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This Delaware remodeler has diversified his business by providing customized space plans and estimating services for health facilities..
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Todd Jackson of Jackson Design & Remodeling, in San Diego, developed a design process that starts with sales. “If you just turn a client over to a designer, they'll fall in love with a beautiful design that's over budget and can't be built,” Jackson says.
For some remodeling clients, the concept of a volume discount extends to remodeling projects. They argue that there are efficiencies of scale or that expensive finishes don't increase a remodeler's risk proportionately. Faced with a design/build remodeling project estimated in the million-dollar range, should you reduce your design fees?
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When you first begin charging for design, the fee is often seen as more of a client's commitment than a profit maker. “When you look at your efficiency in doing the design and moving the client through effectively,” says Mark Richard-son of Case Design Build, Bethesda, Md., “that's an indicator that you can start to look at the design fee more in terms of its profitability.”
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Mark Richardson of Case Design/Remodeling says Case has, over a 30-year period, evolved a process for charging for design — preliminary design, for which the client is charged .5% to 2%; detailed planning, which is 6% to 8%; and construction. But Case didn't start out that way.
In June, six design/build remodelers got together to talk about the business. Eavesdrop on their conversation.
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Charging for design and other preconstruction services is growing more common among remodeling companies, but the design/build concept is rarely executed the same way twice. Design expertise is valuable. Get paid for it.
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The owner of Daniel's Kitchen Design (www.danielskitchendesign.com) in Anaheim, Calif., says his design services are more affordable than those offered by full-service firms and Home Depot services, including the company's Expo Design Center.
Over the years, Mason Hearn's partners have retired or left the industry, leaving him sole owner of McGuire, Hearn & Toms. Until recently, Hearn charged a design fee of 3% of construction costs.
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Professionals pay professionals and know they must. I charge for estimates and keep the money because I believe that a contractor's time is extremely valuable. The homeowners receive 45 minutes to an hour of free consultation during the first meeting. After that, they pay for our time.