The question of if being an owner builder is one of primary concern to most people even thinking about becoming one, and of course like most of you suspect the answer can vary depending on the complexity and size of a project.
For example if you have a relatively simple project and you have some experience then more than likely you will be able to save some money. However if the project is very complex and you don;t know where to start the chances you will run into trouble during the project and actually end up costing your self more money than its worth. The DIY principle essentially applies if you think you can make big savings you probably will with a bit of experience behind you.
The areas where you will probably save the most is where the work is very labour intensive and not very costly for materials such as plastering or painting, installing insulation etc. These areas have very little in the way of needing much experience but can pay off big time to save $1,000's off the cost of your project.
You also take into account when you have a builder do the work for you it is reasonable they make a profit for doing that (this is about 10% of project cost. So even if you can take that 10% off of most of the project it can really start to add up.
