Tips & Traps When Building Your Home

Product Details

Leading real-estate author Robert Irwin provides home builders with valuable money-saving tips to building a home from the ground up in Tips & Traps When Building Your Home. Featuring a self-test to determine whether the reader is more suited to hiring it all out or doing some of it alone, this user-friendly guide outlines the perilous traps that often come with building your own home. Irwin helps readers determine whether or not to hire out the entire process or whether to act as the primary contractor. Once that is decided, Irwin then helps builders determine:

• How building and contracting effects home-owners' insurance.
• Whether or not to hire an architect.
• If building plans need to be presented to the local zoning board.
• Contractors' and builders' adherence to electrical codes, sewage codes, and occupancy codes.

Biographical Note

Robert Irwin has built homes from the ground up as well as completed dozens of major renovation and remodeling projects. He is best known as a real estate broker and the author of the best-selling Tips & Traps real estate series. He serves as a consultant to lenders, investors, and brokers. Irwin is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable writers in the real estate field today.

Table of Contents

• Getting Started.
  • Chapter 1: Why Build It Yourself?
  • Chapter 2: Designing Your Home.
  • Chapter 3: Building an Energy-Efficient Home.
  • Chapter 4: Finding the Land.
  • Chapter 5: Is the Lot Buildable?
  • Chapter 6: Hiring a Contractor.
  • Chapter 7: Be Your Own Contractor.
  • Chapter 8: Getting the Plans and Permissions.
  • Chapter 9: Getting Accurate Bids.
  • Chapter 10: Cost-Cutting Ideas.
  • Chapter 11: Getting Financing.
• Construction.
  • Chapter 12: Sitting the House and Preparing the Lot.
  • Chapter 13: Building a Strong Foundation.
  • Chapter 14: Framing and Sheathing.
  • Chapter 15: Roofing.
  • Chapter 16: Electrical and Plumbing.
  • Chapter 17: Drywall and Trim.
  • Chapter 18: Finishing Off the Kitchen.
  • Chapter 19: Finishing the Bathroom.
• The Aftermath.
  • Chapter 20: The Tax Man Cometh.
  • Chapter 21: Deciding When and If to Sell.