Questions You Always Wanted To Ask A Master Builder But Never Had The Chance
By Colm Dillon

Building a house (or lots of them) seems to be an area of knowledge that is kept secret (insiders only), with clients kept in the dark and fed on expensive "cow dung."

A while ago I asked my US readers of my e-book, "Residential Development Made Easy" for questions they would like to ask a Master Builder.

I found a unique individual, Leonard Manion, who has been very generous with his time (he builds in 48 States) who gives answers straight from the shoulder with apologises to no one.

I must also say that few builders would spend the time to cater to these questions and answer so frankly.

Leonard answers are denoted by the ProCustom Home tag. I have kept the questioner's identity private, however the answer has been send to them by email.

Question 1.

My wife and I are planning a new small retirement home. We have in mind a couple of builders in this area, and I plan on asking him these questions.

My wife is very adept at planning and researching. Under what circumstances do you recommend we hire an architect? and Why or why not? (This is not a loaded question. I am not an architect and neither is my brother-in-law. We would prefer to build without hiring an architect.)

Master Builder Replies

This would depend upon your budget. Some architects charge as much as 10% of the budget of a home to do the plans. We don't like to place our clients into a position of hiring an architect until they really need one.

First, the loan, then the land, then the architect. In our case, we have in-house architects and structural engineers. We recommend our clients to hire a Interior Designer (ASID) and have them work with you to design the floor plan which is uniquely suited for how you and your family use space and the style you like.

Armed with the floor plan you would then send it to us and we would create your architect blueprints from it. Blueprints are part of the quote we provide our clients. This way they don't have sticker shock from a local architect.

Question 2.

How much price and quality research re materials can we expect our builder to do or to have done?

Master Builder Replies

This depends upon the builder you hire. For the most part, you can't expect too much. Most builders work in their comfort zone. With materials they're used to working with. They usually won't try something else unless insisted upon by the home buyer or developer. And, then they usually hire an outside source to do this.

In our case, we use current technology and one of the reasons why we are both profitable and successful is that we keep abreast to new technology and want our buyers and developers want in their homes.

Question 3.

Is it reasonable for us to ask our builder to identify his subcontractors and allow us to talk with the primary subs before we contract (and after)?

Master Builder Replies

It is reasonable, however, not very realistic. Subs come in and out of a job site. If one is not available another one is called in.

Instead, you may want to concentrate on ensuring the builder has the proper permits and insurance for building. Especially for workman's comp and for liability.

What few people realize is that they can be held accountable if the builder doesn't have the correct insurance. Let's say that a child comes on to the site after the builder has left. Decides to climb to the roof and jump. Guess who's liable? Check the references of others he's built for.

Question 4.

What do you, as the builder, expect the homeowner to do (other than to pay you as and when agreed).

Master Builder Replies

As the builder, we expect the home buyer to be reasonable and realistic in their expectations. We have made is easy as possible to work with us. We can provide financing required.

We can provide the Realtor to assist you to finding the ideal location. We can tell you the appraised value. And, we can help you find an Interior Designer to help you come up with a visual floor plan.

The biggest problems that most builders run into is when the home buyer to either change what has been agreed to or is unrealistic in what they want. This is why we have our home buyers sit down with an Interior Designer.

The ASID can sit down with you and help you visualize exactly what you want and help you make any compromises you may have to make.

It is very expensive for to make changes. Let's say that you wanted a 17x20 kitchen. Sounds like a big kitchen. Probably too big. However, once the cabinets and appliances start coming in you realize that it's too small and want the kitchen to be bigger.

This may cost you an extra $50k to make those changes. You can save yourself a small fortune by first working with ASID on floor space, storage, placement, design, and style.

Colm Dillon, $1.2 Billion Developer & Author of "Residential Development Made Easy," The Only E-book In The World That Teaches 'Individuals' How To Develop Residential Real Estate, Has Readers In All US States And 83 Other Countries Growing Their Wealth.

Learn More About What This "Guy Who's Done It" Has To Teach You On His 'No Padding' Web Site: http://www.realestatedevelopmentcoach.com/ez

His Motto: Learn It The Right Way, The First Time

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colm_Dillon

Architect: Translating Visions Into Workable Spaces
By Robert Thatcher

You can see him sitting hours on end at his drafting table, his drawing lights on, gesticulating, talking to himself translating the images that the client conveyed into tangible and workable designs.

Architects are planners and builders. Their craft takes into consideration the availability of materials, principles of engineering, aesthetics, building codes, local regulations, structural principles and bill of the materials. He must be knowledgeable on the methods that are available to the builder, the ability to negotiate with the builder for the best cost and time frame possible and oversee the construction. Architects must have the capability of understanding the clients’ environment providing advice and translating the images that was conveyed into a final design. The architect is a planner and a builder. An architect affects landscapes.

Architecture is an old craft. It came from the Greek word arkhitekton or chief builder. Today however, a chief builder, a draughtsman and an architectural technologist may render architectural services but may not necessarily be called an architect. Architects like many professions are required to have a specialized education, a work experience and a license to practice. They are recognized at par with Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers.

