If you want it to take much longer, have more mistakes, strain relationships more, and cost not one whit less, sure. If the bank will work with you. Building a home is hard enough with an experienced GC in charge!

Well I have to somewhat disagree with Celadon. I have built 3 custom homes.

Two of which were owner builder and our last one, completed last year was with a GC.

Having control over the ones we did ourselves was much less stressful but then again it was

years ago before things have gotten crazy. There are plusses and minuses to both.

My Husband was a licensed builder.

My father and brother built a home over a year, small 1700 sq ft with no issues. They both knew what they were doing and had friends who helped out on the electrical/plumbing and cement work that they didn't do.

Just a question, will the brother get paid? Or will Brother's company bill you

for the project? So you hubby will have blood sweat and tears in the project

and the brother bills you for his blood, sweat and tears.

I foresee problems if things aren't ironed out before the project starts,

and of course a contract.

@Celadon your response is exactly what I expected to hear back. There absolutely has to be cost savings for us and reasonable profit for the business or it doesnt at all make sense. They have done several rennovation projects on our current home that have taken much longer and gone over budget so I’m imagining that x100. Biggest concerns being how I would address concerns and what if something major went wrong.. I wouldn't feel bad putting the burden on a builder but if it’s family it’s a lose lose situation no matter who eats the cost of the inevitable mistakes.

Your note about the bank is a good point that I never even considered.

@Angel 18432

currently the business is ran by his parents who have been in construction for about 30 yrs. My husband and his brother are both paid salary at this time so yes they would both get paid for their work. We would pay the business same as we would pay a builder- we would be a customer, this would not be a favor from anyone.

I think the idea is less about cost saving and more about if we are going to pay a builder who will just contract all the work out why not keep the $$ in the family and have them manage the job. Obviously there has to be enough profit margin to warrant them doing this hypothetical project vs doing other jobs.

Sounds like it could work out, and as long as everyone is in agreement that this is a "business" contract, I don't see why not and I'm sure your hub's parents would love to help you both out.

If you hire a builder then it doesn’t get personal when things go wrong...and they will

“They have done several rennovation projects on our current home that have taken much longer and gone over budget so I’m imagining that x100.”

The best way to predict the future is to look at the past. Things will not deviate from an established pattern.

My husband and I did this - it took us 18 months to build. We hired some larger aspects (like framing), did some diy (paint, flooring, easy diy things) and had family assist with their respective trades/skills. Pros were we saved a considerable amount of money. Cons were that there were changes we had to make due to skill level, and yes, some hurt feelings and lots of emotions along the way (but this was the same when we used a builder for our first home). No long term damage as long as you are able to communicate along the way.

would I do it again? Yes, I’d hire out more of the finishing work though.

@Celadon Lol.. you’re probably not wrong! I will say though to be fair, many of the projects we have done on the side which is why it took so long. certainly if we were to pay them as a customer they would work on it like it’s their job (because it would be!). That being said my husband has a way of always understating the amount of work that any project takes so thats a huge concern here. He would tell me 9 months and then 2 years later I’d still be waiting... by the time it’s finished all the finishes I will have picked will be outdated 😂

@sapphire_lillies thank you for sharing. It is helpful to know that while there are many potential downsides to the idea, it is possible to make it work and come out ahead.

Since you've already had reason to be displeased with the results of hiring the family business to do work for you, I wouldn't risk a magnification of just such a reason to be disgruntled with them.

I don't have personal experience but I think it's possible but would present some serious challenges. If the company has never built before, there will be some learning curves and likely mistakes made at some point. Those mistakes could eat into any savings you were hoping to have. Some GCs will let homeowners do some of their own finishing work, so you could look for another GC and negotiate to have your family business or your husband independently do some of the work to save money. I always worry with family and friends the potential for causing serious rifts in the family when engaging in such a significant project. From your perspective this is a huge investment and you will understandably want things your way. From your family's perspective, they may see themselves as doing you a favor for family. I think it sets you up for potential drama that may not be worth the financial savings, but only you will know.

