Why UBuildIt | UBuildIt (2024)

Building a Custom Home

You know exactly what you want. You can envision your perfect home in your head. But how do you make it a reality? What are your options? Where do you start?

You’ve made a great first step. TheUBuildIt Systemhas empowered thousands of people just like you to build their own custom home. Your UBuildIt Construction Consultant will advise you through the process, giving you the control and confidence to make smart decisions that will allow you to avoid costly mistakes and build more home for your money.

Acting as your own building consultant on a do it yourself home building project means more of your construction budget goes directly to labor and materials instead of project management fees and overhead. How much more? Most of our clients build up to 25 percent more home for their money.

Your UBuildIt Construction Manual and personal Construction Consultant will give you greater understanding of the details of your project and personal control over all aspects of the building process. Our network of reliable subcontractors and suppliers can be counted on to help you maximize your budget.

In the end, you will have the pride of building the home you want, the way you want and will have learned the art of homebuilding from personal experience and advice from your UBuildIt Construction Consultant. But managing the construction of a custom home isn’t for everyone; the next step is to find outif you are right for this process.

Do you think you would like to incorporate “green” building concepts into your project?Check out our Green Building Program!

UBuildIt Plus

Not sure you want to manage the construction process? With our UBuildIt Plus Program, our construction experts take a more active role so you don’t have to.

WithUBuildIt Plusyou offload some of the duties to us to lighten your workload.

See below for the details that the UBuildIt Plus program offers. Then call yourlocal officefor a consultation — we'll help you decide which one works best for you.

Planning Phase – During the planning phase with UBuildIt Plus, this advanced program with help you gather information when deciding on your budget and during the site review, it is recommended that you are there to oversee the process, but not necessary. Our team will gather the research needed. During the plan development and review, our team will attend up to three meetings with you and the designer that you choose.

When it comes to making that the specifications for your home are met, we offer to full session, from 4-8 hours total, which includes spec books with photos. For costing/cost review, we will assist with selections and do more follow up on your choices. We will evaluate bids and we may get a second round of key bids to help with budgeting.

Construction Phase – During the construction phase, gathering permits is one of the most important aspects. With UBuildIt Plus, we will pick up permits and prepare paperwork for you. When selecting vendors and management, we will guide you in making choices before signing contracts and we will review invoices before you make payments. When dealing with license and insurance information for your vendors, we do ongoing license and insurance checking, but you will still make the final verification.

Scheduling can be one of the most stressful parts of building your own home. The UBuildIt Plus program will call on your behalf to assist with scheduling. You will confirm with the vendors, meet with them and sign documents. We will have group sub-meetings on site. For managing your budget, we will assist and hold monthly meetings to review your budget. We also review invoices before you pay and we will help facilitate changes to orders. With UBuildIt Plus, 24 hour phone services are available and text messaging capabilities are possible.

With UBuildIt, you will get four planning meetings and with UBuildIt Plus, these four meetings will expand to cover more “site specific” items in anticipation of future decisions. During site visits, you must be present for 9-10 of the visits. The actual number of site visits will be determined by the individual office analysis. We will identify the appropriate number of site visits per trade and base it around that list. Your plans, specs, and checklists are the guiding documents, we are liaisons only. We will facilitate group vendor meetings at key times and have weekly communication with the client.

*Please note that each new construction project is customized; the requirements shown above represent a typical project and may be different than the requirements for your home. The requirements for remodeling jobs are similar to those shown above, but also vary depending on the scope of your project. Please consult with yourlocal officefor details.*

Do It Yourself Advantages

Everyone has their own personal reason why they choose to build their own home. Whether it is a vision to create something that is all your own, or an economic decision — UBuildIt will be by your side.

Why Would I Want To Build My Own Home?

Instant Equity

Builder markup on a new home ranges from about 18% to 30%. Simple math shows that even at just 20% markup, you'll be paying the builder $50,000 on a $250,000 home... that's as much as $100,000 on a $500,000 home! By building yourself, you get to keep the majority of that money in your pocket, or add more upgrades to your home.

