Interviewing design & build firms for doing extensive renovations
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Anonymous
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We are considering doing an extensive renovation - doubling the size of our house - and are beginning the process of interviewing design and build firms. We are also working with a mortgage broker who is being very helpful in organizing financing - which is all pretty hypothetical without plans and an appraisal.
Any advice on how to proceed - questions to ask, pitfalls to look out for, contingencies that need to be built into agreements? Also, is it worth shopping around for the construction loan or are they all pretty much the same give or take a few hundred dollars in fees? I imagine things are pretty standardized these days. Looking for advice on dealing with issues that may come up and that aren't part of the normal negotiations. |
Anonymous
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This is the beginning of a lengthy process. Don't rush through decisions. Read up on as much as possible. Couple of suggestions:
1. Get references up front. See the firms designs and construction in person. I assume you have already decided firmly on design/build versus an architect. Because you're not getting price competition on construction, you need to know that quality and execution are excellent. 2. For financing, there are major differences in programs. Small local banks tend to offer the best rates, but be prepared to provide compensating deposits and/or other services to get the best programs. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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We interviewed 10 firms for our gut. After meeting them only 5 had really any interest for our huge project. Make sure to get references and go see the actual work. In the contract, make sure to get a drop dead date on when there will be substantial completion.
Financing is all over the place. We were able to do it all with a HELOC. Credit unions had much better rates and service. |
Anonymous
| Mine was terrible, a nightmare actually (but I cannot name it). |
Anonymous
| Interview several of them of different sizes. We were amazed at the difference in the prices quoted to us. The difference was in the tens of thousands, not just a few hundred bucks. We interviewed LOTS of firms before we happened to find a few more reasonably priced ones with great references. |
Anonymous
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OP here - We are not wedded to any particular approach. We are even considering tear down and build or selling and moving into something we like. We love our location and it was difficult to get in the first place, so we are reluctant to move. We are starting to like the idea of adding on since it appears to be (with the limited information we have) the most cost effective way at getting what we want in a reasonable timetable - which is a bigger house in our neighborhood. Although we are still early days and don't really know what we are talking about.
We are also not wedded to the idea of going design and built versus having plans and getting a contractor to implement. Has anyone done that successfully? |
Anonymous
| Plan that you will exceed every allowance the contractor quotes you and possibly by many thousands for cabinets, granite, lighting, etc. Look carefully at allowances. |
Anonymous
This was our experience. The project cost almost double what we were originally planning to spend. |
Anonymous
This is one of the primary reasons to have a good architect...they will counsel up front on realistic materials allowances. |
Anonymous
| Suggest you interview a separate architect and a separate contractor as well. Usually with a design build firm, one part is good and one part weak. |
Anonymous
Our materials were about 25% over the estimates. A good design/build firm can guess your style and finish quality. We went very high end. |
Anonymous
| Watch out if you go higher than 300k. You may want to investigate tear down and rebuild new if you go over that amount. |
Anonymous
This is a good point and what we want to do, we are expecting that it will cost close to that, maybe more when it is all said and done. We are looking into tear down and rebuid, but it looks like a very expensive option and one that requires a lot of cash up front. Maybe I need to talk to more lenders. NDI is doing a few homes near us and they advertise their Nottingham model under $300k. Assuming that's right, we still have to finance the demo and permits. People I talk to say NDI's basic cost is really basic and you probably will want to add things in to get it right. I visited a Beacon Crest open house and they said to expect to spend $470k on their basic model without any upgrades. For me the cost would be around $1.2 million. There is a similar Beacon Crest home for sale in our neighborhood for $1.4 million. Anyone have any thoughts about new construction folks to talk to? |
Anonymous
Good idea. Can you recommend anyone that does work in N. Arlington? |
Anonymous
This was exactly our experience with the aforementioned (but not named) terrible design/build firm. The architect was charming, professional, an excellent salesperson, and good, but the rest of the operation was weak . . . very, very weak, disastrously so. Oh, I have some bad stories. |