anyone bought a plot of land and built their own house?

[stump]

Hi
As title says has anyone done this any tips etc....? To give you some context we have DD (4) DS (2) and we know at some point we will want more space but I really want to stay in the same town we live in now. A plot of land has just come up for sale with planning permission for a detached family home....we're just starting to think about it, have never done anything like this before so what do we need to know/consider???
TIA

[oricella]

We're just started on our actual build - although the process leading up to this point has taken well over a year. There are a lot of useful websites out there giving you info (just search for self build) but some of the key things I would say at this point:

• it's great fun, but also extremely frustrating and a lot of work - even if you are not doing any of the actual work yourself
  
• do take average build costs with a pinch of salt; don't expect to pay under £1100 k/m2 unless you are prepared to put in a lot of work. Expect to pay a lot more if you want classy fittings & fixtures or if you are in more expensive parts of the country
  
• Have a good look at the local market: I find that putting a house up is very expensive and am a bit worried about any future return on investment
  
• do think carefully about where you will live during the build;
  
• absolutely do get a ground report done before you buy any land (we're being stung by soft ground and have to deep digger for the foundations)
  
• do try and find an architect that is able to take your ideas and make them work. If you are going to invest time and effort in building yourself, you should only do it on a house that suits you - not much point in buying a standard kit (although there are some nice ones around)
  
• build for the future: insulate as much as you can afford and make the house as cheap to run as possible
  
• be prepared for it to take over your lives for a while

[stump]

Thanks Oricella that is all very helpful....am really in two minds about the whole thing - on the one hand the idea really excites me and I can really see the benefits, on the other I think it could be a nightmare!! Did you opt for a timber frame? I have read a fair bit about those over the last 24 hours...
Who would we get to do a ground report? (am realising how little I know about this whole area!) and finally in terms of finance do you have any experience of having an accelerator mortgage - i am hopeful (dreaming maybe) that one of these could allow us to stay in our current house while the work was being done but maybe that is not realistic I don't know.
Thanks very much and any other comments would be welcome too!

[SkelleyBones]

My cousin bought a barn and converted it, did a lot of the work themselves and the results are beautiful, I know it's a lot of hassel but tbh so is buying any house that isn't "done" we thought ours only needed redecoration, boy were we wrong once the electrics and plumbing were done I wanted to move out it was awful.