Should You Become an Owner Builder? Here’s What Most iBuild Clients Do

Charles Christodoulou: 95% would be owner builders, and 5% would use a builder. I’ve been with iBuild now for three years, and in all my sales, only one customer was going to use a builder – because she is in her mid-eighties.

Now, most people who look at the kit home option are mainly trying to keep their costs down. To really keep your cost down, you should seriously consider being an owner builder. That’s the only way you’re going to save money. Otherwise, you can go to any display builder and get them to build your design –  whatever it is – but you’ll find the cost will be significantly higher.

If you’re a bit nervous or you don’t have much time, which is a common problem, what I did in real life was I got my builder’s licence when I was about 53 years old. I came out of an office environment, and I really didn’t have much confidence either. But I actually found a good carpenter – and this is a true story.

At the time, carpenters were being paid about $340 a day. I offered the same carpenter $400 a day. I said, “Can you please help me project manage whatever I do?” and he agreed because I paid him that extra. I ended up staying with him for about 10 years, and he became virtually a full-time project manager. My last job with him was 15 double-storey homes on one block. It took us 18 months, but I got to that level where I had confidence because I knew whatever I didn’t know, he would pick up.

Not only that – he also knew if I needed a plumber or an electrician. He had so many contacts built up over time, he was able to just give me names or numbers, and we would hire them. If we didn’t like any of them, we’d get rid of them until we found a good one.

So what I’m trying to say is – if you do lack confidence or time and you still want to save money – think about what I did. Try and find a good carpenter or a good handyman.