Mike,
Welcome and hello! I went the owner/builder route myself and had a few butterflies when I first broke ground. It all turned out well and I'm supremely happy that I controlled this operation. All I can say for advice is make sure you really really educate yourself on all the fine points and ask a TON of questions here. Scour all the build posts here. Save pictures, make drawings and revise them. You can check my build in the link in my signature. I still need to update a few final pics with the landscaping completed, but the basic pool build came out great. I know every piece of material and workmanship that went into this build. I was able to go with all the best materials and equipment because I saved so much cash on the PB. The key to it all is planning planning planning. It's all made of concrete. Not much room for errors...
I will say, it was ALOT of work on my part even though I sub-ed out all the big parts of the job. All of the in between stuff really adds up. It consumed most all of my free time for the last year. I just didn't think the extra 30-40K that this would have cost me from a PB was worth it. And...I don't have any kind of warranty, it's all on me. But the pool has been up and running for almost a year and everything is running great. No leaks, efficient plumbing routes, good circulation, low operating costs. Maybe I got lucky, but I was hiring and closely overseeing the samesubs that the local PB's hire.
Feel free to ask questions or PM me. I have alot of extra pictures of various parts of the build and might be able to point you in the right direction with a few things. Here's my disclaimer though...I was and still am an amateur pool guy. Take advice at your own risk...heh. There are a few pool professionals that hang out here at TFP that will have some really good advice too.
Good Luck! Remember...plan plan plan!
Jim