The appraisal on your home is based on market value for homes in your area. And since the vast majority of homes are built by builders, not individuals, they all have the builder markup figured into their worth. That's good news for you because the appraiser doesn't know — and doesn't care — that you did it yourself. Presto! The home will appraise just as if you'd paid the builder markup, which means you'll find yourself instantly in an equity position!*

What you do with that equity is completely up to you. Some people upgrade their new home's furnishings. Some people choose to just sit on it and let it grow and enjoy the feeling of knowing they've just added to their net worth. Regardless, the savings that comes from building your own home is clearly one of the major benefits of taking the project on yourself.

Control

Build your home your way—you can do whatever you want when you're the general contractor! A few elements of control that you'll enjoy are:

Control Over Subcontractors—Careful selection of sub-contractors is vital to building your house properly, and we will provide you with options and choices.

Control Over Materials—Let somebody else build your home and you never know what kind of materials they'll use. When you're the builder—you'll get exactly what you want and ensure the level of quality that you desire.

Control Over Payments—When you build your own home, you hold the checkbook. Payments only go out when you say they'll go out, and only to those who have truly completed the work to your satisfaction. Plus, no surprise charges will appear for work that wasn't authorized.

Control Over Your Location—Build your home wherever you want instead of being forced to settle for the builder's neighborhood or the luck of the draw for existing homes that become available.

Control Over Your Time Schedule—Time overruns are one of the major complaints people have when hiring a builder, because most builders are juggling several build jobs at once. You can get things done when you want them done and stay on schedule.

Satisfaction

Imagine how you’re going to feel turning the key to walk into your completed home for the first time after officially closing on it.

The home transforms from a place to live to a place that lives and breathes with your family—after all, it is YOUR creation. You dreamed it up. You designed it. You planned it. You chose the materials and contractors. Who knows, maybe you even picked up a hammer or paint brush or rolled in some carpet—although you certainly don’t have to provide the manual labor if you don’t want to!

Chances are you’ll live in this home—YOUR HOME—much longer than your neighbors who picked their homes off the shelf like a pair of shoes or a toaster. As the years roll on, YOUR home will feel more like an old friend than an assembly of nails and drywall. Kids will grow up and move on. Relatives will visit for the holidays. Friends will create memories that won’t fade. And the constant, all the while, will be the home that you built yourself.

Sound a little melodramatic? Not so, say the thousands of families that we’ve helped build in the last decade plus. They rave about the feeling of a home they built versus a home they bought. To understand why, just close your eyes and dream a little. Imagine holding the blueprints and the muddy boots. Think about the framing and the painting and the roofing—and overseeing it all. If you’re excited at all, then building your own home is the right move for you.

Upgrades

When you're saving money by building your own home, you can afford to spend some extra money on upgrades for your home. After all, you're going to be living in your home for a long time... so why not make it as nice as possible?

Some of the most popular upgrade choices are:

Kitchen appliances, countertops, flooring, paint, molding, square footage, audio/visual equipment, and garages!

Many people find that they can add upgrades and still spend far less on their home than it appraises for—which means you get a nicer and/or bigger home AND instant equity. What’s not to love!?

Expertise

Unless you have a significant amount of construction experience, including having built residential homes before—you absolutely SHOULD NOT try to build a home without expert help. Obviously, building a home is a huge project with hundreds of details to manage. Without the benefit of an experienced building partner, your project will almost certainly be a painful experience.

UBuildIt has the experience to get your job done right, on time, and on budget. We've been in business since 1988, and our combined network of Construction Consultants have completed almost TWO BILLION DOLLARS in new construction. Each of our Consultants is a seasoned building professional who has anywhere from dozens to hundreds of homes under his/her belt.

We'll work with you from the very beginning — from land acquisition and financing your project, to home design, materials choice and job costing... right through the construction phase with step-by-step guidance at every turn. We've experienced the problems that can pop up and know how to avoid them in most cases, and deal with them if they do arise. In short, we've "been there, done that" enough times to be a worthy guide for you in this process.

Custom Home Building Done Right

Getting the job done right starts with detailed planning of the project.

We'll sit down with you to determine your financing options and define your budget. Then we'll help you select the right property to make sure it works and provide a written site report.

Once the property is selected, we'll then work with you to plan the home. We'll provide plenty of input on the design by looking at the plans with a "builder's eye" to advise on the design's impact on the value of your home and impact on your budget. Then we'll work with you to prepare detailed specifications of material choices and establish realistic project costs. A detailed costing report will be provided.

