Why You Should Use A Home Architect
A CUSTOM HOME ARCHITECT ON: “DO IT YOURSELF” NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION
We see on television these days numerous “DIY” (Do It Yourself) shows, wherein people try to accomplish all sorts of complicated things on and in their houses, presumably to save themselves money. They never seem to use the services of a home architect. You need to watch these shows carefully. For instance, some of the shows make claims like “You can renovate these 4 rooms for less than $2,000 in 3 days!” Then they give you a laundry list of how they did this.
What they do not tell you is that they have charged the homeowner Nothing for their services or their labor! Now how many contractors do you suppose would do that? Also, much of the treatments in this price range have to do with paint or fabric or modest draperies or a few pieces of hardware or a custom plywood table made by the carpenter from the TV crew. There typically is not much that a real home architect would do. That will not go far to creating serious changes for your house or building. It may help with staging your residence for a quick sell, however, if that is your intention.
THOUGHTS OF A HOME ARCHITECT ON: “HOUSE FLIPPING”
There are other shows where a couple of people will say they are going to “flip a house” within 2 months and will renovate the kitchen completely, add a new master bathroom, a front porch and new landscaping, all for only $50,000. Well. . . I am sorry folks, not in this universe! If you watch what happens, these are usually recipes for disaster. The 2 months become a year and the budget is vastly exceeded and sometimes people get into serious trouble with City and County code inspectors who shut down their projects because they do not have approved construction drawings (usually something overlooked by most “flippers” and their so-called advisers). Also, bankruptcies can occur when the “flippers” are not financially prepared for what is likely to happen. I am sorry for these ill-fated folks and find it surprising that the producers of most of these shows do not take the obvious step, which to me would be: Hire a home architect!
Get someone that knows what they are doing to give you wise counsel and then listen to them and do what they recommend. A home architect can keep you out of the trouble of all those other people that proceed blindly and without experience. Perhaps the TV producers are after drama and they find that nothing creates drama like trouble. Our taste is for peaceful, planned projects without all the trials and tribulations. We like people to know what to expect and how to accomplish these things realistically. This takes design and planning by licensed architects and construction by licensed general contractors. A real, licensed, degreed home architect will help you logically plan realistic goals.
SEE OUR WEBPAGE ON “HOW A HOME ARCHITECT SAVES YOU MONEY”
if you wish to see how to save money while obtaining the services of an architect. A home architect does this for a living and will come up with methods to save you money in ways that lay people are not equipped to imagine. We have found that most of our clients end up recouping their fee to us in the savings we have “value-engineered” into our designs for their projects.
FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT A HOME ARCHITECT CAN PROVIDE IN HOME DESIGN
Here is a sensational reason to hire a home architect to design your home/project. Having what you need where you need it functionally and having it organized beautifully; isn’t that something all of us want? How many of us have that? Not many, because, unless you hire a home architect to help you organize your future house, you are not likely to have anyone with the expertise to design that properly for you.
EXPERIENCE/TRAINING OF A PROFESSIONAL HOME ARCHITECT
A home architect has the collegiate training, brought about through 5 to 8 years of major accredited university curricula, then typically another decade of internship under demanding, experienced, wise licensed architects, then decades more on their own or as leading associates in other firms. Architects have to have yearly continuing education to remain licensed. It is a demanding career! You have to be good at what you do to become and remain an architect. There is much more to an architect than his title! He/she has paid dearly for the right to be called a real architect and society’s institutions of higher education have certified their approval of their capabilities and your own state has required them to pass rigorous examinations (that not many people pass) to prove that they know what they are doing to protect the health, safety and welfare of you, the public.
How do you know when you are dealing with a real, home architect? By law, all architects are required to have their state licenses on the wall, for easy viewing by potential clients. If you don’t see that, ask them to show it to you. Take a close look at it. While you are at it, ask them for a copy of their license. If they are real architects, they will be happy to give that to you.
