when you say not planning to start for a year - do you mean break ground in 12 months? is this a custom home? if so - then now would be a good time to start working with a builder. It takes time to get your plans drawn and finalized, permits, site prep and other things done to get ready - and this is something you don't want to rush or feel pressure to make decisions before you are ready. We started looking for our builder 12 months before we figured we would be ready to start - and by start - I mean sold our existing home and moved into a rental, had our finances in order, and were ready to sign a contract to start the project. It did not take us long to find the builder - about a month - but we got lucky. Our builder did not advertise and we found him through an architect that we interviewed but did not select. Picking the right builder and verifying their credentials is the most important decision you will make in the process - leave plenty of time to do your research and pick the right builder. We already had a piece of land that was perked for spetic and had a well drilled. So when we started looking for the builder, we had a lot of things in place already. We also had picked a floor plan on-line that we liked and had been studying for months before we looked for the builder. When we met each prospective builder, we showed them the plans. Some gave is ball park estimates based on cost per square foot and the one we picked actually developed a written preliminary estimate. The estimate was a rough cost for that plan with mods that he believed needed to me made to the structure to make it fall within that cost. Once we determined that the house we wanted was within our reach, we enetered into a drafting services agreement with the builder. This agreement was to develop the detailed house plans using an architect that he had worked with in the past. The deal was that if we decided to build the house - then the cost we paid for the drafting services woild be applied to the house. It took about 6 months from the time we met the builder to the time that we had a good set of plans (not the final plans - but good enough to get detailed costing). It then took another 6 months to get our grading/site plan drafted and approved by the county, the final plans done, our detailed cost analysis which included picking out allownace items to get good basis of estimates, permits for the project, and the loan approved. It was a total of just over 12 months from the time we first met our builder to the day we signed the contract. This is a time consuming process. If you want to start in 12 months - I recommend that you start working with a builder as soon as you can. You can work with an architect in parallel if you need one - but I recommend working with you r builder because you need to know the costs - so that you can work you budgets and make cost trade-offs. The second biggest decision you will make after picking the right builder is making sure that your budget and schedule is sound and that you have adequate margin in the budget and schedule for oopses, which will occur. You should verify that all of the allowance costs that the builder gives you will allow you to purchase items that will meet your expectations. This can take a lot of time - you will want to visit his vendors - make some prelimianry selections - and get quotes (maybe talk to some of your own vendors too) - just to make sure these budget wedges are sufficient and that you are getting the quality you want and a reasonable deal. Best of luck

KHoene- You can do this!!! We are building our third house now and I can honestly say it is not rocket science. If you are well organized and have good communication skills, there is no reason you can't save yourself a big chunk of money by being your own general contractor. There are lots of great resources complete with sample contracts available on line to help you. http://www.buildahouseyourself.com/ is one that I've used myself. Don't get me wrong, contractors do make things easier for the builder. We have many friends who are contractors and my husband has worked with contractors for over 20 years with his work. But most just follow a step by step process and stay on top of things. One just this week was saying how people can save themselves a lot of money just by doing what he does for themselves. A friend of mine who is a stay at home mom was the general contractor for their home two years ago and they saved a lot of money and had NO problems. Their home is beautiful and she had never done anything like that before. She was just extremely organized and on top of things. You know what your skills are better than any of us. Time to oversee the project and make sure that everything is completed appropriately and timely will be the most difficult aspect of the process. Good luck on your adventure!!!

Lucky! I wish I could find a bank in my area that would allow us to do that. If you have the time and organization skills I think it is a great idea as it can save quite a bit. Personally, I don't have any experience GC a full house build, but I did GC our home renovations and that went smoothly and saved $$$$! I think one of the keys if you are going to GC your own build is to ensure you have really really good plans. I would NOT just buy plans online. Personally, we found an excellent designer/drafter who is known for his precise plans which really help with getting accurate bids from subs (and getting everything through permitting). It is costing us double to triple the cost of getting most online plans customized, however I think he design is going to save us money, and that his details are going to save a lot of headaches! Also, there is a great book on the subject by Carl Heldmann - Be Your Own House Contractor: Save 25% without Lifting a Hammer who also has a site with information below. Here is a link that might be useful: Site - Carl Heldmann - Be Your Own House Contractor: Save 25% without Lifting a Hammer

Well.. Iam a custom builder who works mainly on a Cost Plus basis so I actually would gain more monetarily by using more expensive products. I would love to build all ICF because they are more expensive and I would make more money. In this respect Iam a bad business person but I dont like wasted resources and dont like to see clients waste money that could be better spent. I provide the information as I see it and if a client still wants to use something more expensive, that is perfectly fine by me. Iam no expert in ICFs but I am very familiar with the scientific evidence and research done by Oak Ridge National Laboratories done on the effective R values and thermal mass benefits. According to tests conducted by ORNL, the clear wall R-value for ICF walls is about 12. In the 2012 IECC, R 12 is only acceptable for climate zones 1 and 2 (climates that usually have increased termite risk). For mass walls In illinois, zone 4 would require R 13 while the upper part of the state in zone 5 would require R17. These values are for mass walls only. Stick framing requires higher R values and will arguably be better in performance from an energy and comfort standpoint. Now there are obviously better performing ICFS out there. I know of two products that would be well beyond the minimum levels (poorest performance allowed by law). I thought it might be helpful for you to be getting bids on something that at least meets minimum energy codes. Many people view these public threads and I think the information is helpful and relevant. Sorry that you disagree.