Once construction begins, we'll help you through all the details — from permitting, to scheduling, to ordering materials, to subcontractor selection, to managing your budget. We'll conduct regular site visits to review the work being done and make sure everything is ready for the next step.

Bottom line —we'll give you the system, tools, and oversight to make sure your home gets built RIGHT.

Complete Your Custom Home On Time

We've all heard the horror stories of construction projects that dragged on for weeks or even months after the anticipated finish date.

While some delays are unavoidable (bad weather, subcontractor emergencies, etc.), the fact is that the vast majority of building delays are due to poor planning, lack of coordination, and lack of accountability. With a UBuildIt Construction Consultant on your team, these kinds of problems are greatly reduced.

We'll help you get your job done on time by providing the tools to effectively manage the job from start to finish. You'll receive a customized construction manual that shows everything that needs to be done so nothing falls through the cracks. You'll know when and how to get permits, when and how to order materials, and when and how to hire and schedule various subcontractors. Checklists will be provided and reviewed frequently to make sure the project stays on course.

Since you'll be the one managing the project using our system and oversight, you'll be able to stay on top of all the details, worry free. And in the end, you'll be moving into your beautiful new home right when you had planned.

Complete Your Custom HomeOn Budget

When you work with a UBuildIt construction consultant, you can be confident that your home will come in very close to the original budget. That's because we "know the ropes" and can guide you to every cost savings available.

Plan Development— Our relationship with architects and designers provides several benefits including fewer plan revisions and designs more attuned to your budget goals which can result in savings.

Material Discounts— You'll pay for all building materials directly to the supplier with "open book" invoicing, which eliminates markups. Many suppliers give our clients "builder pricing" and other discounts due to our volume purchasing.

Contingency Savings— When a builder prices a project they typically include an extra percentage to cover cost overruns, which may become extra profit for the builder. With UBuildIt, if the project goes as originally planned, this money goes back into your pocket, not ours.

Personal Involvement— As a UBuildIt Client, you, or your friends and family, can contribute some of the skilled or unskilled labor to realize additional savings and control. This is a direct savings to you that is not available with a builder.

Project Costing— Our process of collecting bids prior to construction results in accurate project costing. Our recommended subcontractors provide the best mix of quality, value and reliability.

Minimize Mistakes— People building on their own often make mistakes due to lack of experience and the overall complexity of the homebuilding process. When you build with UBuildIt as your partner, mistakes are reduced and you save money.

Change Orders— As your project progresses you may want to make changes. These changes can carry a high markup when working with builders. With UBuildIt you pay the actual cost of any changes with no markup, penalty or margin. Plus, your Construction Consultant can help establish fair costs for those changes and how they impact other budget items.

The Planning Phase

Homeowner

• Decide on financing plans
• Discuss Budget
• Choose property
• Choose designer & architect
• Give input on home specifications
• Make material choices
• Finalize budget/job costs

UBuildIt

• Provide financing options
• Help you define target budget
• Review your property
• Input during design
• Prepare detailed specifications
• Explain material choices/budget impact
• Create detailed costing report

The Construction Phase

Homeowner

• Get permits
• Select suppliers & subcontractors
• Order & schedule materials
• Schedule and manage suppliers & contractor
• Attend planning meetings with UBuildIt
• Site visits with your UBuildIt consultant
• Monitor the progress
• Pay the bills

UBuildIt

• Guidance on permitting
• Guidance on suppliers & subcontractors
• Guidance on materials
• Guidance on scheduling
• Plan meetings
• Up to 23 site visits during the process
• Guidance on quality assurance
• Provide construction manual

Time Commitment

How Much Time Will It Take To Build My Own Custom Home?

Did you know that you can build your own home in as little as 4 to 8 hours a week?

It’s true — and depending on what service level you work with us on, it could take as little as 4 to 8 hours a week. We offer two plans:UBuildIt Classic, where you are more involved and handle most of the detail work, andUBuildIt Plus, where you offload some of the duties to us to lighten your workload. Either way, you’ll experience the satisfaction and savings that come from building your own home.

No matter what service level you choose, committing your time is an important aspect of building your custom home. If you're looking for a more hands-off approach, the UBuildIt Plus program is perfect for you. To be more involved in the entire process, UBuildIt Classic is the best solution for you.

