When to do architectural plans?

[Ben C.]

When you are working on a flip that requires architectural plans do you wait until after closing? I did this and felt like it wasted a month... Had the idea to start the plans right after out of attorney review to get a head start. Thoughts? Experience with this?

[Sean Walton]

I think it depends how confident you are the property will close and how much the architect/drafter is charging and what your holding costs are. If 1 month of holding costs are $5000 it might be worth giving the architect $2000 to at least get started so you can hit the ground running after close.