So how hard can this be, right? Here's what I did to PREP before reaching out to architects and builders:
Spent 10 days straight documenting our wishlist in a powerpoint - idea floor plans, Pinterest images, etc. Since this is really my life goal, I spent many years collecting images. I went through hundreds on my hard drive, and roughly 5k on Pinterest, narrowing it down to my top inspiration images. This probably wasn't that necessary at this point, but it gave me the confidence if a builder or architect were to ask what I wanted, I could confidently answer. I don't want to be indecisive nor send a Pinterest gallery with thousands of images, some of which I may not like anymore. How I consolidated all of this in 10 days is beyond me.
Spent a few more days collecting my interview questions for builders and architects.
Click the links below to read more about our interview question lists:
Fast forward to doing some interviews....YIKES. This is not what I expected. In my head I thought this would be like picking vendors for my wedding a few years ago. We would select people to interview based on their reviews and if they had a style similar to what I envisioned. I would then interview my top candidates and I’d be able to know right in my gut instinctively who would be the vendor for our wedding. And I literally had the best vendors I could’ve asked for.
This was not the same thing. What a mess! I really am starting to wonder about this field because some of the people...are..questionable..haha. OR completely competent and ridiculously expensive. I instantly knew upon our initial interviews how hard it was going to be to find someone in our style that got along with our personality, AND who met our budget.
It was naïve of me to think I could interview maybe two or three architects and builders and go from there. I ended up interviewing at least 10 builders and 18 architects, with reach outs to even more.
Our approach in finding the architects/builders was research via Google searches, Instagram, and Houzz to find ones in our area. Upon reading reviews and making sure they aligned with our style, I'd reach out. Some preferred to talk over the phone in that moment as an interview, while others preferred Zoom or going to their office or our property. I'd then send follow ups to the people I was interested in. This email would contain further questions we didn’t get answered in the preliminary discussion and also a request for references.
It was really discouraging because after our ninth architect meeting, I felt like I had to go back to the research phase all over again. Some of the things wrong with the people I interviewed included their price, their personality, level of experience, blah blah. And I know it’s not all going to be perfect, however I don’t plan to settle, but I do understand there will be compromise.
When I was so discouraged I ended up adding a new method to the search. *Tip: Try looking at homes in your area that match the style you are looking for and either reach out to the homeowner to see who their architect and builder was, or you may be able to find it through research or public records. That’s another way to find a builder that may not have the best marketing/online presence. My two top architects I’ve found from builder websites referencing architects that they work with. Both of them had websites, but Google did not point me in their direction.
*Tip: You can look at builders in another area of your state and what architects they've worked with. The builder would not likely go to your side of the state but the architect likely would. Most architects would be happy to work with a township still following the laws in which the state they are licensed.
Now if you’re feeling extra desperate like I was lol, you can also even start to look abroad. Keep in mind some of the prices for architects and other regions may be way more affordable, however they will not likely produce the construction drawings compliant with the township. What I am saying is, they would maybe do the design phase and the renderings/digital model, then hand it off to a local architect that would be able to do the construction drawings to support permits to build. You would still want to get a local architect that is well-versed in the style that you were building so when I personally researched this, the sum of the two architects working together ended up being more than just one that did it by themselves, even if the ones from Europe were a better price. This was a bummer to me because I thought it was so cool to have a design maybe from a Finnish designer, and bring that vision to Michigan.
After a long time I was able to find someone! So I will just say, be patient and keep open mind, because this took months longer than I wanted for the interview phase. You could even be more daring to start these interviews before you even have land just because of how long it took. I do, however, think it would have been easier if I wanted a different style home.
What was so difficult for us and assembling our team was:
Finding a professional with the right skill set. We don't want to be their nicest build/experimental project, but don't want to be at the lower end where they don't care as much.
People often give advice about what to ask builders and none of it applies for a custom home.
When it comes to South East Michigan, the builders and architects that design contemporary and modern are typically for people with over $1 million budget.
Whereas we are building modern and contemporary on a budget, so we would not have those premium materials and build styles, nor over 5000 square-foot home. I did reach out to a couple of those high-end local modern and contemporary builders and architects, and their price was just not something we could manage.
Such a confusing process/our inexperience :) There's so much to cover in the meetings; you feel like you spent two hours not getting anywhere.
When it comes to Michigan homes, the West side of Michigan is turning more contemporary and modern for more of a middle-class budget. This means there are more architects and builders that support this style home closer to our budget. That is why I expanded my architect search to the West side of Michigan in an attempt to find a modern and contemporary architect that had a reasonable fee. When it came to the builder, I was even more in trouble because you’re basically confined to your local maybe 30 mile radius or even less than that. Due to us having 10 acres, we went further away from the city portion of Southeast Michigan, so our builder selection pool was even less.
So I think that’s the key - you just have to recognize what style is popular in your area. I knew this style wasn’t common in my area, but I just didn’t realize to get someone experienced in this I’d have to expand my search and really dive into interviews. It took a lot of patience but I can tell you that I was a little naïve going in - now we know how difficult it can be to assemble the right team.
Here is more about the team formation process on YouTube!
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