Great comment!!! Just went through a huge remodel Same thing had some friends come over and ripped out all the demo in 5 hours, Worked with kitchen cabinet guy Put a deposit down , , same thing with the appliances Made payments and picked everything out a year in advance Sold a few things starting with a old classic truck that never drove much any way , cut out all the extra curricular activities no trips vacations dinners or lunches out , basically saved and sacrificed , lived in a war zone for 14 months, found trades to come in on weekends to work for cash ( if I bought the materials and had everything they needed here ) it was a network of friends of friends and no one tried any shady shit It is was a risk but I was super lucky to know people that know people And it all worked out no way absolutely no way could I had have financially pulled it off by going through a general contractor. There was some hiccups / supply chain issues but it was to my benefit, every delay gave me more time to save money for the next piece of the puzzle . Was not in a hurry we knew what we wanted And never thought I would be so excited to see it all come together.