To Build A House: My surprisingly epic saga in custom home building

Most people dream of building their own custom home, customized to fit their lifestyle perfectly. But for Ryan Haag, life as a U.S. Navy Officer makes building a custom home impossible. There is little point in investing in an expensive, customized home when the Navy sends you to a completely new location every 3 years.

But a change in life circumstances suddenly gives Ryan the chance to build the home of his dreams. Having prepared for years for this very moment, Ryan is soon awash in loan documents, building contracts, and buried deep into the often murky world of custom home building. Soon it becomes obvious that this process won’t be easy. Challenges abound, from shifty city bureaucrats that throw up roadblocks when least expected to a mortgage company and builder fighting with each other. All of Ryan’s preparation is put to the test as he navigates the complicated process of building a custom home, from scratch on a virgin piece of land and with a limited budget.

“To Build A House” explores the glossed over details of home building. This isn’t a fancy home building novel with an unlimited budget and expert building crews. This book shows what happens when it all goes wrong. Nothing comes easy in this home building process. It’s hard, exhausting work managing a project that will be your “forever home.” But nothing in life worth doing comes easy, and this book celebrates the success at the end of a hard fought victory.

If you want a real story of a real person with real constraints navigating the process to build a home while balancing work, family and just general life challenges, this book won’t dissapoint.