Product Description

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists

Turn your dream of a custom home into reality!

Thinking about building your own home? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to plan and build a beautiful home on any budget. From acquiring land to finding the best architect to overseeing the construction, you get lots of savvy tips on managing your new investment wisely — and staying sane during the process!

Discover how to:

• Find the best homesite
• Navigate the plan approval process
• Obtain financing
• Hire the right contractor
• Cut design and construction costs
• Avoid common mistakes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11279 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Download Description
How to build a dream house - without breaking the bank Packed with useful information, tips, and checklists, this easy-to-follow guide shows people step by step how to build a unique, beautiful home on any budget. It covers all the must-know issues, from acquiring land, finding the best architect, and cutting design costs to putting together financing, hiring (or not hiring) a general contractor, and overseeing construction. Kevin Daum (Alameda, CA) has 20 years of experience in the real estate and mortgage industry and is founder and CEO of Stratford Financial Services. Janice Brewster (Arlington, VA), former editor of Log Home Living magazine, has been involved in the custom home industry for more than 10 years. Peter Economy (La Jolla, CA) is a veteran For Dummies author and the Associate Editor of the Drucker Foundation's Leader to Leader magazine.

About the Author
Kevin Daum has 22 years of experience in the real estate and mortgage industry. He is founder and CEO of Stratford Financial Services, and is the leading expert in custom home financing. Daum has financed more than 800 custom homes and has published numerous articles on construction financing,mortgage education, and entrepreneurship.

Janice Brewster served as editor of Log Home Living magazine for five years.  Brewster has been involved in the custom home industry for more than 10 years.

Peter Economy is Associate Editor for the Drucker Foundation's award-winning magazine Leader to Leader and a featured expert for AllBusiness.com. He's the coauthor of the books Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World's Only Conductorless Orchestra, Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit, and many others, including Consulting For Dummies, Home-Based Business For Dummies, and Raising Capital For Dummies.

Download Description
How to build a dream house - without breaking the bank Packed with useful information, tips, and checklists, this easy-to-follow guide shows people step by step how to build a unique, beautiful home on any budget. It covers all the must-know issues, from acquiring land, finding the best architect, and cutting design costs to putting together financing, hiring (or not hiring) a general contractor, and overseeing construction. Kevin Daum (Alameda, CA) has 20 years of experience in the real estate and mortgage industry and is founder and CEO of Stratford Financial Services. Janice Brewster (Arlington, VA), former editor of Log Home Living magazine, has been involved in the custom home industry for more than 10 years. Peter Economy (La Jolla, CA) is a veteran For Dummies author and the Associate Editor of the Drucker Foundation's Leader to Leader magazine.

Customer Reviews

Well Done!
Very complete and logical in total scope of the custom home building process. Eye opener to a number of potential pitfalls in the custom home building process. wrgBuilding Your Own Home For Dummies

Maybe/Maybe Not
I am always a fan of anything that puts the complexities of the world back into your hands. That Rocket Science for Dummies was totally awesome! LOL!

This is one of many that better be on your shelf as a beginnig research tool, if you are planning on building a home. It tends to be repetitious about needing massive amounts of money though. It is not that creative about any of processes. It is very straight to the point.

I do own it and it is a great reference that I had to MAKE myself read.

Exhaustive
This book has exhaustive information about building a home employing a general constructor and sub-contractors. It's more useful as a reference. I say that because of the way it's organized. It's not a sequential read, and has no logical beginning or ending. I bought this book hoping to understand each step that goes into building a home. However, this book is NOT about that. It's more about effectively dealing with things that come along in each step.