I am becoming more and more fond of building homes and construction in general. I just bought a skid steer and I want to build a house, lol just kidding. Anyway I was wondering if there is a class I can take or some kind of certified course regarding the construction of homes. Digging and pouring foundation is what interests me the most. I also am interested in concrete construction in general. Ultimately I would also like to be successful at fulfilling contracts wether it be plowing or concrete / asphalt work and things of that nature. Any suggestions?
Well, probably at some school somewhere there is a course on how to pour concrete, but I've never seen it myself. I would say if you want to pour concrete go get a job with a company that does foundations and flatwork, its hard work and unless your just nuts about it you'll probably be smart to say in a year "time to move on to framing houses" (your body will thank you). I would think there would be some courses somewhere on framing houses, but, like concrete, hands on knowledge is a really good thing to have. Look up Larry Haun on youtube, he was a old school framer, there are a couple of hour long videos on there that him and his brother made in the 90's on framing a house, some of the stuff is out of code now, but it will give you a real good idea of what goes in to it.
Hey thank you for the advice, after hours of searching I came to the realization that a surprising ( to me ) percentage of " general contractors " and " home builders " are bums. There are a few ways to filter out the good ones though. Most importantly there is an abundance of education / certifications in any particular sector you would like to evolve yourself in, all you have to do is familiarize yourself with local codes and ethics. After some research I have a good basic understanding of how I can get started, now I will just have to purse the education and take it from there.
Yeah, its fairly low education needed trades, most of the older guys didn't even have a high school diploma, a guy I know thats a framer likes to say that all the education you need to frame a house is 5th grade level math. Thats pretty much spot on. Where abouts in IL are you at?
I am 35 minutes south of Chicago. I am more concerned about the reviews regarding the crooks in the industry, general education does not bother me too too much, but I would at least expect some sort of certification or apprenticeship. There is nothing, anyone in IL can say they are a home builder / general contractor ( so long as you abide by the state requirements, which are highly lackluster ). Obviously as nice as that sounds I am still going to pursue the certifications and experience needed to properly evolve my vision, but after researching I was shocked to find that a lot of the country operates like this. Now it makes sense as to why initially when I was researching " how to start a construction company " they were emphasizing on all the lawsuits associated with the industry. Maybe if the country had a proper system in play to evaluate general contractors etc those cases would fall drastically. Oh wait then so would the revenue of the judicial system, lol too soon?
I gotcha. Some of it breaks down to the individual counties and cities here in IL, I can go to a town that has a population of 3,500 people and have more regulations and requirements then a town of 18,000. Having a good reputation and doing a good job is the best thing you can have. Are you wanting to build spec homes or custom homes? Custom's will require a lot more hand holding and a good reputation, spec houses, well, any suitcase builder can throw them up with enough credit. Sounds like if your close enough to Chicago you might be better off looking into the energy efficient tiny house thing. I've talked to guys in other states that require licensing for trades, they still deal with competitors not having a clue about how to do what they are licensed for. A piece of paper that says you passed a test for this trade doesn't necessarily mean your qualified.
I am more interested in spec building. After consulting with professionals etc there is a lot more crucial decisions involved in spec building then some might think. For instance I was reading an article of a builder who was starting out and made this gorgeous house with all the bells and whistles, yet it stood on the market for over a year and sold for 25% less than a home right next to it with much less appeal ( one would think ).. Come to find out he made the master bedroom on the second floor in a community dominated by retirees. I feel if I get a general consensus regarding the layout of the homes and what sells best in each area that would give me a good idea on how to build something successful. Once I feel more comfortable with the market and how the decisions effect my sales, then I should have a better idea on how to make some slight personal touches that might increase sales even more. The small energy efficient homes is something that definitely interests me as the recommendation is to build at least 2-3 homes at once. Obviously with the bigger homes you are looking at a higher percentage of profit, but each has its pros and cons. I agree that being certified is not the holy grail, but for me starting out with no one in my family involved in construction I am going to have to take these courses for the literature and general understanding of the process involved, my family is real estate orientated not construction. From there I will be blunt with a local reputable company and hope they will take my free labor in a mutual understanding that after a certain period I will start my own venture.. " if you want to become a great leader you must first become a great follower "
If you want to move specs another very important asset is a good realtor, or a GREAT realtor, I know of a company in my area here in IL that the realtor is the one who decides what house gets built where, they know the best as to what is selling. I've seen whole street's worth of specs that averaged 3 to 4 days on the market, and streets of specs that had a average on the market time of almost a year before selling, just depends on the style and who is representing them. I'm not sure I understand the 2 to 3 homes at once for spec houses, thats a lot of interest piling up on the construction loans till they sell. Whats about the average cost of a spec house in your area? Here for me its around $250k-$300k, if those sit for a year before they sell that about all your profit gone to interest..