[Evans, Marv]

Everything said here is absolutely great advice. I built our house as the owner/builder after I retired. I worked in construction when I was a young guy & had some idea about how things should go, but not completely of course. When I was working, I worked with contracts, budgets, scheduling, hiring, etc. which helped out in the building process. We knew what style we wanted (Southwestern - we like it plus it offered lots of advantages for living in a high fire danger area like no overhangs from the roof, stucco exterior, etc.) We started with making a floor plan and a list of things we wanted included with the house. I didn't use an architect but a draftsman who had done lots of additions & houses. I was in on every detail of the plans & design and onsite every day of construction. That was an advantage since the subs & workers could ask me about things in real time without wasting time. I got most of my sub contractors, except for a few referrals from those subs. I used local workers & companies, so lots of them knew each other and had coordinated on jobs before. I also learned the importance of getting a minimum or 3 estimates. Most of the time I got 3 to 5. I ended up spending a lot of money (for me) but saved a huge amount in the process. To answer your question, since we did a lot of planning & used as much forethought as we could & listened to suggestions & ideas from others, there aren't many things at all I would have done differently or wish I'd done & didn't do. I would think there are lots of guys here who you could ask questions of before & during the process including me.