Sub-contractors-These are the Electricians, cement workers, carpenters,plumbers, and any other tradesman needed for the job. They all drive 1-ton pickups with dual wheels and carry a gazillion tools.

General Contractors make their money by bidding a job with enough of a profit margin to pay the subs and still earn a profit. Really good contractors will usually have his or her own favorite sub-contractors that they keep on their speed dial.

General Contractors try to keep good work and business relations with the subs even though the subs are usually independent of the contractor. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement between the two. The General Contractor keeps the work coming in and the subs do a good job that pleases the owners and makes the contractor look good. That creates a demand for more quality work.

It can be quite a juggling act to keep the owners and the subs happy. Some owners decide to be their own General Contractor and hire sub-contractors to save money. They take care of their own house building plan. It usually works out in the end, but it's almost always a headache for both the owners and the subs because of lack of experience on the part of the owners and lack of patience on the part of the subs. If an owner can manage the contractor feat, then he or she can usually save between 10 and 20 percent on the cost of the home.

Professional general contractors can usually skim more from the house building plan margin because they are experienced and they know how to do the job costing for really competitive quotes. If they bid too high, good-bye contract, too low, good-bye Christmas. Not only that, but owners that are doing their own contracting have to settle for whatever subs are available when they need them. Sometimes it isn't exactly the cream of the crop. The subs in this case, will show very little loyalty and dedication to the owner because the owner is a one shot customer.

That's why doing your own contracting is a real pain, but if that's part of your house building plan, more power to you!

A Contractor has two numbers to deal with. The cost of production for the house and the final value of the house. The contractor takes home the difference between those two numbers.

If you are planning on building your own home and doing all the work yourself, you'll be dealing with just one number. That's the cost of production and it's much less than what the General Contractor has to pay for the cost of production. You only have to worry about the cost of materials, you don't have to worry about the cost of labor, because you are the laborer. The difference between the cost of materials and the final value of the house will be your sweat equity. Cool huh?

Materials vary slightly in cost from place to place, so you can pretty much get a good idea how much your house will cost simply by the square footage approach. Materials will be between $30 and $40 a square foot. These costs are part of a realistic house building plan.

House Building Plan