Let’s face it. Not everyone should choose us. We aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and we don’t want to be. We do what we love, and we love what we do, and we only want to work with people who want the kind of service that we provide.

A little bit about us: We favor Quality over Quantity. What does that mean? It means we aren’t cheap. We try not to be the most expensive, but quality comes at a cost. We don’t shy away from this fact. We do our best to provide Quality Craftsmanship at a reasonable cost.

Different contractors work in different ways, and how a contractor works is the largest determining factor in what we charge. Most contractors won’t be perfectly transparent with you about how they work and how they charge, but we will. Right here, right now.

What is a General Contractor?

First and foremost is to understand what a General Contractor is. A General Contractor is a Contractor who manages Service Contractors and works with Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, Town Officials and their Customers as Partners to manage Construction Projects.

The General Contractors primary responsibilities include rough estimating the cost of building, getting quotes from Service Contractors for detailed and accurate estimates, obtaining the general building permit for the project, ordering materials for delivery, scheduling Service Contractors, managing the daily progress and maintaining communication with all Partners and Contractors, Collecting payments from the Customer as needed and paying Vendors and Contractors as needed, taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong and fixing it especially in circumstances where the Service Contractor at fault is failing to, and more.

In other words, a General Contractor is more like an enterprise of many small businesses all working together where the General Contractor is like the General Manager. A General Contractor may or may not hire Project Managers to help manage projects, especially if they become very busy and need to expand.

How do General Contractors Price?

This being a full-time job requires a good, livable wage in return by modern standards. It’s also a business and needs to provide for it’s business expenses. Also, as a business, it needs to have an adequate profit margin to enable growth. Last, but not least, we need to account for a Contingency on every project in the event of Change Orders for any multitude of reasons.

This leaves us with the following:

Service Contractor Cost + all Permit Fees, Material Expenses, and other Fees = X

Project Contingency = 10% of X. You don’t pay this to us directly unless there are Change Orders. You hold this in Escrow for the eventuality. Banks want to see their customers have an extra 5-10% of the total extra on hand. At 10% of X this falls somewhere between 5-10% of the total.

Management Fee = 10% of X. Essentially the perfect formula calculating Payroll expenses for the duration of the project. If a GC only has one project, it’s their payroll. If they have multiple projects and Project Managers, it’s divided between the two layers of management to provide for everyone’s payroll.

Profit Margin = 10% of X. This is for our business expenses, from which we hope to have some left over each year to put towards future growth or the next pandemic.

We probably should be charging more. Some General Contractors do charge more than us. Some charge less. We reserve to right to update these prices in the future, but for now, this is where they are.

So, for example, let’s say you want to build a house and the total Cost of X = $750,000

That means you need to hold $75,000 in escrow or savings for the Contingency.

There will be $75,000 in Management Fees paid on a roughly monthly basis.

The Profit Margin will be $75,000, which will be held for final payment.

Add that all up for a total of $960,000 you need to have on hand for the project.

With any luck, you get to keep the $75,000 Contingency, but I wouldn’t count on it. Better to expect the maximum and be pleasantly surprised than to expect the minimum and unpleasantly surprised.

It’s also important to keep in mind that this contingency provides for the vast majority of average cases. There are times, however rare, when Changes Orders, for any plethora of reasons, may exceed that value. We can allow that to eat our profits to some degree if necessary, but beyond a certain point, we won’t be able to take the hit anymore, and will need to charge you above the Maximum Price to reimburse at least some of the additional charges. Always keep in the back of your mind that it while it is unlikely, it could happen to you too.

And now that we’ve covered the big “numbers” question, allow us to talk about our passion for a minute.

Our Passions as Custom Home Builders

When we say we’re Custom Home Builders, we mean truly Custom. We don’t have a select few designs for you to choose from that we manipulate. We allow our customer to take full creative expression. We’ll build whatever our customers want, as long as an Engineer signs off on it. That said, if you are into it, here’s our favorite design principles.

Maharishi Vastu Vedic Architecture

Have you ever heard of Maharishi Vastu Vedic Architecture? It’s not very well known. It certainly isn’t mainstream. But there are bodies of vedic knowledge of architecture that speak of how different shapes, sizes proportions, and arrangements have different effects, some beneficial, others detrimental, and then details and explains the most beneficial of each and why.

Being that it is of vedic knowledge which stems from yoga, it is all based on their ancient understanding of Natural Law. They, for example, describe how building facing a certain direction can support Enlightenment and Affluence, while facing a different direction can support disease and frustration. Or how adding what they call a Brahmasthan (means “the heart of”) in the center of a building and a fence at a certain proportionate distance around the building, creates a life supporting field.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the one who compiled all the different vedic texts on the subject into a singular whole and complete discipline has created schools for Architects and Designers. While I wish I had the time to attend such schools myself and become such an Architect, I can still build houses that have been designed by one.

You can learn more about Maharishi Vastu Vedic Architecture here. If you would like to get started with a Vastu House, you would just need to follow the simple steps below before contacting us.

Step 01: You need to find suitable piece of land, small or large, but don’t yet buy it. Then contact your local office of Fortune Creating Homes by visiting the website at: Getting Started With Vastu Design – Maharishi Vastu Homes.

Step 02: Maharishi Sthaptaya Veda Vastu consultants will evaluate the suitability of your land. Send them a site plan or map together with Google place-marker (kmz). They will also prepare a preliminary site plan for you.

Step 03: Before buying the land, contact your local building authorities. Check with them to determine whether the proposed site plan and orientation of your building will be in accord with local zoning regulations.

Step 04: Apply for a consultation through Maharishi Vastu. An authorized Vastu consultant will lead you through the steps of planning and construction of your house in accord with Vastu principles.

Step 05: Select a design from the portfolio of Maharishi Vastu Homes according to your needs, budget and taste at: Vastu Design Concepts – Maharishi Vastu Architecture. Keep in mind that floor plans and facades of most designs can be adjusted if necessary. In addition to ancient Vastu principles the trained Vastu consultant offers advise on the latest in green building technologies for a healthier home environment and the best quality of life.

Step 06: Work with us to estimate and perform the construction of your property in coordination with the architect, town officials and an engineer, if necessary.

For more information on Maharishi Vastu Architecture, visit the website at: Maharishi Vastu Architecture | Vastu homes, offices

Building Biology

Our final passion, for those who care or really need it due to their health conditions, is we love building Healthy Homes. I am currently studying Building Biology through the textbook “A Healthy House – A Practical Guide for Architects, Builders and Homeowners” – 4th Edition by Paula Baker-Laporte, FAIA, and John Banta, CIH. Hopefully, one day I will have time to take the certification course provided by the Institute for Building Biology.

I, myself, have an autoimmune condition that makes me deathly allergic to many toxins. So, I know what it is like to live with a health condition inside homes that do not fully support your health. Which means I understand the importance of living in an environment that fully supports your health, especially if you have a health condition, which is becoming more common in this country.

All Vastu Architecture homes are designed and built with Building Biology standards in mind. But if Vastu Architecture isn’t your style, we can still provide Building Biology standards if you want them. Otherwise, we can provide standard high quality building practices regardless of your preference. Learn more about Building Biology here.

Hope this Helped

We look forward to working with you soon. When you’re ready, if you’re not now, feel free to give us a call at 860-817-7191 or schedule your consultation by clicking here. If you’re not ready now, go ahead and program our number into your phone for future reference.

To learn more about us, please read our About Us page.