My Construction Path

Calculator

Architect and designer fee range

Custom-home design is usually quoted as a percent of hard cost, or a fixed fee that was built from that percent. Use this to budget before you hire — not as a bid.

What the construction desk actually needs

The appraiser, the GC, and the inspector all work off the same set. If a note is missing, the bid, the as-completed value, and the draws will not line up.

Sheet	Why the loan cares
Site plan	Setbacks, septic/well, driveway, and flood/elevation notes for the appraisal.
Floor plans + square-footage schedule	Heated sf has to match the appraisal order and the budget.
Elevations and sections	Height, materials, and roof — especially coastal and HOA files.
Foundation / framing / structural	Engineer when the soil, wind, or span requires it. Always on hillside and high-wind.
Window, door, and finish specs	The GC bids this, not a mood board. Allowances without specs blow the NTE.
Energy / code notes	Title 24, IECC, or coastal overlay. Missing notes stall the permit and the first draw.

Architect vs designer vs engineer

A licensed architect can stamp the architectural set and often runs construction administration.
A residential designer plus a structural engineer is common on production-custom files.
The engineer is not optional on coastal, hillside, long-span, or unusual envelope work.
The construction desk does not hire your designer. It needs a complete, biddable, permittable set.

Timing with the loan

Schematic is enough to ballpark DTI and LTV.
Three GCs bid the same permit set — not three napkin sketches.
The as-completed appraisal needs the full CD set.
Material changes after closing are change orders against the NTE.
Construction administration (site visits, RFI, punch) keeps draws honest.

Questions to ask before you hire

Have you produced sets that closed a construction-to-perm loan?: You want someone who has survived an as-completed appraisal, not only a magazine shoot.
Who stamps structural, and is that in the fee?: Engineer extras are the surprise that blows a 6% design budget.
Will you issue a square-footage schedule the appraiser can use?: Heated, garage, porch, and ADU called out separately.
Do you offer construction administration?: Draws go smoother when the designer answers RFIs instead of the owner.
How do you handle allowances and specs?: Unspecified finishes become owner-funded change orders.
Can three GCs bid this set as-is?: If the answer is “they’ll figure it out,” the set is not done.

Request an architect intro

Guides

Five things to know before you hire a designer

The as-completed value lives in the drawings

Appraisers do not invent square footage, finishes, or structure. They price what is on the sheet.

A construction lender’s LTV is only as good as the plan set. Site plan, floor plans, elevations, structural, and a finish spec are how the appraiser defends as-completed value. Mood boards and “we’ll pick tile later” produce a conservative number or a rejected order.

Hire an architect or residential designer who has closed construction-to-perm files, not only magazine projects. Ask whether they will issue a square-footage schedule the appraiser can use without guessing.

Freeze the set before the appraisal. Material changes after that are change orders against the builder’s cap and, often, a new value conversation with the lender.

Schematic, permit set, and construction admin are not the same fee

You are buying phases. Paying for a concept and expecting a biddable CD set is how design budgets blow up.

Schematic is enough to ballpark DTI and talk to a lender. It is not enough for three GCs to bid, and it is not enough for an as-completed appraisal.

The permit / construction-document set is the product the loan actually uses: dimensions, structure, energy notes, and specs. Full service through construction administration adds site visits, RFIs, and punch — the work that keeps draws honest when the GC and the inspector disagree.

Coastal, hillside, historic, and large custom files cost more because an engineer is in the stack. Ask whether structural is in the architect’s fee or a separate invoice before you compare “8% vs 12%.”

Call out the square footage or the appraiser will do it for you

Heated living, garage, porch, basement, and ADU are not interchangeable on a construction loan.

Lenders and appraisers price finished, heated area differently from garage and outdoor space. If your designer only quotes “3,400 square feet,” you do not know whether that is the number the value will rest on.

Require a schedule: heated, unheated, garage, porch/lanai, basement (finished vs storage), and any accessory unit. That schedule should match the builder’s bid and the appraisal order.

A mismatch here is how a family ends up with a loan sized to a smaller house than the one they are building — or a GC bidding a larger envelope than the lender will fund.

Specs are how three builders bid the same house

Without a spec book, you are collecting three interpretations, not three prices.

Window package, roofing, siding, flooring, kitchen allowance, mechanical, and lighting have to be written down. “Similar to the model home” is not a specification a second GC can match.

Allowances need a number and a quality level. An $8,000 appliance allowance and a $28,000 appliance allowance are different houses. The construction loan will not magically grow when you fall in love with a range.

Give every bidder the same package. Then the low bid is either efficient or incomplete — and you can tell the difference by reading exclusions instead of guessing.

You still need an engineer when the site or the span says so

An architectural stamp does not always cover foundation, wind, or long-span structure.

Hillside, coastal high-wind, poor soils, steel or long-span framing, and unusual envelopes (log, barn, modular set) typically need a structural engineer regardless of who drew the floor plan.

The construction desk will ask who stamps the structural sheets. If the answer is “the builder’s engineer later,” you do not have a complete set yet — and you should not order the appraisal.

Budget the engineer as part of design, not as a surprise at permitting. It is cheaper than a foundation redesign after the loan has closed.