@pricklypearcactus these are all of my thoughts exactly! I really just needed others to validate, or refute, my concerns to be sure I wasn’t shutting down a good idea. Great callout about potentially working with a GC that will allow us to do some finishing work. Something to keep in mind for sure.

As long as all their guns are kept in a limited access safe in an undisclosed location things shouldn't go too wrong.

LOL Good point Mark.

Let's just say, when family/friends are involved on any

project, there will always be tension. After a flood in my basement my brother offered

to help. He was being kind, but I swore never again. I'll hire someone next time for a major project. Hang a picture, no prob. Same issue when we built a deck on another house years ago. Won't go into it, but it does make a difference if issues arise.

I don’t have first hand experience but I’ve always heard you should never do business with family.

In the home building business you pay for your education. If the individuals you are considering to build you home haven't built one before, somebody will be paying for the "educational expenses." Those expenses are usually larger than the profit you would pay an experienced builder. Plus you can focus on your day job and you won't have to jettison any member of the family at any point in the project.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting kind of a tangent..but what makes a 2 story more appealing to buyers? Honest question. I am envisioning maybe the master upstairs but more likely a split ranch with a “bonus room“ (and maybe half bath) upstairs or over the garage that would serve as a playroom/ hangout room as the kids get older. Essentially it would be the type of room a lot of people put in basements but I just really hate basements!

You may not save as much as you think you will if you have to finance. We looked into an owner builder construction loan and the rate and loan costs were considerably higher than if we went with a traditional GC Construction loan. There’s not as many banks that are willing to do owner builder loans. You might have better luck in your state.

I don't consider this diy based on your answers. You can make it less so by choosing carefully who does what. In some cases it may get you a better finished product for some parts of the build to hire contractors who are better qualified. If this is known by all up front you can still save by supplying the material you can buy wholesale through your existing business. . . .In other words rely on family where they have good skills. Hire subs for other areas. You'll be successful and you can save a lot. Some on labor. A lot on materials. You don't want your house to be a learning experience for someone.

Depends on your family relationships, but the default is yes. My father was one of ten kids and his father was a builder. I think he built for nearly all his siblings, and a few several times and my sisters also. My uncle provide children's dentistry and we all went to him until age 18 or older if he didn't see signs of pot smoking. Another is in the fireplace business. The most knowledgeable in the business.

A 2000sf home is not an overwhelming project to learn about building homes for an experienced contractor. Relatively easy for DIY but still expect 50-100% longer than an experienced contractor.

Agree with Jeffrey - it depends. If my husband and one of his brothers were to propose this, I'd tell them to jump in the lake (they don't work well together at all). If it was him and his other brother instead, or with my father, all of whom collectively have extensive experience/knowledge, or was for a cabin/cottage/weekend or vacation place or such, then it's on like Donkey Kong. If it were a primary residence, and we were under a time crunch, again with the lake. However, go with your gut. It seems to be telling you this is a bad idea, so, it's probably a bad idea.

If they have the contacts with decent subcontractors and they get along well (you ALL get along well) then go for it.

I know hubby and I could do a build with my brother and sister in law. We helped them demo and remodel their kitchen, he's built a brewing shed, we're building our house and we get along great.

We're slow as heck though. ;-)

Well I shared all this great feedback with my husband and... well he just insists there is no way we would hire another GC to manage a home build since he sees first hand what the markup is on the contractor work. So I suppose I will brace myself for the adventure that awaits someday when we pull the trigger on this project. It seems as long as we have every detail laid out as far as what work they would do vs hire out, it could work.

Sounds like financing may be an issue with their lack of home building experience though so that’s something I’ll have to start looking into. I probably have plenty of time though since finding a decent plot of land at a reasonable price around here (SE WI) is a pipe dream. Ugh.

Well I think we have all learned a few things from the comments made.

Good Luck.