Tough times? … Sure

But you know what, there is always a little good that comes out of the bad.

One of the hardest things for an owner builder to do is get good trades people at a realistic rate.

Unless that is, they have done one of our courses and understand how to manage the tender process and how to deal confidently and professionally with trades and suppliers.

That said, when things are booming and there exists a real skills shortage in the building and construction industry, it is next to near on impossible to get a contractor to take the time to quote on a project for an owner builder that he or she knows very little about.

Fact of life …

Good news is, that during this economic slow down the time may be right, depending on your individual circumstances to build your new home as an owner builder.

Let’s think about it, traddies are a little less confident about where the next project is coming from, suppliers are more likely to cut a deal on materials in order to boost sales and professionals such as engineers, architects, designers etc possibly have more time to spend and give real good old fashion service.

Sounds like utopia doesn’t it?

Well maybe it is, if you have your finances in place, a project ready to go and the time to spare to truly manage the construction of your new home, then perhaps the time is right.

The potential savings we have just considered, do not even take into account low interest rates, government grants, rebates for smart eco or green friendly design.

You might just save thousands, and if you consider those savings over the term of a loan, imagine the hundreds of thousands of dollars you could keep away from the banks and in your pocket.

Now, before I go any further, all of this is only possible andshould onbly be considered if you believe your financial situation is strong enough and you are confident in you employment.

If you are not, you should wait for ‘better’ times which will return.

But right now, while things are a little slower you should go for it and get that new home underway.

Take a look at our website and learn how you could get the skills needed to successfully manage your owner builder project.

If nothing else you may discover whether owner building is right for you or not.

Do you know what it takes to be a good owner builder?

1)   Confidence in your skills and knowledge

2)   An understanding of contract requirements as they relate to owner builders

3)   An understanding of what insurance you will need to consider for your owner builder project

4)   Skills in plan reading, scheduling, administration and communication

All of these things are important to be in the ’skills set’ of an owner builder.

If you do not think you can manage these things then do not do it, some people (very few) honestly cannot be successful owner builders, it is rare but we have seen it.

Being an organised and informed owner builder is not just good for you but it is also good for the industry, as the trades start to take more notice of professional owner builders representing a sound income stream where there progress and final payments are assured.

That all takes a little bit of knowledge and a lot of discipline.

If we can get this to happen, then maybe, just maybe we can get the financial institutions to look more favourably at lending to owner builders. Guess we will cover that side of things in another blogpost.

Best Regards and Happy Owner Building

Rick Heaton

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