WHAT IS A DESIGN SERVICES AGREEMENT?

Many builders offer a free estimate upon request as the first, more formalized part of engaging with a homeowner. In fact, Hockberger Homes LLC did this up until a few years ago too. It’s basically putting a sticker price on a project along with other builders and letting a homeowner say yay or nay. It’s quick, but like anything else that’s fast, it’s not very effective. For one thing, builders don’t price apples-to-apples. For another, builders are never of equal caliber.

Building a house or doing a home remodel is one of the largest investments of time and resources you will make in your lifetime. There’s no getting around it, decisions involve both the “experience of it” and the longer term, “living with it” — and both phases should be enriching.

Here’s the ticket: When a homeowner selects a builder based on a free estimate, they’re shortchanging the selection process and setting themselves up for budget problems down the road. At Hockberger Homes LLC, we offer a Design Services Agreement (DSA), which includes the drawings, specifications, allowances, and budget for your home building/remodel project. How a DSA works:

• We develop a relationship with the homeowner and anyone else involved in the project already (e.g., architect or designer).
• If it is a new home project, we work with you to design the perfect home for your family. For a remodel project, we would start by drawing a set of plans showing how your house is currently built.
• We provide our professional insight into the constructability of the plans, the material selection, preferred vendors, and design details.
• We help with selections for the project, offering our professional advice and steering the homeowner toward the best options. Our goal here is to define as many details and selections as possible.
• We create an initial budget with starting cost inputs. This is revised through our conversations with homeowners and project leads, to arrive at a final budget we can adhere to.
• We draft a project schedule so homeowners and participants understand what to expect and can commit accordingly.
• We work up plans and specifications that are “ready to build,” meet cost goals, and detail expectations for various inputs and labor.
• Our Design Services Agreement (DSA) is drawn up for a fee, which covers the costs of our time and resources, and can take up to 4-6 weeks to complete.
• If you decide to move forward with Hockberger Homes LLC as your builder, the amount you paid for the DSA will be credited towards your project, which makes all those services free!

THE ADVANTAGE OF USING DESIGN SERVICE AGREEMENTS?

For one, a DSA is useful for cost management. Whereas a bid can ballpark costs, a DSA allows for more exact cost estimation, better decision making, and a detailed budget to follow. This also provides more transparency into the project costs regarding labor and material costs. With these kinds of insights, a homeowner can knowledgeably make good decisions with their builder and team. No matter the price of your final project, you’re going to want all of the cost details — to know what you’re paying for — and the DSA provides this in for you.

At Hockberger Homes LLC we take pride in offering fantastic service before, during, and after your project is done. As we complete the Design Services Agreement (DSA) with you, we provide cost, value, and construction timing experience to help you make sound design decisions and meet your goals. We also use it as a cost-effective way to begin our relationship with you and ensure we make a good fit. If you have questions about the DSA or about how we work, please take a look at our process page or contact us directly.