Acting as my own GC for a build. Any pro tips?

[ClangClang]

I'm contemplating buying a piece of property and building a house in rural Boulder County. My dad is a builder and I worked with him for 2 years so I'm not completely clueless. Would love to hear if anyone has done this before, what they did well, what they did poorly, what they wish they would have done next time, lessons learned, etc. Also any tips on obtaining a construction loan?

[Erni]

I would check first if what you want to do is allowed in BC as they are on an anti rural development tirade.
Many folks who deal with BC planning department say that as far as Boulder is concerned the hirarchy is God then Boulder County, and then baby Jesus.
Good luck.

[Wulf202]

What erni said. It's completely possible. Get subs lined up for any work you're not going to do yourself. Warn your day job. Have a pickup truck.

Consider blueprints that spec any unnecessary rooms as unfinished and diy later. I knew a guy that would only finish the master suite and the kitchen blueprints for a 6 bedroom house and build out on a remodel permit later.

Consider dropping any outbuildings first to stage materials and tools in if you're going to be doing the work yourself.

There's a reason gc's make 10% it's a pain in the ass and if you're not doing at least one subs job or the partial build as above I would advise against it.

[jslo]

Good advice so far. If you're under no time constraints you can safe pretty good money doing yourself but, unless things run very smoothly (haha), plan on it taking considerably more time. One sub gets behind or delayed things back up rapidly. When this happens you'll probably not have much pull in getting the rest of the subs to rearrange their schedules. They tend to service their regulars more than a one time builder. Not trying to discourage, just be prepared for the inevitable scheduling nightmares.

[y4m4]

There's a reason gc's make 10% it's a pain in the ass and if you're not doing at least one subs job or the partial build as above I would advise against it.

A good general contractor will have a list of trusted, reliable, quality sub-contractors. DIY GCs typically don't have this network. It can make finishing your project very frustrating, expensive, and time consuming.

ETA: sub-contractors are likely to charge you more since it is a one-off job. One benefit of having a network or frequently used sub-contractors is getting a "good price" on work based on volume. So that 10% "more" you pay to a GC is likely going to be very similar to what you will pay individual sub-contractors.

[Bmac]

I'm a general contractor. Both y4m4 and wulf are correct. I did a cabin up coal creek 8, or so years back. The drive sucked, but UI BC building department wasn't NEARLY as horrible as Boulders. Has been awhile though. No matter how long I KNOW Boulder still sucks. Aklways will (see Erni)

Blueprints. Good ones. Great foundation crew and plan your project so winter does get you if you are anywhere near the hills.

Also,,,, plan on running 20% over on both time and cost. Scoff and poo-poo at your own peril. There's a metric fuck ton of work in town for the next 3 years.
NO ONE will go to rural Boulder without a premium rate. Unless you know someone, and are friends with them, that's headquartered there.

Hot market.

[Colorado Fatboy]

A good general contractor will have a list of trusted, reliable, quality sub-contractors. DIY GCs typically don't have this network. It can make finishing your project very frustrating, expensive, and time consuming.

ETA: sub-contractors are likely to charge you more since it is a one-off job. One benefit of having a network or frequently used sub-contractors is getting a "good price" on work based on volume. So that 10% "more" you pay to a GC is likely going to be very similar to what you will pay individual sub-contractors.

This is very true. When I built my house in 2005 I was working in a trade for several years on residential construction sites so I knew a lot of people and got good prices and work done in a timely manner.

Also the job I was working was very flexible. I could set my own hours as long as the work got done. You will have to be available during the day for meetings with subs etc. and be able tied to a phone otherwise.

I owned the land and got a construction loan, IIRC since I owned the land that was enough that I didn't have to put anything down. Your construction loan is converted to a mortgage once you are done. If you don't get done in a timely manner the interest will eat up any savings of doing it yourself. I took just under six months to build, ended up hiring more subs than originally planned but it still saved me a bunch. I saved over $40,000 based on appraisal value and what I had into it.

[TFOGGER]

Buy a spare liver, as the requisite drinking will likely ruin your current one...

[Wulf202]

I know of a gc who might have an opening after the house he's on now and might be willing to do rural if the project interests him.

Everyone is spot on.

[ClangClang]

Great, thanks for the advice all. All great info and your warnings are spot on. My dad is a builder/home inspector and I worked with him for several years (but primarily on the home inspection side) so I'm not going in as a complete tenderfoot. One of the options I'm considering is doing a modular build. My dad is a certified builder for several different factories so I can purchase without having to pay his profit margin (nice guy, eh?). If I go that route I should be able to build for about $100/sq ft. This also has the added benefit of eliminating much of the onsite sub work I'll need. Pretty much just plumbing and electrical for the final hookups. All the last finishings (bathroom tiles, landscaping, etc) I'll be doing myself. I've already scoped the entire approach from I-70 and access for the crane is great. Also makes permits way easier - all permits are secured at the factory, not onsite.

Now just to see if I can finance this damn thing.