As the housing market heats up, there are lots of people out there looking for alternatives to traditional home buying. That can mean looking at renting in an apartment and putting your extra cash into other investments, living at home with your parents in order to save enough for a down payment or just moving from Airbnb to couch surfing. It can be a whirlwind to figure out all the options.

One trend that might surprise people is self-building. There are people out there that want to get away from the hustle and bustle and start fresh, rather than buy someone else’s old house. Getting a plot of land and staking out your first house can seem like something out of the late 1800s, a new type of manifest destiny. But it is really happening. And serving as your own general contractor can save you quite a bit of money.

But you need to know the downsides as well. That is why you can obtain contractors all risks insurance to Protect yourself before starting on this journey of creation. Making sure all your bases are covered and the actions of subcontractors that you hire cannot drain your savings and halt your project is key to your peace of mind. Getting your project done is always going to be top of mind, but you need to protect all your assets is paramount.

Self-building is a great way to create the home the way you want it, right down to the last detail. When developers build houses, they end up cutting as many corners as possible to make the build as cheap as possible. They make money on volume. But as a self-builder, profit is not your motivation. You want a house that you can love and live in for a lifetime. So, you want it built properly.

Now, as a self-builder, that does not mean you are hammering ever single nail and installing all the windows. Mostly, you are going to be hiring the subcontractors, organizing the pace and the schedule of the work and inspecting each job to make sure it is done right. And it can be a doozy of a gig even if you are not grabbing the tools and getting in the much yourself.

Having third party contractors on site can be a potential problem for your liability. Even if you do your research and vet each one, there are no perfect projects. There might be an accident on site. Storms will happen, delaying the progress of a job or damaging what is already on site. That is why contractors all risks insurance is such a necessary hedge when taking on a life-changing project like this.

As you embark on your self-building journey, be sure that you are ready to take on a project of this size and complexity. And take the necessary steps to protect your assets with contractors all risks insurance. You will have peace of mind.

The post The Pros of Being a Self-Builder (And How to Protect Yourself) appeared first on Prairie Eco-Thrifter.