$200 / HR · NET 30
A SECOND
OPINION.
One project, one read, in writing. You bring the drawings, the bids, or the bad feeling. I tell you what is actually in front of you.
CONSULTATION
- RATE
- $200.00 / hr, flat
- INCREMENT
- 0.25 hr (quarter hour)
- TERMS
- Net 30
- FIRST RESPONSE
- Inside one business day
THE PROBLEM
THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU THE NUMBER
PROFITS FROM IT.
You have a price, a drawing, or a gut feeling, and no way to check any of them. Everyone you can ask has a stake in the answer. That is not a conversation you can win alone, and it is not worth hiring a full-time representative to settle.
WHAT YOU GET
ON THE INVOICE.
- A walk of the property or the drawings, in person, or a screen share if it is out of reach
- Bid leveling: every number pulled onto the same written scope so you are comparing the same house
- A written read-back inside one business day, yours to forward to anyone
- Named risks, ranked. What actually threatens the budget and the date
- A market read on what the work should cost in Richmond, from someone who has bought it a hundred times
- A straight answer on whether the project is worth doing at all
HOW THE ENGAGEMENT RUNS
How the engagement runs
Send the file
Address, drawings, bids, photos, whatever you have. Fifteen minutes of your time.
I scope the block
You get the estimated hours before I start. Expect a single-property consultation to run two to four.
I walk it
On site where I can be, on a screen where I cannot. I take notes as I go, not after.
Read-back in writing
A written summary inside one business day of the walk. Plain language, no jargon tax.
WHAT IT COSTS
$200 / HR
Flat, billed to the quarter hour. Expenses at cost with the markup shown as its own line. Expect a single-property consultation to run two to four hours. You get the estimated block before I start, and you hear from me before I pass it, not after.
WHAT THIS IS NOT
NOT
INCLUDED.
The exclusions matter as much as the scope. Anything on this list is either a different hire or a different contract, and you should hear that before you pay for an hour of it.
- Construction. If we end up building it, that is a separate contract and a separate number.
- Stamped drawings or engineering. I will tell you when you need an engineer. I am not one.
- An appraisal. You get a builder's read on value, not a licensed opinion of it.
- Legal advice. I will tell you what a contract clause means on a job site. A lawyer tells you what it means in court.
- Permit filing or agency representation unless we scope it as its own engagement.
QUESTIONS
STRAIGHT ANSWERS.
- Can you look at bids I already have?
- That is the most common reason to call. Send all of them plus the scope you were given. Three bids that look forty thousand dollars apart usually turn out to be three different scopes, and once they are leveled the real spread is a lot smaller, or a lot worse.
- Will you tell me not to do it?
- If that is the answer, yes. You are paying for the read, not for permission.
- Do you consult on projects you might also want to build?
- I will tell you up front if I want the build, and you are free to hire someone else for the read. You should never take advice from the person bidding the work without knowing that is what is happening.
- How fast can you get to it?
- First response inside one business day. A site walk usually lands inside the week, depending on the calendar.
- I am out of state. Does that work?
- Out-of-state owners are exactly who this is for. I walk the property, photograph it, and we go through it on a screen the same day. Being the person physically in the house is what you are paying for.
OTHER SHEETS
Other consulting sheets
Tell me what you are looking at.
First response inside one business day. Nothing bills until we have agreed there is an engagement and you have seen the estimated hours.
Rather talk it through? Call or text (804) 720-1286.