Building a home can be a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience if done correctly.
More likely, however, you have friends who can tell you horror stories about their experience building a home - delays, mistakes, miscommunication, lack of communication - they all add up to a very stressful experience, especially when you entrust hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone you hardly know - your contractor. There are many general contractors and builders out there that can build quality homes but very few who can build with the end result and the client's experience holding equal ground.