It is an architect’s responsibility to understand their client’s budget and to work with that budget to design their home. There are so many costs associated with building a new home or adding onto your existing home. It is our clients’ responsibility to know what amount of money they are comfortable spending on their project. We like to set up a conversation with our clients about what additional costs to expect during a project – such as engineering fees or professional costs for committee approvals, etc…
I have been in meetings recently with a potential client to discuss the budget for their new home. They have a set number that they can spend and they have many outside factors to consider as part of their overall project budget. Not only do they need to think about construction costs and professional fees, but they need to factor in other costs such as a temporary place to live for their family for about a year during the construction process.
We understand that signing a contract for architectural services is a big step. You need to trust that your architect understands your project budget and believes that your dream home can be designed and built within that budget.
Working with Your Client to Understand Their Budget
One of the first questions I ask my clients is “What is your project budget?” I actually ask them twice, and once is in writing. Very often there is a brief pause after I’ve asked this question in which I believe they are thinking, “Do I tell her the real budget? Or do I say something less than what we can actually spend so we won’t go over budget?…”
I ask my clients to be very honest with me about their budget. I have clients who have a very strict and fixed budget and I have clients who have an idea of what they would like to spend but also tell me things like, “Well, this is the home we want to live in for the rest of our lives, so we want what we want..” and could spend a little more for that reason. I completely understand both of these scenarios, and I have worked with each of these clients. All of our clients are building a home that is very special for them. Whether the budget is fixed or flexible, we design with our clients hopes and dreams in mind, and always consider the most efficient and economical solutions.
We want to create beautiful homes whether small or grand in scale, and we try to carefully design every detail…but this does not mean we don’t also carefully consider our client’s budget as well.
It’s easy to spend a lot of money on a house. It’s more challenging – and rewarding for everyone involved –
to design a stunning home within our clients budget.
Setting Expectations: Initial Estimates May Come In Over Budget
Sometimes though, even when we are cautious throughout the design, the cost numbers we receive back from the contractors are higher than our budget. This is common and happens on many projects. This is not because your architect wasn’t thoughtful or because the client added too many extras to his wishlist along the way…little things just add up. ..having the initial price for a project come back over the budget is nothing to be concerned about. Every architect should be very familiar with what we call “value engineering” or finding ways to lower costs on a project.
I remember when I first mentioned to one of my clients that we might have to cut back a few items to work within the budget…. his response was, “but we love our house. We don’t want to have to change it now. And we don’t want to take anything away!” And I know this – very well. And I don’t either – that’s the first way to an unhappy client (not to mention an unhappy architect.) I actually said to him something similar to, “I think we can change things that you might not even notice and get the cost within your budget.”
…Not to leave you on the edge of your seat wondering how we do this, but this post is already a little long and I never want to bore you! Next week: What To Expect from Your Architect: Revising Your Design to Meet Your Budget (and you might not even notice!)
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