My husband and I are nearly at the end of a major owner build - before this the biggest thing we had built was a farm shed... Based on BMT's current building cost calculator we will have saved over 50% of the replacement cost of our home by owner building - it has been a hard slog but worth it in the end. Our valuer has indicated that at completion our mortgage will be around 30% of our properties value, which means we will have built in a LOT of equity. It's not for everyone but if you can - I say go for it! My lessons learnt so far: Go the extra mile in ensuring your plans are detailed/you have incorporated EVERYTHING you want in your new house before starting - major budget blowouts are inevitable if you keep changing things mid-stride! Have a plan and a budget and work to it:) Have a bill of materials and specifications that includes everything - even down to the brands, there is a major cost difference in a garden variety Bunning's vanity vs. a bespoke custom floating one - and unless you specify exactly what you require you will not get what you want and your budget will never be accurate (and your cost overruns will be scary!). Decide what level you want to be involved at: do you have plans to be hands on - building everything you can, learning all the trades like framing/plastering/tiling etc. or are you envisioning a owner-managing role where you are engaging trades to complete the work for you; this will dramatically alter the cost and the time the project will take. Will you be able to be present on site when trades are there to manage them? One of the major things a builder does is crisis control and problem solving!! Bespoke architect or kit or somewhere in between?? Another thing that will bear greatly on cost and project staging. For first time owner builders I would recommend a kit home - most of the inclusions are standard, you can modify many of the designs and the deliveries are staged so you don't have an influx of materials all at once. Most of the kit home providers are great with their after sales support and advice when you need it - they wan't to see you succeed as their business relies on successful customers! Ensure your finance is concrete and you are able to draw down funds as you need them - this is a major stumbling block when it comes to owner building as most financial institutions will not loan to owner builders. There is nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a build only to find out that due to prevailing economic conditions your current lending provider will not loan you any more money and you have actually devalued your property by partially erecting a home (oh, yes sadly- I'm speaking from experience...). Build in contingency funds to any estimate of costs - you will sleep better at night. Be aware that even if you do obtain construction finance that most banks will pay these retrospectively - you have to spend the money before they will draw it down off your loan - that means having enough money to fund a stage in full ( i.e. brickwork, plumbing, electrical) before drawing down loan funds - and you can be guaranteed they will want to send round the valuer to ensure that the work has been carried out! Have written quotations and lists of inclusions/bill of materials when negotiating with tradesman and contractors - many are happy to work with you but a lot will take advantage of your naivety... Don't be left out on a limb after getting to the end of the job only to have your contractor demand large blowout payments - this is readily avoided by having everything in writing and will ensure your contractor keeps you informed of any expected costs overruns. Do not underestimate the impact an owner build will have on your life... You will be eating, living, breathing and dreaming it for as long as it takes (and yes there will be nightmares!). Be honest with yourself about how much time and commitment you are willing to sacrifice to make the cost savings worthwhile - if you are the kind of person who begrudges any intrusion into your personal time, can't go a week without a social occasion and can't handle working long hours and getting your hands dirty...maybe owner building isn't for you... Enjoy the journey! My husband and I have tackled every job we have been capable of - we have put up the framing, put on the roof, done the guttering, installed the insulation and windows and we are plastering the inside and painting as I speak. It has been good to learn new skills and exceptionally rewarding to see it all come together - sure if I had my time over again I would have done a few things differently but we don't regret the decision to take charge of our future and build our own home just the way we want it. Anything is possible if you give it a try!!

As an architect, I have a list of words saved on my desktop that I am conscious can sound confusing to the client! One day I hope to write a little archi-dictionary to help clients work out what we mean when we use so many of the words that seem natural to us! 'Form', 'honest materials', 'warmth', 'documentation', 'draft', 'sketch plan', 'detail', 'mass', 'spine', 'circulation', 'water harvesting', 'floating', 'dynamic', 'heavy', 'celebrate'... etc.

Hi eleanorgreen1 It appears to be a magnificent house with loads of potential, bit hard to see from the photos you have posted the full extent of the house but it certainly has presence. I can fully understand your experience with your last project; "didn't really have time to develop a clear vision of what I wanted and ended up getting someone else's dream home" It can happen, as often clients and Building Designers have an end date in mind, rather than an end goal which drives the project. I think that you are taking the right approach in terms of trying to determine your design goal, then you can always incorporate other design ideas that may improve the project, when you have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve. My suggestion is that you might like to have a design approach with maybe more than one designer, and make it very clear that the contract for Building Design is for "Design Development only" - (with Town Planning requirements considerations if required). This would mean that you have drawings which are to scale, with all plans and elevations with all furniture placements so as to obtain a clear understanding of how the space works for the intended use. You will also need 3D views of the proposed changes/renovations to gain a good understanding of the proposal. When you have finally decided on the design/designer you are happy with you can get him/her to do the Town Planning Application (if required) and working drawings for a Building Permit which will be required for any building work. For this you will need accurate drawings of existing conditions, a 2D measure up and drawn to scale with levels, if the site is sloping. This can be done by any competent Building Designer or Drafts person - just make sure that you make it clear that is all that is required, and that the the position of windows and walls are included from adjoining buildings as you do not want to overshadow nor have other overlooking on your site. Then you have to include a fairly competent photo survey of the building, so that the person doing the design has a good understanding of the house. Static photos of all the external and internal areas are often better than a video. When you have that information in hand you can then have a varied and hopefully fruitful discussion with someone offering you Design Advice. You can email or post the 2D files in PDF or DXF format to any Building Designer that is online and you have developed some understanding of your proposal. It is sometimes better to choose someone you find easy to talk to, and you feel he/she has your point of view, is often better that someone that has great photos on their website with equally great claims. All this can be done online, with any Building Designer of your choice, as the resultant drawings can all be PDF's files that can be printed on any small printer or viewed on any tablet/computer. And as you have stated above you have allowed time to reach a decision by having the building rented until you are sure of your next step. Basically you are breaking up the design stages that generally are followed in the Building Design process to achieve your goals. Like all processes there are more details, but if you are clear in your instructions and agreements with whom you employ I do not see any reason this is not achievable. I like the idea that you are looking for something that you prefer, rather than an imposed design. I wish you well with your approach, I would be happy to be further involved with the proposal. Michael Manias Manias Associates Building Designers.

thanks for your information which complies with our recent experience ..our mid range kitchen was just over $40,000 with custom designed cabinets to suit specific personel needs, mid range appliances and basic laminates...stone benches for my kitchen would have added an extra $7000 but i chose the custom sized cabinets and extra shelves in all cabinets...: so much detail to consider