Building Your Own Home For Dummies
An Easy-To-Follow Guide Helps You Plan and Build A Beautiful Home

By Kevin Daum, Janice Brewster, Peter Economy

Step-By-Step Guide To Building Your Own Home

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!

In Building Your Own Home For Dummies, you'll 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

About The Authors:

Introduction.

Part I: Getting Started: The 411 on Custom Home Building.

• Chapter 1: The Custom Home Process in a Nutshell.
• Chapter 2: Preparing for the Process.
• Chapter 3: The Land Grab: Selecting the Perfect Site.
• Chapter 4: Defining Your House Style.
• Chapter 5: Architects and Design: Time Spent Is Money Saved.
• Chapter 6: Engineering and Plan Approval: Bureaucracy Made Somewhat Easy.

Part II: All You Need Is Dough: Financing Your Custom Home.

• Chapter 7: Cash Is King: Using Debt to Your Advantage.
• Chapter 8: Knowledge Is Power: What You Don’t Know About Construction Loans Can Hurt You.
• Chapter 9: Qualifying: It’s the Bank’s Way or the Highway.
• Chapter 10: Show Me the Money.

Part III: Hammers and Nails: The Construction Process.

• Chapter 11: All the King’s Men: The Contractor and His Cohorts.
• Chapter 12: Excavation and Foundation: Getting a Solid Start.
• Chapter 13: Framing and Rough: So Much Goes Behind Those Walls!
• Chapter 14: Heading for the Finish: So Much Detail.

Part IV: All the After Stuff.

• Chapter 15: Home Sweet Nest Egg: Moving In and Managing Your New Investment.
• Chapter 16: Refinancing: More Money, Cheaper Payments.
• Chapter 17: Taking It Outside: The Art of Landscaping.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

• Chapter 18: Ten Common Custom Home Mistakes and How to Avoid ’Em.
• Chapter 19: Ten Great Ways to Lower Construction Costs.
• Chapter 20: Ten Common Stuck-in-the-Middle Problems and Their Fixes.
• Chapter 21: Ten Helpful Custom Home Resources.
• Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Make Your Home Green.

Index. Read The Index (PDF)