Building a House Requires a Team.

How do you pick yours?

It’s important to establish an efficient team. This sets the tone for the entire project budget and schedule are controlled by how efficiently each individual completes their portion of the project. Individual timelines and processes influence how the team works together.

Assembling a team early in the building process facilitates good communication. This ensures that the plans the architect and/or designer come up with are in line with the budget you and the builder come up with. By starting the communication process between team members early, you can avoid the frustration and expense of redoing plans.

Members of your team could include professionals such as a builder, architect, or designer. Take the time to research and interview each potential team member carefully and you will be rewarded with your dream home while staying on time and on budget.

Do Your Research

It is important to find builders, architects and designers who build the style you want and who listen to your desires. Many people in these fields simply do the same thing over and over and/or don’t listen because they think they know best. You should only reach out after you are comfortable with their style of work and their style of communication aligning with yours.

Start the Process

To begin, you should identify at least 3 professionals in each area that you would consider working with. Check out their work and make sure that it aligns with your ideas.
When contacting them be sure to include details like the estimated timeline, approximate size of the house or project, and the address of the property. It is wise to have a broad questionnaire that each firm will fill out to see if the professional aligns with your goals.
Questions could include financial terms, services provided, time considerations, ownership of final plans and terms of revisions. The goal is to be consistent in interviewing each potential professional.

Create Conversations

Next, schedule an interview with each firm. Have a second set of interview questions prepared in advance to ask during your meeting to dig deeper and further explore whether this relationship will work.
Questions should include scope of work, ability to stay on budget, site visits, timetables, etc. For more detailed question ideas, the book Designing Your Dream Home by Susan Lang is a great resource.

Document Everything!

Keep careful notes of all interactions with the professionals you’ve interviewed. You want to be able to compare accurate information when making your final decisions.

Finalize Your Dream Team

Once you have finalized selections for the professionals you’d like to work with in each industry, you will enter into a contract for the work to be performed.
Now that your dream team is in place, let the fun begin as you plan and build your dream home.

Following these steps allows for a more stress free renovation process. Building a team made up of individuals you can trust and depend on is important to ensure your plans are being efficiently and effectively executed. With a great team and great communication, your home project ambitions will be a success!