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Well Kids, we entered into "Phase 2" of the project. Phase 1 was buying the property. Phase 2 is signing the contract with the architect. it's a 7-month project plan from start (yesterday) through permit approval. However, he warned us that the permit approval piece was a total SWAG as the city had not bothered to return his call concerning their current wait times. LOL. So discounting permitting, it's 5 months from today through to having a finalized, buildable, packet ready to submit to the city for review.
Lots of meetings up front to gather info. We actually signed the papers at our house which gave the architect the ability to walk through to see our style, and for us to show him what works and what doesnt in our current place. it was a really fun meeting. Next week we meet again at the property and start to lay out where the house will sit, where the garage goes, driveway route, which trees have to come out, etc.
I'll post up photos as we hit major milestones and of course any tips/tricks we learn along the way.
I guess one tip I can give now is with architect selection. We interviewed several. Much of it just comes down to personality and "fit". You're going to spend 1/2 a year with this person / firm so pick someone you like. Pick someone who "gets" you. The company we went with is small. Just 2 architects and 2 project planners. We understand that will stretch the timeline at times as we compete with other projects for their time but we are not in a rush. We traded the personal feel and dedicated small team of 2 for a big flashy firm. The firm we picked started out as a "design-build" firm so our architect and project manager both come from a custom home building background. They've both managed custom builds, managed subs, and built homes. We think that experience and knowledge is really key and will pay dividends down the road when it comes time to interview and select a builder (which they will assist with), keep the builder on track, and spot any placed where the builder may go off track.
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