one. Our kids were 3, 1 and one on the way when we built our place. We went OB because my wife had an unusual design, but we both found the experience stressful. My wife had no help with the kids, and I was close to exhaustion - up early to work on the house for a couple of hours, then off to work, then back to the block or down to the shed, most week-ends tied up building walls, painting or clearing. That said, there's nothing quite like walking into the home you built yourself. As another poster pointed out, finance is bottom-line. That's true, but the mental toughness needed to see the project through to completion is even more bottom-line. Joe, it depends on your certifier but we are noticing the ones we deal with are really cracking down. So i would recommend you follow your approved landscaping plans to… 4 10970 Hi Simeon, Thank you for laying it down for us. 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