Update on how it all went
I have been off the board for a while due to the move, living in temporary housing etc..
I just thought I would update people on how things went with regards to the previous posts on this thread.
The answer is I got extremely lucky. I did finance my own house but to get my business going i haven't used a dime of my own money. I got a call from a friend of a friend the day before i moved and he asked me if i was moving to the area to build homes. i told him yes and got a contract for a 3800 square foot house that we are framing as I write this.
Not long after I got another contract for a 3500 square foot house with a couple whose daughter goes to dance lessons with my daughter and they heard i was building in the neighborhood of the 3800 sf house.
Not long after that another house under contract, 2800 sf from references.
I did invest about 3000 dollars in advertising: 3 yard signs, 4 car signs, 1 senior newsletter ad, a yellow book ad , and cover of a realtor mag ad.
Thus far the only thing that has paid off is references, but in fairness the yb ad just came out last week and I did get one phone call from it.
To anyone trying to get started my advice is tell everyone you know about your intentions and see what turns up.