Can I Design and Stamp my Own House? Follow-up

[WoodDesignCat]

thread765-416915
I see this has already been asked, but I have some more questions on specifics.

Can I design and stamp my own house to be built, if I don't own the land or have the money myself for the materials? I'm looking into a buy to build loan and would still have to have a mortgage. The previous thread said the designer/owner wouldn't be able to be insured. Is this an issue when you have a mortgage and the bank owns a percentage of the property?

I know this type of build requires a licensed GC to get the loan, and in California to be an Owner-Builder, even if you own the land outright, you have to own it for 12 months prior to building to not need a licensed GC. I'm not planning on trying to become my own GC, if I understand correctly the loan is only dispersed after hitting milestones and the GC needs to pay out of pocket or credit for materials, then gets reimbursed, which I probably need an outside GC to handle.

 

[MotorCity]

Yes, you can design and seal the drawings for your own house as long as you are a Registered Design Professional in the jurisdiction. It has nothing to do with loans, mortgages, or building it. Those are separate legal issues.

 

[IRstuff]

the bank owns a percentage of the property

Unless you are a partner with the bank, the deed says that you own your property, with the proviso that the bank has a lien against it; that is not the same as ownership. Otherwise, you could stick the bank with some of the property taxes.

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[phamENG]

No practice law against it that I'm aware of, but check with the bank just to be sure.

The issue with not insuring it is a PL question, not homeowners insurance. The bank will be concerned with the homeowners insurance. Most houses are never touched by an RDP, and wouldn't have a PL policy to tap into anyway.

 

[LionelHutz]

It depends where you are. I built my house with my own drawn plans and no seal. I wired it too myself with no electricians license. I did get a few more details to submit along the way like the engineered truss drawings and engineered helical pile drawings. There were 6 or 7 things that need building dept. inspections along the way, like framing and insulation.

 

[WoodDesignCat]

Thanks for the replies, it sounds like I'm worried about a non-issue, but I will double check with the bank when I get to that point.

 

[XR250]

I designed my own house recently and decided to be my own contractor and build it for cash. Figured I get a construction loan once I depleted my resources. Turns out it is hard to get a loan once you have started construction (due to potential liens) - fuck me!
Finally found a bank that will give me what's called a "pick up" loan. Had to get a friend who is a GC to be on board but the bank distributes the draws directly to me. Closing this Friday on the loan.
I think in my area, you have to live in the house for 2 years if you are going to be your own GC.

 

[phamENG]

XR - ouch. Glad you got it worked out. And thank you for sharing...I'm looking at adding on in the near future and was trying to decide what route to take so your experience is valuable.

 

[StrucPatholgst]

In New Jersey you can design it, but you can't seal the plans on a property you hold an interest in.

 

[CWB1]

I'd wager half the places I've lived stateside didnt require anything more than a crude sketch to get a building permit, when a permit was even necessary to build a home. Granted, I'm not sure how those munis treated the McMansions which commonly require an engineer's approval in more-regulated areas.