For millions of people,the American dream of owning a home seems to be slipping out of reach.     "Maybe young couples can no longer afford to buy a ready-made house as their parents did,' says 40-year-old building instructor Pat Hennin."But they can still have a home.Like their pioneer ancestors,they can build it themselves,and at less than half the cost of a ready-made house."     The owner-builders came from every occupational group,although surprisingly few are professional building workers.Many take the plunge with little or no experience."l learned how to build my house from reading books,"says John Brown,who built a six-room home for$25,000 in High Falls,New Jersey."If you have patience and the carpentry skill to make a bookcase,you can build a house."An astonishing 50 percent of these owner builders hammer every nail.1ay every pipe,and wire every switch with their own hands.The rest contract for some parts of the task.But even those who just act as contractors and finish the insides of their homes can save from 30 percent to 45 percent of what a ready-made home would cost.     One survey revealed that 60 percent of owner-builders also design their homes.Many others buy commercial house plans for less than $100 or use plans available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What does the passage mainly tell us?
The cost of having a house built. A comparison between young couples and their parents. The life of owner-builders in America. The American dream of owning a house.