Thanks everyone for your support!!
Mike, as for my plan..here goes.
First of all I would like to complet the General Contracting course so that I have a better understanding of what I need to prepare for. I also feel that knowledge is key. Since the course begins on Feb 3 and runs for 14 weeks, I want to give myself that time to research different costs and requirements in the Chicagoland area. For instance, permit costs, schedules, contracts, etc. Before I begin I would like to have an idea of how long different aspects of the building process take, I have a good idea on the framing part, but I think that was obvious to all of you. Other than that, i already have a few people who do excavation and foundation work very well for very reasonable prices. I also have a few people that do Masonry and finish work that I have seen, and feel that they do good work, also for reasonable pricing. As I am sure all of you know, nothing beats experience, so with this I will learn with time. My family and I personally gutted a real estate office and turned it into a coffee shop, and also have worked on different things in the way of remodeling....So I think I have a good pool of resources to choose from. This and the fact that my brother started a re hab construction business a year ago (it is going quite well for him, so I have a little back up on experience). As for my idea about building a home, I know that right now I don't want to work with a customer and build to suit their needs. I want to build and sell based on my own plan. I have access to good lumber prices and a can do the framing at cost. I have also been friends with a union roofer, who is not doing this for the union any more, and would be able to have this done at a good price. My uncle (god bless him) is an electrician/HVAC guy with 30 years of experience, so that I know I could use him to at least make sure that I don't get killed financially in this department. The only thing that I don't have a good idea about is plumbing, and I know that this is huge, but I have faith that it will come through and that I will be able to find someone with good references and a fair price. We also plan to do as much work as possible ourselves (weighing time and money as factors of what we should put our hands into or not).
Our goal is to be able to have enough knowledge and research done so that we can begin sometime this year. For some reason I have a knack for finding good deals on property (knock on wood). For instance the condo that me and my husband bought last year when we got married was for 65k (and those of you who live in Chicago and know the prices in the SW suburbs, know that we have already doubled our value), but what can I say I found a little old lady who was moving to Alaska....and I have also been lucky in finding property for other family members at great prices!!! Sometimes a real estate deal would come along, and I felt like kicking myself for not having the capital to buy and turn it around for a profit, but that's life, right? I hope that this luck will follow me into finding a nice piece of land to build on, and we are not going to look for anything crazy, just something decent that an average house can be built on. The house that I am thinking about is not some type of mansions, just something simple to start with, maybe 2200-2500 sq ft. with a two car garage. The architect that my brother has been working with is a really nice guy, and he is thorough with his work. I was considering going to him.
I am not really sure how the financials work, so this is an obstacle for me, but I think that I can do some research and learn. I don't know the pros/cons/limitations of being an owner/builder or a GC of my own project. I am not sure how new construction loans work, how much of the property I have to own (30%? or 50%?). I also don't know how they figure out how much of a loan they give you, will I need to do a lot of leg work before I go to the bank?? Like having 3 estimates from each type of sub, and I also don't know how the bank pays out and monitors that money. Do they pay me? and then I just bring back the lien release papers? do I need reciepts? Truthfully, I have no idea, but hope that the class will help, and that speaking to a group of people, like yourselves, will also help. THE END.
What do you think?? Have I lost my mind (just kidding)?