Very true, you better run those wires while you can. I ran Video and 2xCAT5 (1 for phone and miscellaneous stuff) to each room in the house. Also ran speakerwire all over the living room and the unfinished basement family room (read: HT room....still easing my wife into that idea :). And just to make sure, I also ran some fish wires here and there.
Anthony,
In the US you must have a builders license (and a lot of free time) if you want to arrange all the subcontracting yourself. So most likely, you will need to find a builder/contractor. Some of them do part of the work themselves, such as framing and finishing, while subcontracting concrete pooring, brickwork, painting, plumbing, electrician etc. Obviously, the builder will receive a markup. Make sure there is no subcontracting more than 1 level deep, your builder should only select people that actually do the work. I would recommend finding a builder that does all the finishing (interior wood, fixtures etc.) themselves, as they tend to be more alert to detail.
As for financing, I think most people will opt for a construction loan. This is a loan next to the mortgage of your current home, usually about equal to your builder's quote, with a separate monthly payment next to your mortgage payment. The builder can then make several "draws" against that loan as he progresses with the project. Your monthly payment will increase with each draw. The bank (and you) will need to see what costs were incurred for each draw. When the job is done, you hopefully sell your current home and pay off that mortgage. Any equity you hopefully have left can be applied as a downpayment to you new home. The construction loan minus the downpayment is then converted to a new (whopping:) mortgage.
Like you said, we trimmed down the costs a bit by not finishing all of the basement. Don't skimp on pre-plumbing/pre-wiring though!
Arjen
This message was edited by Arjen on 10/09/01 23:27.12.