ENJOYMENT OF LIFE PROVIDED BY THE DESIGNS OF A HOME ARCHITECT
A home architect skilled in designing homes like we create, knows how to merge your lifestyle with your site, so that those wonderful views that charmed you when you purchased your site will continue to amaze you as you walk through your house on a daily basis. That special painting that you never could find a place for is now enshrined on that tall Foyer wall your home architect designed for you, with spectacular lighting illuminating it for all to marvel at. You can have that incredible chef’s kitchen you have always wanted! That master bedroom and bath! Views of the mountains! That 3-car garage! The shop! The home theater! The bunk room for your grandkids! On and on. A home architect helps you realize your dreams by understanding and merging your desired way of life with your special location.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REAL HOME ARCHITECT AND “HOME DESIGNERS” What You Need To Know if You Are Thinking of Not Using an Real Architect (who happens to specialize in Home Design)
What’s the difference between a real architect (many of whom choose to focus on the design of fine houses) and mere “residential designers?”
Huge. In a nutshell, Real Architects (who have degrees from major universities, specialized training and licensure in one or more states and who take continuing education each year) produce much more detailed construction documents for your dream home.
Why is this important? Because it results in your Contractor having fewer questions. Fewer questions during his bidding (when he calculates the price to build your house) and fewer questions during construction. Time is money in construction, as any contractor can tell you and the less time it takes for your contractor to figure out the intentions of your house plans, the less it should cost you. That’s why.
Fewer Change Orders: when Contractor suddenly realizes that a residential designer hasn’t adequately identified some important aspect of a home design either due to No construction documents (as can be the case with house designers, as there are no legal requirements governing their actions and no licensure for their activities), or due to inadequate details, your Contractor will find a way to charge you for this unidentified oversight on the part of your residential designer. Rarely does this happen with a bona fide real home architect. And what do you suppose a Change Order is? It is the legal forms that the Contractor will create to charge you Extra for things about which he didn’t know when he/she bid your project. He certainly isn’t going to pay for unidentified portions of your project. Why should he? You, as a typical homeowner represent but one job in hundreds during the Contractors lifetime and he does not want you or anyone to burn him due to inadequately detailed documents from unlicensed, unprofessionals.
Hmmm. Unlicensed. Unregulated. No degrees required. No Experience required.
Why? No requirements for “designers.” No licenses. No oversight. No required degrees. No required apprenticeships with licensed people watching your every move (as is the case with a real architect). No big test to prove your qualifications to the State and the World (I guarantee you real home architects have to take that test, because I did and the pass/fail rate was about 25/75 when I took it, so only the best can become an architect). Some of these “home designer” people have realized that they will appear disenfranchised, and be exposed for what they really are (unlicensed, possibly questionably trained from non-accredited places without supervision of real architects as in an IDP/AIA/NCARB apprenticeship program, and uncertified people designing habitable facilities for human occupation with no licensure), so they have invented “organizations” that in my opinion are there as subterfuge to confuse or deflect public inquiries about their Lack of architectural certifications, with names like: organization of home drawrers (OOHD?), institute of “building designers”, or such things. I have heard from my own clients that they have spoken to some of these designers and that they did not offer any statements about themselves Not being architects, but rather allowed potential clients to believe that they may have been. I know of at least one local house designer who has been severely chastised by the State of North Carolina Board of Architecture to cease and desist such activities and he, at least, now goes out of his way to inform people of his real status. When he first met me, the first words out of his mouth were, “Hello, pleased to meet you, I am not an architect!” Good for him. I am glad that some of this message is getting through. I am not convinced that this is standard operating procedure for others. Be careful out there.
ASK TO SEE THEIR ARCHITECTURAL LICENSE: Do not be misled! Ask them for their license! They either have it or they don’t! By law, it has to be hanging on the wall of their office in a prominent location so that you can see it. If it isn’t there, then they aren’t the real McCoy. Ask them for their proof of membership in authentic architectural organizations like the American Institute of Architects. It is absolutely illegal for any entity to use the word “Architect” or even “Architectural” without having a duly licensed real architect on staff as a senior member of the company. If you don’t see their architectural license, then they aren’t real architects. Also, there are residential designers who don’t create construction documents; leaving it up to others to figure out how to put together and structurally support their design, which means they have no consequences for not planning out their designs logically. I have personally heard from timber frame companies complaining about such entities and the nightmares they have had figuring out how to hold up “designer” plans, adding significant cost to the construction.
So. With whom do you want to entrust your half-million$ or million $ or 2 million $ or 5 million $ or more fine house project? An unlicensed, unregulated person who could be anyone, or someone who has been specially trained at major accredited universities and legitimate graduate schools, through grueling apprenticeships supervised by multiple, older, more experienced licensed architects, and that has passed in the upper portion of people taking a nationally certified architectural qualifications exam and that takes continuing education courses each year and has to update their licenses regularly and that has their activities monitored by the State, and indeed, for some, a national certification architectural agency (NCARB: National Council of Architectural Registration Boards)? Hire the real thing: engage a real home architect.
