We were in the same boat. I work for a commercial contractor as a PM so have experience but not really with residential work and I really didn't have the time. We are adding approx 3,200 sf onto our existing home (while we are living in it) We designed our home ourselves and paid an engineer to design the roof beams since we were over the allowed length without a PE stamp.
We wanted to have someone manage the entire project for us - we got pricing from (2) GC's to do the whole package and the cost was WAY over our budget. So we thought we would just pay someone to manage getting it under roof and dried in that to was a LOT of money (+/-) $50g. So being the price conscious people we are we decided to GC ourselves. We are currently dried in all windows and shingles installed and starting interior rough in's. It has been very time consuming and we have did some things wrong - but we saved a ton of money ans feel that it was WELL worth it. I would recommend maybe tying to hire a retired superintendent or paying someone for a couple hours of consulting on an as needed basis. If you don't know anyone you may try to local ABC - Associated Building Contractors association - they may be able to point you in the right direction. Also, if you hire good subs that will make things go a lot smoother.
My one suggestion (lesson learned) would be have everything decided upon before you start. We started footings the first weekend of November - so have gotten a long ways in 2 months but now are at a lull with roughin's until we finalize the mechanical units we want, and finalize the lighting / power plan, and all plumbing fixtures are selected. We had ideas on all of these items but hadn't pinned down and made 100% decisions on anything and now it is impacting the schedule. We will probably loose 1 to 2 weeks of rough in time because we were not ready. But you will have that.

All in all the months of headache will translate into added equity when your home is complete. (at least that is what we keep telling ourselves...Hope to post some pics on my page soon of our "baby...")

We are just getting started, so I couldn't tell you how it will work out in the end. We decided to do our own GC and pay our framer some extra money to give us 50 hours of consulting time outside of the framing stage. He is an experienced GC in addition to being a framer.

He will visit the site at least once per week to monitor the progress and inspect the work. He is also available to answer questions by phone as needed. So far he has been very helpful in reviewing subcontractor bids and helping us figure out site logistics. I'm glad we have unbiased expertise available to us.

It turns out that our construction lender, IndyMac, requires owner builders to have a consultant under contract. Obviously they think it's a good thing to have.

Thanks for the responses.

mapetry: I'll check out our local building association. And thanks for the advice re:knowing details early on. I keep trying to tell my husband that ;)

nwhome: How did you find your framer in the first place? Had you started out with the idea of being your own GC?

We are also GCing our own house and doing most of the work ourselves. We hired a local builder to consult with before we started, be present during the basement and framing stages, and consult on otherr isues we felt we needed his experience on. It worked out great so far and we've been very happy with our choice.

We found our framer via our home designer. We had originally intended on using a GC, but like you found out it was very expensive. We also had trouble finding a GC which we felt was reliable.

My wife and I have worked on a few remodeling projects in the past, and figured we would be up for the challenge.

We started out with a "quality custom home builder" who turned out to be anything but....We ended up parting ways mid-way through and attorneys were involved. Our attorney introduced us to a construction consultant. We ultimately GC'd the rest of the project ourself without the consultant (my DH has some hands-on DIY experience. Had he not, we would have gotten more value from the consultant. (He was $75/hr.) Worth checking into if you are inclined to GC yourself. Our stress level went down greatly once we split with the builder. GC'ing gave us MUCH more control Wish we had GC'd from the beginning. DH wanted to, but I was afraid....Go for it. Good luck.

Thanks, everyone! I'm planning to start the builder-finding process next week after we meet with the architect -- it's nice to know that some may be amenable to acting as a consultant.

A good reference for framers would be your local building supply store (not Lowe's or Home Depot but a true building supply store) They sell to these guys on a day to day basis are can usually give you a couple references on who is good and "on top of their game" and who is not. Even if you know nothing about construction if you meet with the person and they seem knowledgeable and professional - then that is probably (not always) but probably a good sign. I also have a spreadsheet that I put together for our house (I am an estimator by trade - so fairly comprehensive) If you are interested let me know and I will shoot to you. Some costs to remember that you may not always think about are dumpster fees, temp toilet, and if you are GC'ing it yourself there are weekly trips to HD and Lowes for something that someone needs and at usually $100 a pop they add up and are a real cost you need to consider when putting together an estimate. The financing is a real issue - luckily we were able to self finance by saved up money and equity in our existing home - but if you are getting a construction loan they will require you to have a professional verify the amount of work complete - may want to check with your lender and determine what their requirements are.

Some costs to remember that you may not always think about are dumpster fees, temp toilet, and if you are GC'ing it yourself there are weekly trips to HD and Lowes for something that someone needs and at usually $100 a pop they add up and are a real cost you need to consider when putting together an estimate.

True! Right now I'm doing "thin air + 20%" budgetary estimates ;) I would love to see your spreadsheet. You can send it to me at my username above at gmail.com.

Thanks!

We found a builder that was willing to manage the project for us. His company actually did the concrete/block/frame work and he is managing everything in between and everything till we finish. We are close to done (drywall just completed). Overall it's worked out pretty well although we had a few bumps along the way. One thing I will say is that we did use his subs (those that he has worked with for 20+ years) and some we didn't, but we did get his builder pricing for many things which in itself paid for his fee.