Hello everyone,

I am looking to begin building my house soon, and I want to make sure that it goes smoothly from the very beginning. I have done some reading and some discussions with various contractors, and everyone seems to have a slightly different approach - some start with design, some start with budgeting, and some start with material estimates. What I have taken away so far is that there is a clear timeline, budgeting, and accurate building project estimating services associated with keeping costs under control. I would still feel like something always comes up that you don't expect once you're in construction. For those who have built their own home or have been the owner-builder for their own construction projects, what step-by-step process that really worked for you. Did you hire an architect first, or a contractor, or did you even hire multiple contractors. At what point did you finalize your budget, or at what point did you finalize your materials? How did you make sure the quality of work was consistent and the same throughout the entirety of your project? 

I would really appreciate anyone's personal experiences or even practical tips for someone who is just starting out.