It has often been said that what we eat is what we become. By extension, our homes or the edifices that we construct reflect very much what we are. Where we live affects in a very big way what we are trying to tell the world. It is a good approximation of the lifestyles we lead and the attitudes we take. Our homes for example tell people a lot about our preferences and our standards. These are some of the very important factors that the architect has to bring forward in building our homes and the edifices that we want.

Depending on the country where they are practicing their professions, architects are expected to have completed requirements and in many countries these can be stringent.

In the United States, before a person is designated the title of “Architect”, he is required to have a degree from schools accredited by the NAAB and must have an internship with a licensed architect for three years. After that he has to take and pass a series of examinations from the NCARB or the National Council of Architectural Registration Board.

In some cases though, a person who have not taken a degree in architecture but has worked for a licensed architect for ten years can be allowed to take Architect Registration Examination or the ARE. If he passes that he can be given a license to practice architecture.

In the United States, there are ways and type by which to earn a professional degree in Architecture. The first is the Bachelor in Architecture, which takes five years to finish. After that a documented apprenticeship of three years is required. There is also the Masters Degree in Architecture and the Doctorate in Architecture.

The pre-professional degrees are Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture and the Bachelor of Environmental Design these courses takes four years to finish.

All licensed architects in the United States use the suffix RA for Registered Architects. If the architect is a member of the American Institute of Architects, which is a professional organization that provides network services to architects in the United States he also suffixes AIA to signify his affiliation.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides architect resources on http://www.your-architect.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Thatcher

Architectural Rendering
By Alison Cole

Architectural rendering basically means preparing and presenting a proposed design of a building for the approval of the person who wants to construct it. It may be a commercial or a residential unit. Formerly, the architects and designers would just draw bare outline sketches of the various parts of the building giving their dimensions and how each room/unit of the building was to be juxtaposed with the other. It was almost impossible for you to correlate the built up unit with what you had actually dreamed of.

With the advent of computer aided design (CAD) and the related multimedia based architectural technologies, the process of presenting how the prospective building will actually appear after it is built, has undergone a sea change. Now as the owner of a building, you can virtually see and feel your dream-house at the stage of its conceptualization and planning long before it comes up. You can select a view from a wide spectrum of various designs of the building and colors of paints. You can also suggest changes as per your preferences.

In the past, it was almost impossible to communicate the subtleties of the designs and the shades of colors to the architect as you wanted them. Now, with the advancement of the presentation technologies, especially architectural rendering, it has now become possible to give expression to those subtleties which you always wanted in your dream project. The various permutations and combinations of architectural rendering techniques on the computer screen, a CD or even in print can give a very realistic shape to what you require in a building. Once you see the actual picture, you can get a clear-cut idea if the output is actually what you require or some changes would make it perfect.

Sometimes you just have to give information in electronic design format about your project along with your proposed budget, and you can get various best possible designs to choose from within just a period of one week or so. Computer based architectural rendering technologies have revolutionized the initial stage conceptualization, planning and designing of the project and eliminated the time consuming manual processes of making drawings which failed to come even remotely close to your aspirations of how you would like your dream building to appear.

Architectural Rendering provides detailed information on Architectural Rendering, 3D Architectural Rendering, Digital Architectural Rendering, Architectural Rendering Software and more. Architectural Rendering is affiliated with CAD Software.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alison_Cole

Custom Design Home - The Design Brief
By Nicole Fransen

Where do you start to design a custom design home? The Design Brief.

Do you know what you want? Do you know what you need? These are two very different questions with very different answers. No matter what your budget is, you will have to get clear on this. You will have to come up with a list! We in the design profession refer to it by the more fancy term of "Design Brief" and it can consist of a scratched out list on the back of an envelope to a 30 page document with magazine inserts, sample plans and paint swatches.

The more complete your Design Brief is, the easier it is to come up with suitable custom home design solutions. Some people like to keep their brief very open, leaving it to the designer to miraculously come up with the perfect design. Whilst those with finely honed psychic powers can achieve this task, it really is akin to trying to shoot a moving target in the dark. It is a process that leads to high expectations from a client - especially if the designer has been foolish enough to promise such a miracle - and usually ends in disappointment.

Having a good Design Brief does not mean that you have to come up with a plan as such, that is the designers job! But feel free to express your own creative talents if you want to start working up a preliminary plan. Thumbnail sketches are good! No-one expects you to be an architect. A plan doesn't have to be to scale, it is important to just get a concept of the sort of spaces you will need. A bubble diagram with labeled circles for rooms is a good starting point.

I describe the design process to my clients as being like doing a jigsaw - they provide the individual pieces and I put it all together for them to create the overall picture. Custom home design does not necessarily translate as "over the top" and expensive. I've designed many modest homes that have been a perfect blend of bringing the functions you need with some special features to make a home unique, individual and a reflection of the client's personality.

Your brief really needs to consist of some basics: Types of room, Room sizes, Vehicle accommodation, How you want spaces to interconnect, Overall house size, Budget, Outdoor areas, Other structures, pools etc., Special needs or hobbies to be catered for, Furniture sizes, .......the list can get as detailed as you like. Include your "wish list" items but realise that budget will dictate how much you can include in the final home design. Remember designers are usually very visual people, so the more pictures you have to communicate your ideas, the better.

Custom Home Design

Nicole specialises in home design and offers advice on her blog Insider Advice on Home Design
http://ask-the-architect.blogspot.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicole_Fransen