On the parts I did myself. I shopped at salvage stores. Often they sell lots of new stuff, too. Bought my prefinished oak flooring, about 1800 square feet, from them at substantial discount because they picked up the stuff at the factory and we moved it from their truck to mine. It was never in their building. Bought the ceramic tile from two different surplus places, 3 tile patterns and very limited supply of each but enough for my job. $.79-$.89 per square foot. Bought cabinet knobs on Internet for half the price at Lowes and HD.

1. We purchased our house plans off the internet after looking for 2 years! 2. We built a 1648 sq.ft. house after deciding the first plan we looked at was 1900 sq.ft. We found the bigger plan had an inefficient floor plan and the smaller one was near perfect for us!
3. We built on our property that was already paid for. 4. We DID NOT purchase high end appliances; we ordered all of them from Sears months in advance of our "move in" date and they stored them for us. They are all "middle of the line". 5. Local cabinet makers are not always the most expensive; we went with a stained alder and they are beautiful plus he did all the counter tops and vanities in the bathrooms. We have laminate counter tops; no granite.
6. We purchased most all of our light fixtures online and a few at box stores. 7. We wanted hardwood floors throughout the house except for baths, laundry, and 2 bedrooms. So we put in white oak which is a very common, sturdy hardwood and is a reasonable price. 8. We used MDF for inside trim and moulding and painted it white. 9. We did our own "clean-up". We kept the job site cleaned up as the build went along.

One thing we did notice after everything was finished is, building in the winter is more expensive! We had to pay for a heater to run all winter after the house was dried in. If I had to build again I would definately do it in the spring-summer-fall seasons!

I could probably think of other things but these are just a few ways we saved some money!

Good Luck!

Shop ebay and general internet for many things. Got Ge Monogram oven and advantium at 1/2 price. 16 Ga stainless steel sinks much less than local dealers. Insinkerator 1 HP online about $100 less than local. Lights, hardware, toilets, plumbing fixtures IPE decking all online at 5%-20% less in most cases sometimes more. The trick with ebay is having lots of time to research and find what you like then watch for it on ebay for instance. Dont worry the first time you dont win etc as there is usually another one coming around soon. If building /acting as GC well thats a huge savings and its easier to buy the other stuff online and not go through the builder. Not everyone do this or has time or skill or patience to do so. If buying your own flooring etc. Get to know the variious stories look for remnants, ask about when sales usually are or if any coming up. If you get cash back on credit cards buy with it instead of paying cash. Or ask if paying cash saves $$. Try local building/ home building /remodeling shows. Some items may be on sale during those shows. Use this site to research appliances etc especially because if you buy something and hate it afterwards It sucks even if you saved money. Make sure your money is well spent! If upgrading during construction. Upgrade insulation, better windows furnace etc that also save money by efficiency . This saves money for years. You can always add granite, hardwood floors, crown moulding etc. Its hard to upgrade insulation or windows later.

Also use efficient sizes where possible. If house is 24'-4" deep for instance consider making it 24', as you buy most building materials in 2 foot increments. This saves on waste in materials and dumpster costs. If in an area where you can burn burn framing scraps etc on site. Or save it for fireplaces. If not treated lumber with chemicals. Carpets usually come in 12'-0" and some 15'-0" widths. Keep this in mind when sizing rooms if possible, Making rooms 12'6 may not make sense. Most carpet can be stretched a few inches and you lose some space to drywall and baseboards but it helps if you design with these things in mind) Again it can save on having to order extra carpet and have fewer scraps to go to dump and be charged for.

Stay on top of and aware of your budget at all times.

I bought almost all my plumbing fixtures, sinks, toilets, etc. myself, rather than through the plumber, and most of them online. Huge saving and upgrade in products.

Get several bids for work. I found a fantastic cabinet maker and was able to save money going custom.

Bigkahuna - That deck is gorgeous. Where/how did you purchase the Ipe online?

Good luck!

Crazyhouse, Thanks Its coming along nicely. Im really happy with it. The views when you first walk out onto it are simply stunning ( for a small Ohio lake) We hope to finish up the cable rail system and handrail next weekend and will wait till spring to lightly sand and apply the UV protection /sealer /stain. There is no perfect deck material but Ipe is best Natural product I have found. I used ABS Wood out of Atlanta. Bruce was my rep. I believe. Very friendly, helpful and gave great prices and service. He gave extra pieces at no charge when Sizes I specified werent in stock. Local guys couldn't touch his prices. Thanks again

--- this is long... but you asked :-)

First of all, I took the leap and became my own general contractor. I didn't really mean to. I waited and waited on bids from GC's, and while waiting, I contacted subs myself so I would know how much it was going to cost to build. When I added that all up, it was a significant savings over the GC prices that were coming in. But, and this is a big BUT, this is my only job until it is done. You have to have the time to do it. After being my own GC, I can definitely see that they do deserve and earn their keep.

Not only did I save money, but I saved big headaches and much stress when I found my Amish builders. For the most part he is my GC. They are doing pretty much everything except for the big systems like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, spray foam, foundation. I LOVE my Amish guys, and they help me stay on top of all the other areas as well, and so far I love all my other subs too.

My foundation guys were Mennonite. They saved me some dollars but also again, the peace of mind was priceless.

When shopping subs, if I was leaning towards a favorite, I would let them know where they needed to be in order to get the job.

My local lumber yard put together a great package for me, but had they not, my Amish guy would have been able to use his builder discount. Those guys at the lumber yard have been great. Sometimes they beat or meet a price whenever possible.

My cabinets, my Amish builder's Dad. I think I am saving about half of the other bids.