Building with UBuildIt

UBuildIt is best for people who want absolute control of their project, want instant equity when moving into their home, have 5-10 hours a week to manage the project, and those who DO NOT have extensive construction experience. Our programs are not ideal for those who do not want a hands-on building experience.

The biggest advantage of working with UBuildIt is that you get the exact home that you want with instant equity and no experience is necessary. The only disadvantage is that you will need to work on your home for 5-10 hours a week.

Building Yourself without UBuildIt

Building a home without UBuildIt is best for people who want absolute control of their project, want instant equity when moving into their home, have 15-30 hours a week to manage the project, and those who DO have extensive construction experience. If you do not have any construction experience, this option would not be a good choice.

The biggest advantage of working without UBuildIt is that you get the exact home that you want with instant equity. The only disadvantage is that you will need to work on your home for 15-30 hours a week.

Hiring a Custom Builder

Hiring a custom builder is best for those who don’t want to be involved during construction and those who don’t mind paying more for someone else to manage the project.

The biggest advantage of hiring a builder is that someone else handles the small details and the process is more hands-off. Disadvantages include cost overruns, work not being completed on time, and the overall cost.

Buying a New Tract Home

Buying a new tract home is ideal for those that are on a tighter budget, don’t want to bother with the building process, and those that want to move into a new home quickly. The main problem with buying a new tract home is that these homes are typically not unique.

The main advantage of buying a new tract home is that they are affordable and you can move in quickly.

Buying an Existing Home

Buying an existing home is a good choice for those who don’t want to bother with building a home, want a quick move-in, and those who want to live in a more established area.

The only disadvantages to buying an existing home are that it may be an older home and there may not be a big selection.

The Process

The Home Building Process - How Do I Keep Everything Organized?

Phase 1: Planning

The key to a stress-free building project is thorough planning. We've built thousands of homes and have a proven system for planning every imaginable detail and anticipating any situation that could arise. Your home will be "built on paper" long before a single nail is pounded as we work together to complete this process using our exclusive Planning Manual. This document will allow us to work through the budget, property selection, home plans, specifications, and job costing of your home.

Your Customized Planning Manual

Planning your new home from A to Z is easy when you work with UBuildIt. Your Construction Consultant will walk you through our proprietary Planning Guide and lend expert advice and opinions on the topics shown on this page. The goal is to plan a home that's done right, on time, and within your budget. With our help and this manual, chances are excellent that you'll have a pleasant building experience!

Phase 2: Building

Once you've planned your project, then it's on to actually building the home. Naturally, the diligence we put into the planning phase will make construction go more smoothly. But with hundreds of details to keep track of, having a systematic way to approach the project is a MUST. We'll work with you to create a customized Construction Manual that will let you know exactly what needs to happen and when it needs to happen. With our expert oversight, you'll find that your job as general contractor is one that you can capably handle.

Commercial Construction

For over twenty-five years, UBuildIt has helped thousands of families build or remodel their home. We are now bringing our construction expertise to the service of our business clients.

Are you a business owner looking to remodel, move into a new space and need to perform tenant build-out, or build a new business structure from scratch? UBuildIt's Commercial program can empower you to complete your project with savings and/or instant equity that will make your CFO happy.

Tenant Build Out - This service works exactly like a traditional remodel. Whether your remodeling an office space, Starting from ‘studs’ or beginning with a traditional ‘white box’. Your UBuildIt remodeling specialist can help you design and build for higher quality and lower cost.

Small Commercial - Considered any commercial project from the ground up that is less than 10,000 sq ft. All UBuildIt offices can serve in this market. The flow of construction is identical to any new home project. However the standards and regulations during construction are more difficult and the planning and approval of the project all require significantly more work and expertise than a traditional custom home. Our average commercial clients save in excess of 25% of the cost versus using a quality commercial builder and on an average commercial project that is a significant amount.

Medium Commercial - Projects between 10,000-40,000 sq ft. Most UBuildIt offices can handle this size of project but not all. The flow of construction, permitting and inspections doesn’t vary much from a Small Commercial project but the subcontractors and suppliers are usually a completely different group for some crucial areas of construction. Contact your local office for more information.

Large Commercial - Multi story projects in excess of 40,000.

Contact your local office for more information.