Clients and projects come in all shapes and sizes so there is room for all as long as the local building
departments continue to be a consistent gaunlet of minimum building quality and drawing standards.
We have so many "standards" out here that typical homeowner can't take on any kind of addition, let alone an interior remodel.
My company is a design-build firm that specializes in high end custom homes here in West Los Angeles. I am both a licensed architect and building contractor with over 25 years of experience. Our fee is based on a percentage
of the completed construction cost. We typically blend in the architect fee if the project proceeds to construction.
I have always thought that architects can be great builders and have more fun making more money.
Over the years, our projects have come from other architects, consultants, real estate agents, home owners, and spec builders with projects ranging from $125K to $2M. By keeping an open mind, I fill in the needed gaps of information to show my clients the best possible building solutions, whether they come to me with a roll of professional prepared drawings, a Sketch Up drawing or more often, a file folder of magazine photos.
We find projects less than $125K require as much time as $500K projects so we won't commit the 8-12 weeks and a $25K fee for a small project and then have to pass up a larger project with much more profitabilty.
Once we had our reputations established twenty years ago, we gave up hobby projects to give our current clients much better service. Let the younger architects cut their teeth on the smaller fish.
That said, I just spent the last three weekends working pro-bono, assisting some non-profits with their projects
only because I had the cash flow from more profitably projects.
My Mantra: There is never a shortage of good people needed good advice at a good price.
Just put yourself out there.
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Michael Kent AIA
KENT MICHAEL J., INC.
Santa Monica CA
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