Will you pay a real home architect more than you would a mere “house designer?” Maybe. Is it worth it? Definitely.
A REAL HOME ARCHITECT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY WITH YOUR HOME DESIGN
Will your home architect save you more money during the bidding and construction of your house due to his/her more detailed documents that are in compliance with governing building codes: this should usually be the case.
A SAD STORY ABOUT A HOME DESIGN FROM AN UNLICENSED SOURCE
I just received an e-mail from a possible client begging me to help him. He said he was in a real mess (his words). He said that his building contractor, who had few qualifications other than what he thought was bargain basement low prices, had gotten to the point of building what was to be his dream home and this client had spent about $950,000 to date (that = nearly a million dollars). The client had noticed several serious problems with his “dream” house and he has just found out that this builder never pulled a building permit and the the drawings he used were slim to none and that many changes were made in the field without any architect or structural input. So, what’s wrong with this picture? Well, the local building department had now discovered this and is telling this builder’s client that he has to demolish the building down to the footings. Can you imagine the heartache this builder’s client must be feeling right now? The sense of betrayal? Here, this builder took his client’s money, to the tune of nearly a million dollars and never even had a proper set of documents and built it however he wanted to, thinking that no one would catch him…But he did get caught. Don’t make a mistake like this! Don’t let your dream be turned into a nightmare by using unlicensed, unregulated people.
A REAL, REGISTERED HOME ARCHITECT WOULD HAVE SOLVED THIS PROBLEM BEFORE IT BEGAN
Would the involvement of a duly degreed, experienced and registered architect have prevented this problem? Definitely. A building permit would have been issued based upon properly documented drawings created by a real professional. The County would have been visiting the jobsite periodically to check the steel reinforcing, the concrete, the wood grade stamps, the steel wind shear connectors, the hold down bolts, the bracing and bridging between the roof and floor trusses, review of the truss engineering, review of proper roofing waterproofing, electrical inspections, plumbing inspections, on and on…
So, the client should have hired a home architect up front and paid him to create proper documents. Will you have to pay him? Of course. Will it cost less than the million dollars wasted on the above sad story? Of course. Will it build in value? Yes.
A REAL LUXURY HOME ARCHITECT IS WORTH IT
Is a real home architect worth it? YES! You are not buying a loaf of bread from a supermarket. Real professionals are not commodities. The difference in the level of service, detail and quality between a real architect and a mere designer is huge. Even though you may spend some more for the real services of a real home architect, you should end up saving what you spend on them during the construction of your house due to fewer surprises and satisfaction of your desired features that you have paid him to incorporate.
AVOID PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CONSTRUCTION LOAN
Once you have obtained your home loan, construction surprises could be a very serious matter. Do yourself a big favor: hire the real thing. Get an Architect. Oh: you also get a better design from a real home architect! Better logic, simpler structural conditions.
Okay, what about Rand Soellner Architect? What’s he got that makes him so special and why I would want to obtain his services to design my house/project?
NCARB Certification: Rand Soellner, AIA/NCARB is not only a licensed architect in several states in the USA, he has a national certification through NCARB. Only the most experienced architects in the USA have this certification. It normally takes about 10 years of successful practice to obtain this certification, due to the stringent requirements. Other licensed architects that are familiar with your talents and experience and your professionalism have to vouch for you in writing, testifying that you know what you are doing. Satisfied clients have to say good things about you. You have to prove that you received your architectural degree from a duly accredited university with comprehensive programs in architectural education. Rand Soellner obtained his NCARB certification in 1990. NCARB is the gold-standard for architectural education and testing throughout the USA and many other countries have adopted their guidelines for certification throughout the World. Because Rand Soellner, AIA/NCARB has this national certification, which is recognized by all states, he can become licensed nearly anywhere in the USA in a matter of a few weeks and has in fact done this is several states, through reciprocity. He has chosen to specialize in residential design, hence, he calls himself a home architect.
