Congrats on finding land you love! Below is a link to an old Gardenweb thread you might want to read before closing on the land purchase. If there are things mentioned that you haven't done before you close, they should definitely be at the top of your list to take care of ASAP. As for doing part of work on the house yourselves, it is certainly possible but how successful you'll be depends in large part on just how 'handy' you really are and on how much time and energy you have to devote. You don't mention having any children yet but, since you mentioned wanting 3 or 4 bedrooms and that you're in your late 20's, I'm guessing that you may plan on having a child or two eventually. A pregnancy WHILE you are in the midst of building can severely cut into your time/energy for devoting to the build while simultaneously putting a sense of pressure on you to 'just get the darned house finished!' LOL! So, my advice is be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. But, if you have some actual building experience already... like maybe having volunteered extensively with Habitat for Humanity or having done some major renovations on a previous home... and can accurately judge both your skill level and the time you'll have available to devote - then go for it. Nobody else will ever put as much CARE into building your home as you will! Getting a contractor who is in charge of finishing the entire house to agree to let you do certain portions of the work yourself MAY prove difficult. Contractors are much more likely to prefer to hire 'professionals' under the claim that they can rely on professionals to get in and get the job done and that having the homeowner do part of the work could delay the overall progress. It also puts you and the general contractor in a rather odd relationship in that, the general contractor works for you but, to the extent you are acting as subcontractor for some portion of the work, you work for him. It kind of blurs the lines of authority. It is also possible to enter into a contract with a builder to him do the foundation, framing, rough plumbing, roofing, and finish the shell (up to dried-in stage or to the sheetrocked stage or to whatever point you decide) and, once he has completed all the work he was hired to do, he gets paid and steps out of the picture leaving you to finish the rest of it yourselves...either by directly hiring subcontractors or by doing the hands on work yourselves. Getting a bank on board with this kind of plan can be a bit difficult though. Banks typically want the house to be finished and ready to be lived in when the last of the construction loan money is drawn down. Plus, if there are any warranty issues once the house is fully complete, it can be difficult to nail down responsibility. Another option would be to go the owner-builder route so that your are your own general contractor for the entire build. That way you hire can subcontractors or do specific jobs yourself, as you desire. You're in total charge. There are consulting companies that, for a fee (which is much less than a general contractor's typical percentage) will guide and assist you as you owner-build. They lead you thru the applicable laws so that you get all the necessary permits and inspections, advise you on the order in which to do various jobs...including how far in advance one usually needs to order certain materials, provide you with lists of pre-vetted subcontractors which you can choose to hire, etc. They'll even help you find banks that will give construction loans to owner-builders. Working with such a consulting company can give you the same clout with subcontractors that a volume builder would have because the subcontractors know that, if they don't do a good job for you, they lose all future business that might come their way via the owner-builder consultant. (And owner-builders tend to pay subcontractors ON TIME so, once they've worked for an OB, many subcontractors actually wind up preferring it.) Be aware that, as an owner-builder, YOU are responsible for any state mandated warranties if you sell the house to someone else before the warranty periods have expired. My sense, from being on this board for more than 5 years now, is that owner-building is MUCH more common (and much more accepted) in the south than in the north...maybe because we tend to have fewer laws that protect homeowners from being victimized by unscrupulous builders here in the south so, to protect themselves, more southerners decide to owner-build. Or, maybe it is simply because having warmer weather most of the year just makes owner-building seem more attractive. Let's face it, most of us know that we don't want to be freezing our buns off hanging sheetrock or installing tile in an unfinished unheated shell in the middle of the winter! We don't even want to have to be closely inspecting a sub-contractor's work when it's 20 degrees outside. LOL! I know at least a dozen different people who have owner-built custom homes (with guidance from one of several different owner-builder consulting companies) and every single one of them says that they saved money, got a nicer home, and would owner-build again in a heartbeat. As for plans... you have several options for finding a plan and there are pros and cons to each: 1) If you want a custom design, hire an architect and have them create one just for you. Expect to pay anywhere from about $5/sq foot to 15% or more of your build price for architectural services. Price depends how detailed you want the plans and specs to be and what services, if any, you want the architect to provide beyond just rendering basic plans. If you want the architect to oversee the build process (i.e., ride head on the general contractor) expect to pay quite a bit more than if you just want them to render plans for you. At a minimum, if I hired an architect, I would want them to provide plans and complete specifications and then agree to be available (perhaps for an hourly fee) to settle any disputes regarding interpretation of the plans. And I would also expect them to provide, for free, any additional architectural services that proved necessary due to any flaws/omissions in the original plans. 