About

Carl Heldmann on HouseSmarts TV (Enter "Carl" in the "HouseSmarts" search box)

Here's a new video of me on HouseSmarts TV with Lou Manfredini.(Enter "Carl" in the "HouseSmarts" search box)

It was great talking to Lou - We had a lively discussion on and off camera about the current state of the housing market.
A lot of it, of course, was left on the "cutting room floor," but check out the final version! (Enter "Carl" in the "HouseSmarts" search box)

In this interview Lou did ask me the following question:

“Carl, building a house is a complex project. Surely you must have had someone (he used the term “mentor”) help you.”

I told him that I did indeed have a “mentor”!

“Where did you get (find) him”, he asked?

This is what I told him:

He was a General Contractor building a house in the same subdivision that I was going to build in. I was just driving around and happened to stop at a house under construction and started talking to him and he offered his help if I ever needed it.

I needed it!  We became good friends. He was 70, I was 31!

Just remember, every builder in the world started with their first house. Most didn't have a book or a web site to guide us. You do.

I wrote my 1st book in 1981 and recently remodeled this web site which is an extension of my book, “Be Your Own House Contractor”, so that you'll have an easier job building your first house. You won't have to make the same mistakes I and other builders have made.

This is NOT a technical web site on how to build. It won't teach you how to "wire" or "plumb" a house, etc., and you truly don't need to know how, but it will teach you the role of the General Contractor, that is, how to find, hire, supervise, & pay the professional electricians or plumbers, etc. who DO know how to do those jobs.

More importantly, this web site will teach you the most important job of all that a General Contractor needs to know, Cost Estimating.

I hope you enjoy the web site and most of all, your own building experience. I hope you save more than 25%. Let me know. You can reach me at: carl at byoh dot com.

Now, you too will have a “friend” and “mentor”.

Carl Heldmann

About Carl Heldmann

Carl has been a licensed home builder and a licensed real estate broker for well over 30 years and a construction loan consultant to credit unions as well as a home building consultant to their members for over 20 years.

He has personally helped thousands of folks like yourself build their dreams. He is also the founder of two schools of homebuilding, a former newspaper housing columnist, and author of several books on building your own home whose aggregate sales are more than ½ million copies. "Be Your Own House Contractor" has sold over 300,000 copies and is available in all USA libraries.

Here’s what Book reviewers have to say:

"The bible for people who want to act as their own general contractor" - LA Times

"We recommend it to anyone building a house" - Hometime®

"This outstanding book rates a solid ten" - Robert Bruss

"This book is a must" - American Homeowners Foundation

"Simple language, no technical jargon" - New York Times

"Excellent book.Recommended" - Library Journal

"If you are bound and determined to plunge ahead.pick up a copy of this little book before you start."- Gordy Holt, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"If you're intrigued by the idea of being your own contractor for your dream house, here's where to begin."- Marcia Schnedler, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

"…Heldmann offers something that you can hold dear for a lifetime: the skinny on homebuilding."— Mike McCarthy, Timber Home Building

Purchase "Be Your Own House Contractor" online, by clicking here or on the book!

Other Books by Carl

Note: "Learn To Be A General Contractor" is available at Lowe’s Home Improvement. All Carl’s books are available from your favorite bookseller, or Click on any book to buy online.

Storey Publishing

Storey Publishing

The Globe Pequot Press

From PBS' Hometime.com