Building Your Own Home For Dummies [Paperback]

Kevin Daum (Author), Janice Brewster (Author), Peter Economy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2005

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists

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!

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists

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!

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 Author

Kevin Daum has 22 years of experience in the real estate and mortgage industry. He is founder and CEO of Stratford Financial Services, and is the leading expert in custom home financing. Daum has financed more than 800 custom homes and has published numerous articles on construction financing,mortgage education, and entrepreneurship.

Janice Brewster served as editor of Log Home Living magazine for five years.  Brewster has been involved in the custom home industry for more than 10 years.

Peter Economy is Associate Editor for the Drucker Foundation's award-winning magazine Leader to Leader and a featured expert for AllBusiness.com. He's the coauthor of the books Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World's Only Conductorless Orchestra, Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit, and many others, including Consulting For Dummies, Home-Based Business For Dummies, and Raising Capital For Dummies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (February 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764557092
• ISBN-13: 978-0764557095
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Repair
  • #40 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Design > Design & Construction
  • #44 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Do-It-Yourself

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive, October 7, 2007

By 

V. K. Reddy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building Your Own Home For Dummies (Paperback)

This book has exhaustive information about building a home employing a general constructor and sub-contractors. It's more useful as a reference. I say that because of the way it's organized. It's not a sequential read, and has no logical beginning or ending. I bought this book hoping to understand each step that goes into building a home. However, this book is NOT about that. It's more about effectively dealing with things that come along in each step.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for a beginner, April 28, 2005

By 

K. Major (York Beach, Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Your Own Home For Dummies (Paperback)

This is the best book on the market if your thinking of, dreaming of, or even starting to build your own home. It's the perfect book for someone not so well versed in the complicated art of getting a home built. I found so much information I don't need to buy any other books! From the steps you need to take in getting permits, choosing stick-built or pre-fab, dealing with contractors and banks, to recommendations for square footage of rooms (I re-drew my home plans because of those little tips), what to expect when, and insider tricks on saving money. This book has way more information than I ever thought I'd find in one book. When my dream home building process gets underway, this book will be my Bible! I highly recommend it!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Building Your Own Home For Dummies, August 10, 2006

By 

Kathie R. (Calif) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Your Own Home For Dummies (Paperback)

I have 3 degrees, but I did not know the 1st step about buying raw land, building a home, and getting a construction loan. I read this book from start to finish and could not imagine going through the process without using the guidelines in this book. I learned what questions to ask the broker about the loan and what questions to ask my contractor about the construction. It is so important to go into this kind of huge project knowing what check lists to take care of and have some kind of timeline. Nice to know what is around each new corner! I think this is a must have book if you're planning on building a home!