How to Get Started: Show (Yourself) the Money.

If you clicked here, you need help just beginning your work. Although I am not familiar with your project, I will be posting, over the next few days, a series of the most basic things that you will need to have in place in order to start.

The primary thing you need to have in place is the funding.

Before you communicate with an Architect, A General Contractor, a Subcontractor, or anyone else, you should have a good idea of how you will be getting your financing accomplished. Will you be taking out a loan? Will you borrow money from a friend or relative? Do you have your own stash of cash?

The point is, you need to understand the total picture of your cash expenses from the beginning, and you need to know this prior to coming to an Architect. As a rule of thumb, unless you have a more specific need for services, you can count on construction costs in southern California being at least $100 per Square Foot; more or less in certain areas. After you have that amount, you can count on 10% of the overall cost needing to be allocated for Architectural Drawings; not counting engineering and other specialized consultants that may be necessary for your work.

Also, you need to be sure that you have a contingency in case something goes wrong (believe me, I have never seen a project where something unexpected didn’t come up), which should be about 10%. Plan for the furnishings, fixtures and equipment that you will need to purchase once you take occupancy of the building… etc. You can see how the list adds up.

If you want a more comprehensive / detailed description of what to do, you can sign up by clicking this link. Please note that there is no obligation for you to go with GBear as a result of signing up here – I am just trying to help as many people as possible have the smoothest experience as possible in starting their first architectural project.

I wish you the best as you seek to complete your architectural project.

Best regards,

Charles Matthews