Here's EXACTLY what happened when a new customer asked me to build their house last y

(Including what didn't go perfect!)

1. He sent me his plans and designs (2200 SF, 4bd,3.5bt), and I sent a ballpark range. He confirmed that, so I sent him an itemized budget and total cost. (Some folks have blueprints already but you don't have to.)

2. This happened to be 72% of his other quote, so it didn't take him long to accept my proposal.

3. I sent him a contract on a cost-plus arrangement (meaning, I bill him for all the costs, plus an agreed to builder flat fee). I told him to expect 8 to 9 months from permit to CO.

4. I sent him (& his wife) some templates to fill out for selections/finishes/designs while I started on the permit. I may not have communicated this very well as after a few weeks had gone by, the templates did not have any activity yet.

5. I reminded them to submit their designs, and as they got a ways into it, I made the decision to start the build even without completed designs. This is not recommended but worked okay.

6. Once the house was framed (running a bit ahead of schedule), they had a series of change orders now that they could envision what it would be like. We had a couple conversations and a

greed to keep the cost low by keeping it simple. They submitted a couple final change orders, and on their word, did not have any more after that!

7. My team went back to work after minor delays from the change orders. Some trades went faster than the schedule, but some cost us some time.

8. A few months later we were wrapping up and did a blue tape walk and scheduled a date for the customer to take possession.

9. We finished up punch items and had CO for a 7.5 month completion, ahead of schedule! Also, after accounting for the change orders, we finished a good bit under budget.