Professional Oversight

Professional Oversight for Owner Builders

It is easy to become overwhelmed with the construction process as an owner builder, especially when you are just starting. You are staring down the barrel of a project that will take months of planning, budget development, site research, and permit processing. At this stage it appears most daunting and for what it is worth, you should be a little nervous. Going it alone with little experience in the field can result in you simply walking away from the project if your original vision is declined or the city planning department illuminates the hurdles standing between you and any physical improvements taking place. If you are willing to persist, then more power to you. However, you still do not have the knowledge and experience to navigate the process seamlessly. Without experience the build process can be a lot of one step forward, two steps backwards. This eats away at your time and money as projected schedules must be recalculated and budgets reorganized to account for extended work timelines. Some folks who go it alone end up running out of capital and do not have enough momentum to attract investors or acquire a loan. Sadly, many projects with no oversight end up as half constructed eye sores in the neighborhood. Professional oversight through OBA provides you with the experience as well as the persistence to push through the pesky pre-construction process so that you can build with confidence.

Oversight Aids Funding Approval

The biggest headaches in the pre-construction process is sourcing your funds and getting the proper permits approved for your project. If you have professional oversight within your team it makes each of these items significantly easier. When applying for a construction loan, a bank will ask you for floor plans, cost projections, build timeline, inventory of materials, and lists of subcontractors and suppliers. If you are unable to provide any of these or if any of these documents are less than ideal, then you are already starting off on the wrong foot with them. It is all about confidence. You need the bank to have confidence that you have full control of the timeline, budget, and the build team. When a bank sees that you have sought out professional oversight with a successful history of leading projects through a build, they have more confidence that their loan will be repaid and that funds will not be overdrawn on. Simply put, you are more likely to have your construction loan application approved when you are backed up by OBA’s professional oversight services. Plus, when you hire us, you do not have to worry about the time consuming search for a qualified builder in your area. Just sit back and let us do the research and bring three or four options of builders to you to make the final call. We also compile floor plans, projected budgets, build timeline, material inventory, and lists of subcontractors to provide to the bank. We turn the preconstruction hurdles into a cake walk for the owner builder.

Permitting Process Simplified

Similarly, obtaining building permits can be made easier with professional oversight on board. When partnered with OBA, you will not have to go back and forth with the city planning department on monotonous revisions to your floor plan nor build a bad rapport with the city officials and clerks. A lot of the preconstruction process is centered around building strong local relationships. Whether it is with planning department personnel, relators, or the neighbors to your build these positive relationships will reduce the potential for unexpected barriers for your build. You do not want to begin physical construction and run into objections from neighbors, or even worse the city/county. Keeping everyone informed and building these relationships will act as the oil that keeps your project churning forward rather than being met with resistance. At OBA, we have over 25 years of experience cultivating these relationships in markets across the nation. With our track record and national exposure, the various personnel we approach often immediately recognize that we are familiar with the required processes, documentation, and the timeline of filing permits and getting them approved. This level of awareness allows a degree of mutual trust and cooperation between the parties involved.

Skip the Headaches – Consider Construction Oversight

To secure funding and permits as an owner builder alone there will be some challenging processes to navigate. Banks may not have total confidence that their loan will get repaid on time when the borrower is taking out a construction loan for the first time and may not understand the differences from a typical mortgage process. Similarly, a city’s planning/zoning department may be hesitant to approve a project that they have had several weeks of revisions to budgets and floor plans. It is always financially and legally safer to hire professional oversight that ensures your project will be funded and permitted. OBA can be recruited for any individual phases of the construction process or for the entirety of the build. Allow us to help your project get off on the right foot with local professionals and build your project in accordance with your budget and timeline. Building with confidence is what you can expect with OBA.