General

Owner Builder Home Building Services provide specific services to help you build your own home. In this article I would like to focus on choosing the RIGHT Owner Builder Service. For more information on what most of these services provide see my Owner Builder Home Building Services article. When it comes to independent building inspections in commercial and domestic construction, the most astonishing finding is the blind trust in the builders and the owners with mist in their eyes throwing bags of money at a builder in the naïve hope that they will get what they paid for.

As many of you already know I am an advocate of building your own home. I built mine using building contractors and did some of the work myself. This is my opinion is the best way to save maximum money. However, many of you may not have the time or just prefer having a service assist you when building your home. This approach may be the best of both worlds for you saving money and having a professional service assist you. Yes, you will not save as much money, but it may be the best route for you.
Choosing the right Owner Builder Service is paramount to the success of your new home building project. I would suggest doing the following:

• Find at least 3 home building services that you feel fit your needs and are in your budget. Ask up front for a list of fees.
• Gather all the information on each of them prior to any meeting. Do a Google, MSN and Yahoo search engine search on each of the services. You would be surprised what will come up on businesses today in rating services on the Net.
• Call the BBB, Chamber of Commerce and your local city, county and state governments and inquire about complaints that are outstanding and resolved. Also find out if they are in good standing with these organizations.
• After you have found 3 that pass your original inquiries and you are satisfied they are good businesses, then go see them. Don’t do this prior to doing some research. Don’t let fancy websites, brochures, and smooth salesmanship influence you before you have some of the cold hard facts. Remember past performance equals future behavior. If they have had serious problems in the past you probably don’t want to deal with them.
• Do not make a decision in the first sit down meeting with your choices. Make sure you do not sign anything and keep your options open until you have followed up with each one and done further research.

Here are some ideas for questions you need to ask in your meeting with prospective Owner Builder Services:

1. What do you charge for your services? Are the charges figured on a per square foot based on my house? Are they figured on total square footage (under roof) or living area? Or, is it a flat fee? Will you provide me with a written list of your total fees?

2. Do you provide house plans? Are the plans custom house plans that are drawn for you? What are the fees for these plans? How many revisions do you get? What are fees for any revisions (if any)? How long will the plans take to be drawn (get this in writing)? How many copies of the house plans do I receive? Are they complete sets of plans covering all of the trades? What is my recourse if the plans are wrong?

3. What kind of financing do you offer? Do you offer one-time closing options? Do you run all your financing through one bank? Who is that bank? What are the interest rates etc….and what is your commission for acting as my mortgage broker?

4. Do you provide an approved home building contractor list? If so, do they work exclusively for you? Are they all bonded and insured? How big is the list, do you have multiple contractors on your list in each trade? Can I preview the list in your office to examine the size of it before I sign with you? What’s going to happen if I have a problem with a contractor? Will you talk with the contractors and help me resolve my problems with them?

5. Do you come to my building site to give me advice and direction? How often do you come? Will you meet me there so I can learn from your expertise? What exactly will you personally do to help me build my home, i.e. help me lay out my foundation plan, discuss framing problems, etc.

6. Do you offer support and assistance over the phone, by email or fax? How exactly will you respond to me when I need you? Can I ask questions when I need to have them answered? Will there be a qualified building professional available for me to be able to speak to? What is the average response time?

7. Have you, or anyone associated with you, ever been sued, personally or corporately? (If yes, what were the names, date(s), of the person(s) or corporations that were sued.) Do you carry professional liability insurance? May I please have a certificate of insurance issued by the carrier that states the amount of the insurance? The insurance agent can fax it to your office.

8. Can I have a copy of your client list both prior clients and current clients? If they are a reputable service they will be happy to provide you with a list of several of their clients for you to call and ask questions. Go back at least three years.

9. Do you provide written building inspections during my building process and when I am finished building the house?

In your meeting with each home building service take good notes to make sure you can go home and compare each one to the other carefully. Compare apples to apples. Try to be as objective as you can be. Some services don’t mind you tape recording the meetings and phone conversations. Keep a hard copy file of all e-mails.

Call the clients that have used the home building service in the past and the current clients and ask them about their experience.

Take your time choose the best Owner Builder Service you can by researching and doing your homework. After all, they will be helping you build what will be your new home.

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For more free information about building your own home go to my website at [http://www.Build-YourOwn-Home.com].

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You should prepare for any trip you head out on a vacation or business trip. You will get the most value for your buck and enjoy your time thoroughly if you do good research. This article will help you have a great trip. With snowy weather and lots of mountainous ground that’s the reason why I want to get Canada ski packages.

Leave any valuable items of value at home when traveling.

When you go overseas, you should be aware of the taxi companies in the city. You want to ensure it’s a real taxi.

Do not expect an airline will make you as comfortable as necessary on a flight. If you think they will come in handy, a blanket and a pillow to be comfortable while flying, a light blanket and comfortable headphones. You should also bring enough snacks along in case the airline meals are a flop.

