Are you considering making some improvements to your home? A newly improved home means an upgraded environment for your family.
Depending on the size and scope of the project, you may want to be an owner builder, overseeing the process yourself and managing the sub-contractors yourself without hiring a general contractor.
This process is known as owner builder construction. Or, in this case, it would be owner builder renovation.
Being an owner builder simply means that you are managing the project without paying the costs of a GC.
In fact, many owner builders around the country take on a full construction project for their new homes, getting owner builder construction financing and hiring the full range of sub-contractors to range from blueprint design all the way through to final landscaping.
Whether building an entire home, or simply improving the home that you currently live in, the owner builder process is the same. You have to hire an manage your sub-contractors to be a successful owner builder.
Archive for July, 2010
Home Improvements, Family Improvements: The Owner Builder Way
Saturday, July 31st, 20103 Rules to Simplify Your Recordkeeping for Business Travel
Friday, July 30th, 2010As the general contractor on your project, you will be responsible for locating and hiring the sub-contractors necessary to successfully complete your home. The more prepared and educated you are, the more successful you will be in locating the best subs for your job.
A word of caution: do not shop for subs on price alone. Don’t get caught up in insisting that you must save every penny on every item in order to be a successful owner builder. You will save plenty – do not skimp on quality sub-contractors.
That said; do not just hire the most expensive subs, either. To be successful and find the right combination of price and quality you must be prepared and educated. Your good planning will make all the difference in the world.
It is a good practice to have all of your material and labor specifications in writing prior to soliciting bids from potential sub-contractors. After all, if owner builders don’t know or understand what they want in their home, how are they going to get accurate and honest bids from sub-contractors? Standardized bid forms are readily available online. As an owner builder, your goal is to make sure that you always get apples to apples bids for each job in your project.
How many bids you seek is up to you, but a minimum of three is always recommended for owner builders. When you get three bids, you will often see something interesting: two of the three will be similar and one will be completely out of line with the other two.
This happens so often, that it is no longer a curiosity, but a fact. If an owner builder only gets a bid from the one who is out of line, he or she would never know it. Take your time, be prepared and be very clear what you want. This will save you considerable time and money in the long run. That is the whole point of owner builder construction. Or, owner builder renovations.
Building or improving a home is a great way to upgrade your environment for your family. The owner builder process is a great way to save money and build equity while doing it.
Travel Agents In The World Of Technology
Friday, July 30th, 2010Travel agents in the not so distant past in the UK knew their market – two weeks in Spain in July and August for the majority of bookings, with most people booking in January and paying six months of instalments.
Technology, low cost airlines, and people’s expectations have changed all that.
Popular holiday destinations for many Europeans still included Spain and the islands of Majorca and Menorca.
But people have become more adventurous, and trips to Egypt, Jordan and other destinations not really thought of a decade a go are now very much in vogue.
The traditional two week holiday is fast becoming redundant too, with many families now taking two, three and sometimes even four shorter breaks a year, with some of those two or three day trips.
Traditional travel agents are certainly having to adapt to the new world of travel, for not only are they having to rise to the challenge of a different market place for the number of holidays and time taken from a decade ago, but unless they have a strong on-line presence they are in a declining market, as more and more people change from booking at a bricks and mortar store to creating their own holidays on the internet.
A good example of the changing tourist scene is the Menorca holidays market.
The Spanish island’s economy is pretty reliant on tourism, and in the seventies, eighties and nineties marketed itself successfully as a quiet destination, with two week package holidays typically taken between June and September the normal tourist season.
But now in an effort to stay as a major player in the European holidays game, the season has been extended from June back to April, and from mid September to early October.
In addition as not only is the typical holiday no longer two weeks but one, the island is also marketing itself as a holiday destination good for three and four day breaks.
Although the scenery and terrain may be enough in itself to keep holidaymakers busy for a fortnight, Menorca is rich in culture and history for those who take culture breaks for three or four days. Examples are the collection of ancient stone monoliths which bear tales of prehistoric times.
Daytime summer temperatures hover around the mid to high seventies farenheit on the island, and are mid sixties to mid seventies in the months Menorca is broadening her season for, tourists who might visit in April, May, September and October.
Menorca, like many holiday destinations, has adapted to a fast changing holiday mix, but will no doubt hope that there aren’t too many change of habits coming along in the future – but if there is they will respond quickly enough to esure the island’s place in the tourists plans.