10 Planning Rules to Make Money
1. Make it easy for bids to be right: if you want to make money you have to know your costs, and control them. You can't do that if you give shoddy or incomplete plans to subs and suppliers for bids. Your job means working out all the potential problems on paper, before they come up on site. If you can do this, your bids will be right on, and you will make tons and tons of money.
2. Keep walls simple and lined up: if you want to stay under budget, and build your dream house for a reasonable amount, you have to plan it so the construction costs are low, and the value is high. Fancy, and broken up walls, that don't align are expensive to put in, and don't make the resale value that much higher. So make money by saving money and keeping things simple. You will get more of a return that way, and you really won't notice a difference.
3. Maximize space: a great way to make money is by maximizing your spaces, a good design will have a floor plan that gives you the maximum use out of the minimum space. When you are paying by the square foot, this is going to save you money.
4. Stay compatible with conventional construction techniques: the fact of the matter is you have to pay people to build your house, and if you use techniques that not many people use, you are likely going to pay a lot more for them. You won't have as much negotiation power because the sub providing the service might be the only one in the area that knows how to do what you want. So make more money by choosing construction techniques that allow flexibility in price.
5. Use cost effective materials: if you want materials from California, and you live in Maryland, you will pay a high premium for shipping. So, make yourself some money by getting a higher equity by building as much of your home with local materials as you can. Also, use local labor, why pay more just because they are from somewhere else? Use what is local, and get deals on the rest.
6. Have easy to understand construction documents: if your documents are easy to understand then there will be less room for confusion, which results in less room for mistakes, which in turn results in fewer changes necessitated by mistakes. Or in other words, fewer ripping things out and starting over.which really adds up.
7. Keep floor heights consistent: this is a rule of execution that many people overlook and that is going to really save you money. If you can choose materials that are similar in height either through thickness or underlay mats, you will save.
8. Use material dimensions to your advantage: if plywood, sheetrock, trim, and other materials come in two feet dimensions, you should plan your house in the same dimensions. This minimizes waste and cutting time, which saves you money. Also, if you take carpet width into consideration when you plan your room sizes you will have less seaming to do, and less waste.
9. Don't make changes: you are in control of your project. You planned it out, and you are the one following through with the execution. Make money by executing what you planned; fewer change orders = more money! Not to mention that if you have detailed specs you will reduce the unknowns and assure quality control and craftsman-like workmanship.
10. Site right: if you can make sure that the site of your home is the best position for your lot, you will reduce the amount of excavation and fill needed. This will save you tons of money! Make money and site right!
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Tags: saving money cost techniques planning