2) Find a design online or in a house plan book that you generally like, purchase it along with a CAD version, and have it modified as needed to meet local codes. Some of the online plan sources now ask where you plan to build. I assume they do so so that they can advise you on whether the plan you have chosen already meets the building codes in your jurisdiction or can be modified easily to meet codes. Unless you find a plan that needs very very little modification to suit you perfectly though, you may wind up wasting significant time and money going this route. And apparently a lot of architects really don't like being asked to modify a pre-existing plan. You may have more luck if you hire a younger architect who is hungry for work. Alternatively, take the CAD to a draftsman to revise then have it the revised plan reviewed by a structural engineer with knowledge of local code requirements. Note that, in this case, if there are any flaws/omissions in the final plans, you're on your own hook to work out an acceptable solution with the builder. 3) Find a house built locally that you like, track down the architect and find out if he/she will license the plan to you. Be aware that if the house was fully custom, the architect may have contracted with the homeowner NOT to re-license the same work within a certain distance from the original build. (Folks who have paid for a truly custom design may not want another home exactly like theirs being built a block away!) Building a house from a plan that has already been successfully built minimizes that chances that there are undiscovered flaws/omissions in the plan. 4) Hire a design/build company that has an architect/draftsman on board. The really major potential problem with going this route is that, once you have a satisfactory plan, you can't put the design out for competitive bids. You are locked into either accepting the price the design/build company gives you for building the house or starting back over at square one. And, if midway thru the build, you find you have to fire your builder (it happens) or he goes bankrupt (it also happens), I'm not at all sure what legal right you would have to use the plans to finish the build. 5) Hire a volume builder and just choose one of their designs. Typically the only customizing that a volume builder will allow is in the finish work. I.e., you can choose paint colors, carpet colors, and choose from among the a limited palette of tiles, hardwoods, plumbing fixtures, and lighting fixtures. Don't go in thinking you can ask them to move walls or add in a window or two. Probably won't happen! 6) Design your own home. This takes an immense amount of time and study. It is definitely NOT for the faint of heart or those who are unwilling to learn one heck of a lot about architectural design and building codes AND be willing to learn to use a reasonably good CAD program. It also probably helps to have a good knowledge of basic physics and, even then, you'll probably eventually want to have your design carefully reviewed by a structural engineer. And of course, if there are any flaws/omissions in the design, coming up with a way to fix them is all on you. Here is a link that might be useful: What do you need to do/know if buying raw land

I've seen I Love Red's plans and they are very well designed and it's a beautiful house. There are definitely good (and a few excellent) stock plan designs out there but it takes a lot of looking to find a truly good one. I know when I was looking I found nothing that would meet our needs for our lot. We worked with a draftsman. If I had it to do over, I'd have hired an architect to work with us as it probably would have taken me a lot less time. I do have a slight advantage in that I'm a visual person, can think in 3d and was at one time thinking of becoming an interior designer (before I realized I'd have to work with people.) There definitely is no one answer but I will say that so many of the plans posted here from stock plans are not well laid out or are extremely expensive to build with lots of unnecessary jigs and jogs, angled walls, gables on top of gables, roofs that could cover the taj mahal, rooms without any light entering them, etc. They attach gee gaws onto the fronts of the elevations to add interest to what is an overdone plan. Many people have no clue even what they are really looking at in terms of how the rooms flow, what works from a design sense, etc. I know if I show a plan to my DH, he has no clue what relates to what. For someone like my DH, if I wasnt around, working with an architect or someone with true design skills would be his best way to create a custom house. If you're someone like Sandy who knows what works for them, can understand a plan and an elevation, can think somewhat in 3D, then you are ahead of the game. In that case finding a stock plan, or working with a designer or architect will work for you.

