Ok, so I am totally new to this. We just purchased our property and plan to begin construction in 08. Our plan next year is to prepare the site for our "dream house" which we think we found in one of the MANY online companies who offer house plans. Shortly after scouring the many sites and finding a few we liked, we discovered the same house is pretty much available on most sites. Now we want the set of plans for planning but not detailed for construction - and we found out the plan we want has no such animal. Hmmm. Is this because the structure is basic enough that a good contractor wouldn't need complete plans?
What is everyones take on how to best achieve our dream home? We don't have an excess of money, but we are planning on about $250k to build our 2 story, 3bdrm, 2ba, 1950 sq ft home in the northwest.
Should we take the basic design and layout (free online) and take it to an architect? A contractor? A designer? (isnt that the same as an architect?)
Should we BE our own general contractor and sub contract the work and do that aspect ourselves.
Advice, links to advice and more advice is greatly appreciated!