All Forum Posts by: Dylan Long

Depending on what you're doing in the kitchen/bath you may need permits. Depends on the local code, but I think some require permits for fixture replacements. 

It sounds like she was used to working in a very specific fashion and didn't enjoy changing that up. At $300/hr I'm sure she's used to getting her way, so having to "compromise" isn't something she was willing to do, despite the money. It happens, and it's unfortunate. I come across this a lot in Project Management.

I'm not really sure how much a typical interior designer commands, but I'd consider $500-$1,500 low, but that also depends on how big the house is and how involved they are. I would imagine most are independent workers, so I'd expect their rate to cover a decent salary @ benefits, so I wouldn't think that $50 an hour is unreasonable. At that rate, $500 only buys 10 hours, and $1,500 only buys 30, which is about 3.5 days of their time. Doing design and being there in person on a build I'd probably expect at least 1-2 weeks of my time, but that again depends on the overall size and what they're offering. Are they doing mock-ups/sketches, or are they just picking a materials list for each room?

I'm just now getting into interior design myself on the side, and currently focusing on the design/mock-up aspect to give myself an edge, should I jump into that pool and finally decide to stop working for "the man."

Oh I like Phil's suggestion and mock up a lot.  

I'd likely get an inspection. Likely you have a good sense of the home's value or else you wouldn't be doing the deal in the first place, so an appraisal may be redundant if you're not doing any financing. 

Be careful doing a rehab while the seller still owns it. Hopefully you have something in place preventing him from backing out of the sale once your stuff is done.

Nice job! Really like what you did with it. The cabinet colors look great with the flooring. Are the walls staying white or any further plans there? 

I really like how that blue looks, but green could work well too. Red might be a bit to McDonalds :). 

Ultimately is a balance between what you're comfortable paying to obtain the right person for the job. It sounds like your person is more of a coordinator than an on-site PM. I'd consider a PM as more of a coordinate/GC dual role, ensuring materials arrive on time, contracts do the right work, and everything is coming out as you, the owner, wants. He's your advocate, and ultimately responsible for coming in on time and budget. 

If you're trying the wage to performance (as in making a good profit on the flip) then it needs to balanced such that he makes good money when he does well, because he could make little to no money when he doesn't. There are a number of ways to structure how you pay him. Could be all commission, all base, or a combination thereof. Perhaps a livable wage base salary + performance bonuses would be the best solution. 

Chief Architect Interiors. I used to use Google Sketchup to do some automotive planning, and then started using it for home design. Then I discovered Chief Architect which is nice as a lot of things I'd spend a lot of time making (like cabinets) only take a few clicks in this software.

That said, this software is much more expensive. 

Just depends on what it's worth to you. If he worth 100k a year? I'm a PM by trade, and know their skillets and quality range greatly. A lot will depend just on how much you're asking him/her to do and be responsible for as well. 

Some of the PMs I come across are over-paid, but generally you get what you pay for. So again, you just need to ask yourself, is this person a 100k a year PM? And if you did put this job up at 40k, would you find the type of employee you're looking for? In my line of work we wouldn't, and I personally wouldn't touch a PM gig for less than 90k, but IT tends to run higher than residential construction it seems. 

I'm not worried about someone passing over the house due to it being an electric stove. I was just considering that someone may select it over something similar because it DOES have one. 

Ultimately I'll tell her to get whatever she wants to live with for the next few years. I think she was more curious if she'd see a return on it, which she probably would, even if not 100%.