[supafamous]

My search for a home to buy hasn't been successful yet and based on market prices and what we're looking for we're starting to consider the option of hiring a builder to build a home for us. My parents built their own home but that was 20 years ago so I'm not really sure where to start so I thought I'd ask those of you who have built houses or are builders for some starter advice.

Some questions I have:
- How should I go about getting a property? Are there agents who specialize in this? I've identified about 20 lots/homes in the area we want live in that may be candidates for us.
- Beyond the cost of the property and the builder's cost what are the additional costs I need to consider? How much will a lawyer cost (do I need one)?
- What does the bank expect from me? I assume I need a construction mortgage (I don't have 1.5MM lying around).
- How involved/uninvolved should I expect to be with the building of the house? (I come from a project management background in tech so am familiar with time/scope/budget and fussy clients etc).
- Sounds like $200/sf is a reasonable budget for the typical home being built in East Van. Does that sound accurate?

thanks,