ADVOCATE - Residential Construction Advisors

Owner's Representative Services for Luxury Home Construction and Renovation

Whether you are building your dream home or creating value by developing a spec property, luxury home construction requires the coordination of a network of professionals including architects, contractors, engineers, and lenders. Unfortunately, the interests of these professionals are not always directly aligned with those of homeowners. At ADVOCATE, we specialize in representing homeowners to ensure their interests are directly aligned with a team of experienced building professionals.

If an owner is unfamiliar with the homebuilding or remodel process, or doesn't have the time to closely manage a construction project, the potential for cost overruns and disputes greatly increases.

This is compounded if the owner does not engage in a competitive bidding process. Having ADVOCATE involved not only helps to precisely identify, document and reduce the costs involved in the process, but the potential for disputes and delays.

We advocate for transparency to the homeowners and accountability by building professionals. We are singularly focused on streamlining the homebuilding process to protect homeowners’ interests and realizing their vision for their homes.

What Clients and Professionals Say

"Their comprehensive knowledge of home construction and negotiation has helped enhance and simplify every aspect of our project and circumvent all the typical pitfalls."

- Dr. & Mrs. Castro-Marin, Homeowners

“We not only found that ADVOCATE streamlined the construction process and made building our dream home an enjoyable experience which was worth the investment itself, but they also managed to create cost savings well in excess of the fee charged which made it an extraordinary value”

- Michael Morris, Homeowner

"Time is money, and I have no interest in taking time away from my work to evaluate the implications and acquire the knowledge necessary to provide the architects, designers, and contractors with the answers that they need on their timeline and to negotiate to protect my interests. The benefit of hiring ADVOCATE is that I hired an expert to protect my interests while I spend my time focusing on my business and focusing on my family. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have input, it just means that my time is utilized efficiently. Having an ADVOCATE is of great value"

- J.P Dahdah, Homeowner

"ADVOCATE’s involvement in all the details, not only relating to the actual design of the home, but in working with the team in procuring sub-consultants and potential builders, and in assessing and monitoring the construction budget, has been invaluable."

- Mark Candelaria: Candelaria Design

"The high level of coordination, led by the ADVOCATE team, among the architect, designer, engineers, and general contractor is an immeasurable asset to any homeowner that is preparing to build or remodel a home."

- Brett Brimley, Brimley Development

Advocate Goals

Serve as an objective, experienced ADVOCATE to advance the Owner's best interests.

Advise Owners on retention of the best qualified and appropriate project team.
Bridge the knowledge gap and communication between the Owner and professional service providers.
Manage (with the absolute input of the design team) the bid process and contract negotiations to obtain the most cost-effective build without impacting quality.
Reduce overall project costs. Savings include enhanced competitive bidding, contract negotiation, value engineering, reduced change orders, reduction in time, and elimination of unnecessary scope and costs.
Centralize communication with the team members to fully and seamlessly integrate all participants.
Provide realistic and reliable budgets targeting the most cost-effective outcome.
Optimize and accelerate the design and construction schedule.
Provide cost-effective document controls, including contract negotiation, management of payment applications and lien waivers, insurance review, and substantiation of invoices of all project participants to ensure correctness.

We optimize relationships with owners

Building a new home or undertaking a significant remodel is a daunting task and frequently the largest single expenditure of a homeowner’s life. Oftentimes, the owner does not have the experience set or time necessary to effectively manage a building project. Securing an owner-advocate to organize and shepherd the building process, loyal to only to the homeowner, is vital to protecting a homeowners’ interests.

At ADVOCATE, we specialize in bridging the knowledge gap between the owner and professional service providers. We simplify the building process by identifying and coordinating the team of architects, contractors, engineers, and lenders that will turn your vision into reality. We then manage the bid process and contract negotiations to obtain the most cost-effective build without impacting quality. Our goal is to protect your investment and vision, and achieve the highest quality outcome at the lowest possible price.

We optimize relationships with architects

The project architect is frequently the first stop for an owner. Oftentimes, an owner looks to the architect to identify a general contractor. If there is a dispute between the owner and the general contractor during the relationship, it can reflect poorly on the architect and damage relationships with both parties.

Through ADVOCATE’s involvement, the selection of the general contractor is simplified, with the input and suggestions of the architect, and the potential for dispute is greatly reduced. ADVOCATE’s processes and procedures also ensure that any changes to the plans are done in a timely and orderly fashion with the architects input, minimizing inefficient and costly revisions.

We optimize relationships with contractors

ADVOCATE’s bid process focuses on transparency, identifying bid categories with precision, and tailoring work items to the owner’s preferences (allowances). Each bidder plays on a level field. All bids are “apples to apples.” Contractors no longer deal with other contractors who knowingly omit elements they intend to later request by change order. Contractors and homeowners achieve predictability, which in turn creates efficiencies that reduce build time and costs.

We optimize relationships with lenders

Lenders underwrite their construction lending based on the proposed value of the improvements being made. If the proposed costs to be financed are not consistent with the true market costs, the underwriting decision has increased risk.

At ADVOCATE, through the utilization of our competitive bidding services, a lender can make more informed lending decisions.

WE ARE THE OWNER'S ADVOCATE