How to Build a House without a Mortgage
Dear Entrepreneur:
I built my first home without a mortgage. I’m on my third one now.
You can read my new book about it on Amazon.
I have the records to prove everything I’m going to show you today. Everything is 100% true, accurate and it’s not a joke.
Show Me How This Works
It would be impossible for me to cover the myriad of details, situations, deals and specifics in today’s issue. So lets’ consider this a brief “overview” of the topic.
I realize it’s hard to build a home without some money. You can barter until you’re blue in the face…but you’ll still need some cash.
If you don’t have cash my suggestion would be to commit yourself to making as much as possible in the shortest period of time.
Most people won’t commit to accumulating cash, and stop spending money on new cars, restaurants, vacations, girlfriends, or whatever. In other words, it’s a two-sided coin; building cash and slash spending.
Anyway, the first time I did this I accumulate $50,000 as quickly as possible. I did it by working several side service businesses. My main business at the time was an ad rep agency.
I accumulated $52,000 in nine months; one week and six days….and I kept the money is a separate account.
With cash in hand I was ready to start my adventure of building a house without a mortgage.
Here’s what I did…….
1) Buy land at a DEEP discount.
People laugh when I tell them how I did this….but it’s true.
In order to keep expenses down my advice would be to forgo overpriced areas. In other words head for the hills and select rural areas. The suburbs are not rural.
I selected a small town in rural Maine. I went to the town office and collected the names of every property owner who owned 20 acres of land or more. I wrote a friendly, slightly humorous letter to each of the land owners, and told them I was only looking for a couple of acre.
Five out of thirty land owners responded. Three of the five offered me overpriced, overvalued oceanfront lots. But two land owners were willing to sell a couple of acres. I acquired the land at a deep discount.
2) Build It – But Do It CHEAP!
I obtained a site survey before I purchased the land. This will let you know the exact dimensions of a property, and whether or not it will be suitable for sewage, a well, and building, etc. Everything checked out before I made an offer on the land.
Then I hired a local kid to clear the land, dig a septic tank and a leech field.
I acquired more than a dozen bids. I focused on the bids of people who were honest, trustworthy and willing to put everything is writing. Eight contractors were either unwilling to put everything in writing, or they couldn’t provide legitimate referrals (no relatives). Some of the guys wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and so I dumped them. I focused on two people….one received the land work, and one received the septic system.
The guy who dug the septic system tried to screw me by adding $4,000 to the final invoice. We had everything in writing, signed and dated. I never paid the “stupid charge” and his lien was thrown out of court.
3) Build the Foundation.
This is a big deal. If you screw up the foundation you can kiss your home goodbye.
I obtained six bids and chose the one with the most enthusiastic customers and employees. I always talk to employees.
The foundation dimensions for this particular house were 32’ x 36’ with a daylight basement (cape style).
I was thrilled was the foundation company’s workmanship as well as the owner. The owner was on the job site, actually working, every day.
4) Cap the Foundation and Complete the First Floor
I found a young, eager, rookie carpenter who offered to work for $20 hour. We found him through a local technical college. Our carpenter won third place in a national carpentry competition (out of 1600 participants).
Half way through this first phase of the project our carpenter showed up with his father. His father explained his son felt thought he was getting ripped off. I explained we had an agreement in writing, which was signed and dated. I was honoring the agreement. His father said his son wanted $30 hour and $10 per hour for his helpers, in order to finish framing the house.
I agreed.
The First $50,000 Spent!
The land purchase, survey, clearing, septic, leech field, foundation and framing for the first floor cost about $42,000 – labor and supplies.
The roof framing and plywood (Adventech) ran $8,000 – labor and supplies.
So the first $50,000 was spent!
Keep in mind, I was still working my businesses and accumulating cash. In fact, by the time this first phase of the house was complete I had accumulated an additional $15,000 for the project…which I placed in a separate account.
5) Interior Framing and Drywall.
Once the exterior framing and roof was complete (weather tight) we started on the interior framing and drywall. I did this with my wife, kids and friends.
However, I hired a professional drywaller and painter for the first and second floors. We hung all the drywall and the professional did all of the mudding, sanding, painting and finish work.
6) Interior Plumbing and Heating
The interior plumbing was super easy.
The problem was finding an honest, reliable and trustworthy plumber. If you’ve ever built or fixed a house you KNOW how hard this is to do.
We did some of the basic plumbing ourselves but hired a professional to pull it all together. We chose radiant heat in the concrete foundation and baseboard throughout the house..
7) Power up!
Before the drywall was complete we wired the house for electricity, Internet (Cat 5) and DirecTV. We also insulated and set the plumbing pipes.
We had the power company run wires from the main road to our house. We qualified for a special program so we only paid $1,000 to get the power from the main road to our house (400 feet – 35 feet underground).
When the plumbing, heating and wiring was complete, we brought in a freelance engineer and consultant to check everything. Then we “powered up” the systems and everything worked!
The Next $15,000 Spent!
As I said, we did most of the wiring, interior carpentry, laying pipes, general labor, roofing, etc. ourselves and with friends (we paid and fed them).
When it came time to “flip the switch” I spent an additional $15,000.
The next phase of the projects was the interior finish carpentry, floors, tile, carpet and miscellaneous.
Again most of these projects we did ourselves, with the exception of building stairs, finish carpentry, siding and finish drywall and painting.
I spent about $22,000 on labor and supplies in these areas.
The approximate grand total for this particular house was $87,000.
We lived in the house part time as it neared completion (and even wintered in our other home in Florida).
There are some things which still need to be completed such as a deck, finish landscaping and additional interior finish work.
But this entire house was built over a three year period, without a mortgage, for less than $100,000. The house was recently appraised at more than $325,000!
I own the house free and clear, there’s no mortgage or debt on the property whatsoever.
And it’s located in one of the most beautiful areas in the United States….so it CAN be done!
Your humble host,
Marc Charles
(Ed Note: Marc Charles is referred to as "The King of Business Opportunities" ....and for good reason. He should be known as "The King of Legitimate Business Opportunities"...because hes launched, bought, sold reviewed and advised on hundreds of businesses and money making opportunities. He understands legitimate opportunities. Marc has agreed supply League of Power members with crucial updates regarding legitimate business and money making opportunities.)
*** Action Strategy ***
Want to build a house without a mortgage?
How about gaining access to a secret world of “comps”, DEEP discounts, VIP treatment and cash?
Check out my new program How to Beat the System without Going to Jail!
What Are People Saying About Marc Charles?
Marc has an uncanny ability for spotting profitable trends and creating businesses around them. He’s a simple guy, making a ton of money for a lot of people.
R Fung
I’ve saved thousands of dollars because of Marc’s unique recommendations and insight. Marc’s a true “deep discount” maverick and entrepreneurial genius.
Susan C
*** Valuable Resources ***
Find deep discount carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters at local trade schools – Trade Schools Guide
Find deep discount land by going direct to owners. Town office tax map directory. Google property tax maps for your local area.
Find honest, hardworking people for all kinds of physical labor and work at Manpower and HireAHelper.
Find people to help you on CraigsList (we used it dozens of times!).
Buy countertops, cabinets, vanities, appliances and building materials at HUGE DISCOUNTS from Green Demolitions.
Buy siding, roofing, flooring and more from Build Direct and save big time. Although these guys are not “discounters”, you can save a lot of money when compared to Home Depot, Lowes or WalMart Superstores.
