You are going to want to get quotes and bids from contractors, subs, and suppliers. It doesn't matter if your intention is to do all the work yourself, if you get some bids on the construction, you will save. Why? Well for a number of reasons, but mainly because then you know what it costs to have someone else do it, and you will know if you are getting a deal. Also, if the deal is good enough, you might just turn that project over to the sub instead of trying to do it yourself. Plus, getting bids and estimates gives you an idea of what you are paying for and whether or not he bids you are getting are accurate...which of course will help you come up with a more accurate cost estimation.

Get at least 3 bids per item or work (for subs and materials), and use those bids to negotiate with each of the other subs, but be careful with this. You really shouldn't say exact bids, or whom they are from because these guys talk. They will know if you are making stuff up and if you aren't, so, be honest!

Now, you want to know how to get bids, and since you need to get three of them, you should learn the secret to getting them...the secret to getting bids is to ask for them! Ok, this is not much of a secret, but seriously, you really just need to get on the phone, find some contractors, and ask for bids.

To find the contractors in your area (which are the ones you want bids from, otherwise you will get travel expenses included in your bid), open the phone book and look under categories relating to construction. For example, "building contractors," "general contractors," "excavating contractors," "concrete contractors" are all great places to start. Just go down your list of needs and find a contractor, sub, or supplier that can fill it, and ASK for a bid. A great way to find these subs is to go to other job sites and ask the subs there for bids. Ask builders because they like to keep their subs busy, so it helps them to send work to their subs. Once you find some subs, ask them for material people and suppliers they recommend. This has great advantages...you find out the best people to go to, and often subs will warn you about the people you don't want to go to.

In most instances, in order to get an accurate bid you will need to get your plans, house specs, suppliers list etc. to the contractor. Many times they will come to you to get them. Make sure you have plenty of specs and prints. It is very inexpensive to print several of these, and it equals savings because it allows you to get multiple accurate bids. Once the contractors and subs have your specs and plans set a deadline that is reasonable to have them get you a bid in and have you accept or reject it.