My stairs, I had a $16000 bid and my Amish guys will do it for a fraction of that.

Metal roof, I found a Mennonite guy for my standing seam, and he was about half.

For most everything else..... EBAY. I use the internet to research prices and find out the prices at places like the local box stores too, and then I go on safari on ebay and try to find the best price.

I also never place a bid until the last minute. Why drive up the price?

Like already mentioned, this takes a GREAT deal of time.

If I find something I like, I look to see what else they sell that I want/need, and I ask for shipping discounts.

I also ask for discounts on the item itself. For example I needed 21 porch lights. I found a great buy, but I asked for a discount also. I got $1600 worth of porch lights delivered to my door for $400. Sometimes I could get an additional discount even if I only needed one item also. You just have to ask.

My appliances... ebay. He happened to be located 2 hours away and gave me a great package/shipping price.

Steam showers, ebay.

Farm sink, just bought a $2600 sink delivered for $300.

But again, this is my full time job but it has been working for me so far.

Flooring, went straight to a manufacturer online.

My stone, I would have ordered online but in communicating my desires with the lumber yard and my Amish guy, the lumber yard was able to find the perfect stone and gave me a great price.

Now is a great time of the year to buy patio furniture, online or at the store.

I also scour local Craigslist. Most of that is used but.... BUT... sometimes you get lucky. Maybe someone bought two of something for their build and only used one. Or what they bought didn't fit, etc. and you can find things for a great bargain.

Many items have tax credits and/or rebates. I think I am going to end up with about 30,0000 in tax credits and rebates.

Going this route isnt for everyone but I couldn't be happier. I keep a spreadsheet on my numbers and one column is for if I had paid full price or went with the highest bid. Now granted, I don't know who would pay full price for everything, but I just wanted to know what I would have spent and the savings is significant. It is HUGE actually.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Build in Pictures

gopintos: you mentioned the tax credits you have accumulated during your build, but I thought those were only given if a homeowner was remodeling and/or replacing items with more energy efficient ones. Can you take the tax credit for a new build also?

The federal tax credits are not allowable for new construction with the exception of geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water and some energy generation systems.

However, your local and state governments and/or utilities may have tax credits for additional items.

There's also a $2000 federal tax credit for licensed contractors for an energy star rated home, although getting the home tested and certified will use up much of this credit.

Here is a link that might be useful: energystar.gov info

We are doing everything.

That includes design, drawings, all construction, septic/sand mound, and anything else you can think of.

I think the only thing we didn't do was drill our well but that is only because we don't own a drilling rig, LOL.

Oh, and we had a former employee who is now an electrician help with our electrical system. My DH worked alongside him.

We will also get the geothermal tax credit after we install our geo system next Spring. My DH is a certified ground source heat pump installer so we will be doing all that work ourselves as well.

I'm sure we have saved a fortune doing our complete build and we are getting exactly what we want.

It isn't easy though, and many projects I probably would have gladly paid for :)

When I'm up on the scaffolding painting my 20+ foot cathedral ceiling I'm sure I'll be wishing I hired a painter, lol!

I love all these tips! Thank you

Comparison shop. We actually built our new home 2 hours away from where we were living. We spoke with the GC's contacts in the new city, and then we spoke with people we knew in our old city -- 95% of the time, the people in our old city were more than willing to drive the 2 hours to do a job (granite, appliances, spray foam) and charge us less!

We did a lot of internet shopping as well. Even eBay. My wife wanted crystal cabinet pulls that were $10 each at Home Depot -- I found them on eBay for $4.95. Google whatever it is you're looking for: we found out crystal chandeliers at a place in NYC that was far and away cheaper than anything else we could find, locally or not. And they are stunning fixtures. We bought all our plumbing fixtures (except toilets) online. We also found great deals on our door hardware online.

If you're going to upgrade, definitely do the stuff you can't do later, like insulation. Pay for better windows now if it's in your budget. Get better shingles. These will save you money in the long run.

If you are not acting as your own GC/builder, then how did you arrange to buy your own stuff (and not be required to use the GC's or subs' sources and go through them)? Was your GC okay with that or did he balk at it, did you arrange it in the contract beforehand, and if so, with allowances or what? How does that work?

Every GC is different but in todays economy more than ever you are in the drivers seat. You can negotiate whatever you want. You do need to understand something if you provide some things such as plumbing fixtures etc. Most plumbers and so on USUALLY get better deals on items than you can get. They then mark this item up as part of their profit. For this they also are responsible for warranty issues on the product and labor /install. When/if you provide thinsg you may pay a bit more or if there is any problems with the product or its missing parts etc you will be required to pay the sub for finding parts, their extra labor etc. You can structure a contract however you like. It doesnt mean they will go along with it. GC's do earn their money scheduling, running the job, advising on best construction practices etc. Some are better than others like any other profession. Its always tricky trying to decide just how much the CG is willing to give up. The more you take away the more you are less likely to find a good GC. It may depend on your construction savvy, experience, organization skills and patience as to if you use a GC and how involved you are and how much of the project /products /services you want to manage /purchase. Good luck

In our situation we just had a builder and a cost plus contract. We were able to negotiate alot of things. We were also "on site" during our build. He was an experienced builder in our area so had a good reputation and his subs had been working with him for years. I agree with "bigkahuna" about the plumbing aspect. If you purchase your own fixtures the plumber will not guarantee them if they break down. The plumber we had gave us several options of fixtures and prices so we were very happy to leave it all to him! I can't say enough about COMMUNICATION with your builder or GC; there should be no confusion about what they will do and what you want!!

Look for a GC that will charge you a flat fee for his service and keep an open book on prices. One that will let you shop and save and keep costs down.