When taking a cruise, search for lodgings where you can park at no cost and make reservations for the night before departure.You may want to contact the hotel administration about potential deals that they offer on parking deals.

If the venue you want to go to offers online ticketing, head to its website and see if it is possible to buy and print tickets from there. The small fee for this service is well worth it to avoid long lines. If the park uses a timed entry system, you can generally bypass these, too.

Check the websites of your airline to get the best price.Sometimes they have the discount travel websites.

Always keep your most important belongings on hand when traveling.Do not use bags with easy access to any of the pockets. These are all points to be considered when shopping for a safe bag for your travels.

Let a family access to the travel itinerary. This is a great tip because it ensures that someone knows where you are doing. Stay in touch with that contact with them as well. They will know you’re safe if they hear from you.

Travel can be used as a great way of educating your family members. As long as you’re cautious, you should feel confident about visiting developing nations, as they can offer extremely enlightening experiences for your children and you.

You never know that the weather will turn out. A great example of making the most of what you have is using a raincoat for cold weather, and even a bathrobe for your hotel stay.

Use melted hotel ice to brew your coffee in the morning. The tap water might not be that tasty, so just fill the bucket before you go to bed so it can melt as you sleep. You can brew tasty coffee in the morning.

Avoid rush hour traffic when setting out on your trip. If it’s not possible to avoid rush hour, use that time to stop for a break. This is the time to go grab a snack or let your children run around for awhile.

Sleeping pills or tranquilizers can get you through those long red-eye flights. A lot of people find it hard to sleep on planes, because the seats aren’t beds, uncomfortable seats and aircraft noise. Try taking sleeping pills to make your flight if you have trouble falling asleep otherwise. Don’t have the pill before the plane takes off, as there may be a delay or problem that requires a return.

Sometimes you will end up at a less than nice hotel. Bring a rubber doorstop for safety.You can place it underneath your room door at night to add security beyond the main chain and lock.

Sign up for online newsletters offered by most major airlines you like to use to fly. The savings you get from these newsletters make up for having to deal with a few more items in your inbox.

Try to get local rates at the hotels when you travel. Hotels often cater to locals with deals to local citizens in an attempt to fill their rooms. If there is someone you know in the city you will be visiting, contact them too see if they are aware of any special deals. This technique can save you a significant amount of money.

Your vacation can turn into a nightmare if you do not take the time to do some research before planning.Read online reviews on the web from others who have stayed there before. This helps you stay away from visiting bad parts of town and experiences that aren’t desirable.

Think about different transportation you’re going to use. Buses aren’t like they used to be.You can find package deals from some bus lines that will make your planning a cinch.

Don’t forget those important medication. You won’t be able to get the medication you need.

Give your travel itinerary to a trusted family member or friend when you travel. Include all the places and people you will visit, anyone that you plan to visit along with the telephones and addresses.

Contact lenses should be in a useful container for traveling. You can keep small bit of hair gel or lotion inside to last through the trip.

Make sure the clock radio in your hotel room works before you go to sleep. You have no way of knowing what the alarm is not going to go off during the night and wake you up.

Long flights can certainly be taxing.You can avoid this by taking a flight that gets to your destination at the same time of morning you usually get up. ) and rest as much as you can on the flight. You will wake up feeling good and ready for a new day.

This way, even if your luggage gets lost and external tags are detached, even if just one piece gets lost.

If you decide to have a camping trip, it is important that you obtain and carry maps of the locations you plan to visit.

Most of these suggestions are applicable for various forms of travel. Keep this advice in mind as you put together your travel plans. You’ll spend less time worrying about problems, and will have lots of time to enjoy yourself.

New York, NY – The hunt for business logo makers is a perennial one. No start-up or small venture today can do business without possessing this cherished symbol of their dream product or service. Logo International, a boutique design firm, has now launched its free 3D logo maker, an online tool that makes it easy for anyone to get a logo done within minutes. Use our logomaker.com to change your logo in real time.

The free 3D logo maker is the essential tool that all graphic designers and business owners were waiting for. Many find it difficult to create a professional logo without spending loads of money. The free 3D logo maker comes with all the necessary resources that are needed to get a logo done. With thousands of logo templates, users can select the right theme for their business, create the logo in real time, and receive the file within hours by paying a small amount.

The free online 3D logo maker has been created with the help of professional designers who have worked with global branding companies. The tool is multi-lingual, and allows prominent and visible graphic logo design, with customizable size, text, colors, font types and more. For those looking for premium quality designs, the website provides an exclusive logo store as well.

“Free and simple, I’ve created my logo in less than 5 minutes,” said a recent online client. Logo International is a boutique graphic design studio with a focus on free logo making software. The company aims to allow small business owners to design their own high-quality logos at a low cost. Logos designed with the free 3D logo maker can be used on business cards, letterheads, websites, or on social media pages.

“Excellent service, speedy turnaround. Highly recommend for anyone needing a professional quality logo at a very reasonable price,” said a recent customer.