Education: Rand Soellner attended the University of Florida architectural school for undergraduate studies in architecture, obtained his Bachelor of Design degree, then attended the U of F Graduate School of Design for his Masters Degree in Architecture. U of F architectural school is run by experienced licensed architects who delight in pointing out your shortcomings and urge you to do better, learn more, and above all, practice, practice, practice. Each of your projects is posted in a wide hallway, for the whole World to walk past and see and numerous licensed architects who are professors and visiting instructors “jury” your projects, saying all sorts of unkind things if you missed anything impacting the health, safety and welfare of the public, not to mention the finer aspects of artistic impressions, functional workability, common sense and value of the design that elevates it to the realm to be worthy of being called “architecture.” Good enough is not discussed. It has to be the best. To be anything less is not acceptable. If you are the sort of person who misses functional things, you will fail. If your projects do not look attractive, you will fail. If you cannot pass certain demanding courses whose main purpose seems to be to flunk out students who are not intelligent enough to handle the demands of beings an architect, you will fail. If you can’t learn to take criticism and learn from it, you will fail. Sometimes it seems that there is an agenda directed at removing those people who aren’t worthy to be called a real architect, along with the fine-tuning of those minds who are. Small wonder so few actually graduate. Having a home architect on your project that has matriculated through this arduous process is a real plus.
It is impressed upon you as an architectural student that you have a sacred mission: that nothing ever may have been built where your project will stand and it may be there for tens or hundreds of years, or even thousands, and it needs to be the best it can possibly be, or else it doesn’t deserve to be built and you fail, crash and burn and can’t be an architect. Rand Soellner had a 3.9 grade point average (out of 4.0 being perfect) in graduate school, going through this process. Professors must have liked his design work. Architectural students have to select a Major. Some select architectural history, mechanical engineering, or other electives. Only the hard core design students pick Architectural Design. Rand Soellner was an Architectural Design major. Of the 500+ students that began this path when Rand began at the University of Florida, only 5 of those original students beginning made it completely through the U of F master’s program in the Design option. Rand Soellner was one of them who made it. Attrition is heavy. Some may decide to become something else, others may change schools, majors, others just don’t want to continue pushing that hard, trying to be only the best they can possibly be. It is grueling.
AIA: Mr. Soellner has designed projects that have received the AIA Design Award of Excellence. His projects have also won energy awards from major power companies for energy conservation, dating all the way back to 1984. The AIA is the organization that has continued to improve the practice of architecture throughout the USA and has set the standards for the World. Rand Soellner also became a member of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) in 1982 and served as the AIA’s Quality Control Task Force Chairman (Central Florida Chapter) for a year, to improve the quality of services that architects provide to clients. Due to his highly experienced background, Rand has also provided educational presentations for other architects through the AIA. The fact that he is a home architect is a real benefit for people wanting this kind of thorough experience on their house project.
Major Experience: Rand Soellner, AIA/NCARB was the architect of record on about half of Jurassic Park for Universal Studios (Orlando Islands of Adventure), and was the architect on projects for NASA, Corps of Engineers, Veterans’ Administration Medical Centers, major developers for housing projects, HUD housing, multiple State and Federal and County agencies, fire stations, high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, industrial facilities, water and sewer plants, restaurants, shopping facilities, themed international resort shopping malls, major airports and has probably forgot about more projects than most architects have done. He has always been working on homes throughout his entire career. That’s how he got started in high school. He has personally worked on the construction of homes. He has designed houses for over 40 years. It’s in his blood, his father’s, grandfather’s, great-grandfather’s and great-great-grandfather’s. He loves designing houses and is very good at it. He is a home architect. Rand brings his powerful nationwide and worldwide commercial, industrial and housing design experience to bear on your residential project! What a wealth of expertise working on your behalf!
People Who Enjoy What They Do are Better at it: Rand Soellner loves designing houses and is passionate about it. He stays up late at night working on his residential projects because he can’t let it go. Every new home project is a real thrill to him and he is energized by the work itself. He is happy in his work and it shows in his designs. His work is famous worldwide for large open views to beautiful scenery, open floor plans, private and spacious master suites, huge kitchens and bunk rooms for kids and a host of other features, arrangements and materials that will make your special as well.
Rand Soellner Wants Your Business: some companies don’t seem to care. He does. He wants your business. He humbly asks you for the privilege of designing your home project and to be your home architect. He appreciates you and your project and will do the best he possibly can to make you happy in his work. He will do everything he can to exceed your expectations. Even the name of his website is: HomeArchitects.com.
Contact for this home architect:
Rand Soellner AIA/NCARB
Rand Soellner Architect
www.HomeArchitects.com
828-269-9046
