Well, my wife and I are thinking about building a new house.  Just starting the process, but figured now might be a good time as it seems like the cost of the materials and even the labor to do the job is quite a bit less than a few years ago.  Going to need to finance it and am planning on talking with Farm Credit this week.  Anybody know of any low interest loan programs out there for building your first home?

Also, I know there are tax credits for purchasing your first home, but how about building one??  Energy efficiency credits?  I'm looking for everything here as I would feel pretty dumb if after we built the house we find out we could have saved some dollars by filling out some paperwork.

Any general tips about building a house for me?  Neither myself or anybody in my immediate family have done this.  We plan using a contractor as I just don't have the time to oversee everything.

I appreciate everybody's input.

Thanks,