kafquaesque

True. The barrier here is then convincing the bank to give you the construction loan. The big construction companies (in some states in the US) move through homes so quickly and have found ways to reduce the amount of material used in certain parts of the build. They don’t necessarily provide a better home than you could build yourself. If you have recourse against them due to poor workmanship then that sounds like a good option. Most people don’t have the desire and/or network to become their own general contractor (it’s definitely not impossible though). What would you be using the real-estate attorney for?

Male mental health is definitely not a priority in society (it’s off-topic in this thread).

My father did as much overtime as he could to save up money when we were building.

This is not just an issue in real-estate investing. This sounds like it is a general principle that can be applied across-the-board. A lot of small business owners/franchisees fail because they don’t know how to create processes and delegate. A good book on this is The E-myth Revisted.

Your father sounds kind of like some of my family. You can rent the equipment to dig the holes if he ever wants to learn how to do that. If you are the general contractor you can save whatever their markup is (at least twenty years ago).

In order to build a house you need to become the contractor. In order for contractors to make money they mark up the price of the building beyond subcontractor fees and materials. Twenty years ago there was a twenty percent mark-up in certain places in the country. When my family built our home we never bought anything at full price. One of my uncles installed all the flooring for free because it was his full-time job normally to install carpet etc. (I’m pretty sure but not positive). The cabinets that went into the finished main kitchen were like 90% off. If you are acting as the contractor and you have the time to wait to purchase certain material (when there are sales) you can potentially get below the costs of what some of the contractors are getting their material at. The cookie-cutter subdivision houses—in some parts of the US—are extremely poorly built with sub-par material (they are trying to make as much profit as possible).

Agreed. At the same time—believing one can do something is something that can help people continue to be persistent when it doesn’t come right away? It gives a goal even if never achieved. I never made it to the Olympics but I did become a scholarship-college athlete by dreaming of being an Olympian(hopefully this doesn’t seem boastful). I like to know who the people are at the top of their game. It’s a good way to measure how much I may be able to improve. I can create a gap-analysis of how to get there.

Cool to see this! Most people will never build their own home these days (even with the cost savings).

The home I spent the majority of my childhood in until the age of 15 was built by a combination of friends/family and subcontractors. We were very poor and my parents had a hard time receiving loans to finance the build. The plan was to build a ranch-style 3400 sqft home. Due to the financial constraints, we finished the walk-out basement portion with a “mother-in-law” style suite (fully functioning kitchen etc.) We lived in this portion of the house and sealed the top portion until it was finished. Ultimately the home took 5 years to build IIRC. My father’s cousin was a contractor so my father worked a bit for him to learn the correct steps and the order to perform them in. It was a high-quality build with high-quality material due to the influence from my father’s cousin. Growing up around it was fun in the sense that it was such a unique experience. My parents got lucky as they sold it right before the downturn in the housing market. There will always be naysayers and those that believe things are impossible or are “strange”. This house and the equity accumulated in it allowed my parents just enough of an edge (among other factors) to currently be in a much better financial situation than most/all of our extended family. It’s awesome to see posts like this. Most people will never build their own home.

I would speak to a neurologist. The sharp change you describe would seem odd to me. I wonder if my mom used to be better at recognizing people as well.

I have known people that didn’t budge on their scores and people that shifted by 200 points on the old 1600 point scale. Not sure how much it has changed over the years. I would wager that test taking in general is at least somewhat of a skill. The more multiple choice tests I took the better I became at them. There seems to be an underlying pattern most teachers use.

Thanks for the link. This doesn’t match up with a lot of anecdotal evidence in humans. If it is primarily learned it’s also possible that some people specialize in a different way which could be checked using real-time FMRI. Chimpanzees tend to be used for most comparisons to humans— I wonder why they used Macaques.

I’m pretty sure I’m close to at least eighty percent recall in person(the online tests are questionable). I used to creep people out growing up by walking up to them and saying “Hi,” after seeing/meeting them once. It took me until college to realize I was even doing it. I’m terrible with names though. You can tell me your name three times and there’s a chance I will not remember it. I would rather be somewhat good at both than really good at one and bad at the other. Not saying they are necessarily linked—but remebering the face without the name can get awkward. I have learned to repeat the name in conversation and try to link it with an object, color of clothing, or something distinctive. My mother oddly is extremely bad with faces—almost to the point it seems like she is face blind. Which is odd considering how good at it I am. She has a hard time interpreting faces in movies and as a result seems to have a hard time following the narrative.