The best houses are 1-1.5 rooms deep, absolutely no more than 2 ("rooms" include garages and covered porches). Light and breezes have a harder time reaching interior spaces when the house is fatter than 2 rooms. Because of this, the best course of action, I think, is to toss this plan altogether, sorry. :-( The Philippines is a beautiful, friendly country, with a rich culture... Would you consider hiring a Filipino architect to design you a great place that works with the spirit of the locale? You could really get something awesomely special! Side notes: -- Bedrooms on corners are awesome, but take care to place windows where you have enough space for drapes... extending the curtain rod 8"-12" on either side of the window is best, to make a window look larger, and to allow the fabric to be pulled completely away from the glass. -- Most Americans will think it's strange to have an outdoor laundry area, but if this is normal/expected in the Philippines (it was where I spent most of my childhood, outside the US), then having a powder room instead is a good idea, I think. :-)

Re-reading your original post I am understanding that this is not a home for you, that you are seeking advice for another person. Have they picked/purchased their lot? When I was deciding between buying or building many of the lots I looked at were either in developments with planned housing where you had to pick something from a selected list of plans or they were builder owned lots where the builder would build what you wanted on the lot, but you didn't get to select the builder. Very few lots were privately owned where you had the option of hiring your own builder and architect. The one lot that I was considering was a builder owned lot. We discussed my needs and he had stock plans that he had built before that would have needed to be tweaked, but basically fit my requirements and worked within my budget. I had a very strict budget and building from a stock plan from the builder would give me more bang for my buck than hiring an architect. The lot was in an established neighborhood, the style I wanted (MCM) was the dominant style of the neighborhood. I had no truly unique needs except for meeting some fairly strict work from home requirements for my office. There was no need to hire an architect to design the home that would fit my needs on this lot and it would have taken away $$$ from my budget. When you say "Owner has basic layout set in their mind" what does that mean? Do they know how many upper and lower cabinets they need in the kitchen? How much counter space do they need? How many people will be baking or cooking meals together? How many linear feet of closet space do they need? How does the closet space need to be allocated? How large does the living room and dining room need to be? How many guests need to be accommodated at any one time? What are their daily needs and how often do they entertain? What type of entertaining do they do? If the husband or wife brings business associates home regularly you may need a different layout than if entertaining is limited to close friends and family. Do they want/need a fireplace. Do they need a space to play board games or do crafts? What is their preferred seating type and arrangement? Have they thought about where they want the TV? At one time my mom was living in her 3000 sf home with one of my nephews. It seemed kind of crazy, but she still needed the massive kitchen and dining space as she was still making dinner for her working children and their families (Amish background). Every night at 5:00 there were about 14 people coming through the door. Long before open concept was popular, my parents had an open concept kitchen, dining, family room. It worked for our large family. It met our needs when we did baking and canning and needed room for 6 or 8 people doing various tasks and not stepping on each other. My sister lives with just her and her husband, but she is the designated family matriarch since my mom passed away, so holidays are hosted at her home (30-40 people). The one 20' wall of her living room is windows with a long window seat bench. Other than family gatherings they don't sit there, but it comes in handy with a huge crowd. None of us know the intimate details of how this family functions or what their needs may be. The mass majority of people buy pre-owned homes and they work just fine. The majority of new homes being built are in planned developments where people pick one of 10 plans. Many are quite similar.