Most people who come to us are in one of three situations. If one of them sounds like you, get in touch.
You've been thinking about a custom build for a year or two. Maybe you've got a block, or you're close to one. The plan for what should happen next still feels a bit hazy, and you'd like someone to help you work it out before any money starts moving.
You've spent months looking at established homes and nothing's quite hit the mark. A rebuild on the right block has started to feel like the answer. You want someone to look at the site, the finance position and the builder shortlist together, instead of one piece at a time.
You've got a duplex, triplex or subdivision block, and you know there's a project in there somewhere. The question is which version of it actually stacks up.
Outside those three, the idea is still the same: a careful look at the project before any real money moves, so it ends up in the right shape and in the right order.
Every engagement begins with a 15-minute call. It's a planning conversation, where we understand where the project sits, work out which piece of the work makes sense for you and walk you through the paid engagement from there. The fee is agreed in writing before any paid work begins.
From there we sit down properly, in person or online, and work through the project as it stands and the constraints around it. The household's borrowing position, the block or blocks under consideration, any design work or quotes already in front of you, the timing pressures on either side of the conversation.
Most projects are won or lost on the order things happen in: what you can afford comes first, then where you're building, then what you're building, then who'll build it. The strategy is what makes that order hold instead of slip.
The same applies to timing. We work through a realistic calendar from where you are now to handover. The dates are the piece most clients underestimate, and getting them right at the start saves more money than any single decision later.
If you engage us for the full concept-to-completion engagement after this, the fee for the strategy work is credited toward the overall scope. Most of our concept-to-completion clients started here.
From there we put together a written development strategy. It covers the sensible sequence, the early risks worth resolving, an indicative budget framework and a recommendation on what your next move should be. If the right answer is to hold off and resolve a piece of the picture before going further, we say so and explain why.
The first call takes about fifteen minutes. Tell us where the project sits and we'll map out the right scope from there.