Opinions on Owner Built vs. Owner Builder Network (Houston, Tomball: insurance, appliances)

[CJ3568]

We are in the process of moving to the Houston area. My husband is already working there and we will be joining him after the first of the year.

We are looking to build a house and would love some opinions on some of the local owner build home companies in the area. Did you find one company more reputable than the other? Are the fees they charge roughly about the same? Any warnings to be aware of?

Thank you
Looking forward to moving to the area

[CJ3568]

Bumping - any thoughts out there??

[haudi]

I'm not quite sure I understand your question... are you talking about the homebuilders in specific neighborhoods like David Weekly, Highland, Perry, Newmark, Trendmaker, Partners in Building, and so on? Or are you talking about something like building on your own lot?

Originally Posted by CJ3568

Bumping - any thoughts out there??

[DSL_PWR]

Unless you are buying land it won't matter. You will most likely wind up in a neighborhood and those are made up of specified builders.

If you are buying land then I'd look at Owner Built.

[marksmu]

Owner Builder and those other "companies" that "help" you to be your own general contractor are all scams. They get paid by subcontractors to be on their approved lists, they take a percentage from the contractors, and they take a percentage from you for access to the lists. They tout their inspections, licenses, insurance, etc, but all of that can be obtained on your own with almost no cost.

They tout their advantages, but the reality is that you save almost nothing, and you do ALL of the work. A builder who does any volume of construction at all will get significantly better pricing any of the Owner builder scams out there..sometimes 15-20% better pricing. That alone makes these types of construction pointless - as you could pay a builder to build your house, do none of the work, take none of the risk, and still save money. In addition to that, if something is not done correctly, you are a one time client and the subs know it....they wont come back to fix your stuff...why should they? They wont ever do work for you again so they dont care about you...They know as long as they pay their advertising costs to the builder network, their name will continue to appear.

So in my opinion, I would find a good reputable builder and use them....otherwise you will end up paying as much, if not more, and you will do all of the work, have all of the headaches, and nothing to show for it.

[CJ3568]

Thank you for the suggestions. Yes, we are looking at getting a couple of acres and would like to build a house. If you do not recommend the "owner build" companies, then do you have recommendations on good quality builders? We are not interested in going with a large "chain" company. We would prefer to go with a small reputable builder. My husband is in the construction industry and would like to find someone that will allow him to get certain things himself.

Thanks again for the advice.

[marksmu]

Look around, there are several smaller excellent builders out there...It really depends on where you will be building. In town builders wont work rural and vice versa...If you are rural it is significantly more limited than if not, but there are some good ones out there. I just completed a custom build and it is a long process, but worth it to get what you want.

As to buying things yourself, that will be something that you have to figure out between yourself and the builder. Most custom builders will let you buy some of your own things, light fixtures, appliances, etc, but not things like lumber, windows, electrical supplies, roofing supplies, etc...Most builders will have fairly tight controls on the big ticket items b/c those are the big warranty issues, and b/c that is how they make some of their margin in terms of volume.

[CJ3568]

We are currently considering a few lots that are all in the Tomball/Magnolia areas. If your builder is in that area, would you mind sharing the name?

[confusedabouthouston]

Originally Posted by CJ3568

We are currently considering a few lots that are all in the Tomball/Magnolia areas. If your builder is in that area, would you mind sharing the name?

Did you find a good builder? Did you build in Tomball area? We are now in the same situation.

Any words of advice? Which builder did you go with?

Thanks!

[ExperiencedConsumer]

I used Owner Builder Network in Houston Texas. It was a complete rip off. They suggest they vet the trades thoroughly. I can tell you that most of the trades did not like them and suggested they did not go through much vetting at all. The trade have to pay to get on the list. They claimed they had multiple trades in which to send out bid request. Most instances it was two max... Those trades really have no loyalty to OBN. I could go on and on, but the experience was probably one of the worst experience in my life. It would have been a lot better just knowing I had not paid this company to do practically nothing. The worst part was the emails I would receive with their "drive by" photos suggesting "making progress" followed by a weekly email asking me the status of the project...

THEY WERE A COMPLETE RIP OFF AND SIMPLY ADDED SEVERE AGGRIVATION TO AN ALREADY AGGRIVATING PROCESS OF BUILDING A HOME.

OBN was actually the worst part of the home building process.