Why you should hire an architect

Date: 07/31/2007

By Lief Simon

Renovating a property anywhere can be a tough task. Doing it in a foreign country requires one part dream, one part adventure, one part persistence, and one part crazy. To date, I have renovated five properties in five countries…and I still have enough crazy in me to be working on a sixth.

You can dream about the perfect retirement or vacation home, or dream that you could make a profit while having some fun. But don't let the profit side of the equation be the driving force when making the decision to renovate-unless you are a professional.

Renovating old apartments and houses offers you a chance to create your perfect, charming oasis. It is fun to work on layouts and drawings with the architect, choosing materials for the floor, shopping for kitchen cabinets. However, once the construction crew gets started, you'll wonder why you ever thought renovating was a good idea. This is where the persistence comes in.

You will run into numerous unknown problems as they start breaking into walls, taking out pipes, or sanding down painted doors. It is these unknown problems that will inevitably cause delays as your plans have to be reconfigured. And it is these unknown problems that will likely double your budget at a minimum.

You won't know what problems may arise until you get started with the actual work. Three years ago, my apartment building in Paris was renovated. The construction crew knocked down the plaster in the ceiling to redo it. They found a rotten beam that needed to be replaced, as it supported the outside wall and they feared the entire building might tumble down. Talk about delays.

The key to a successful renovation is the professionals you hire. You can try to hire the workers and manage them yourself, you can hire a project manager to manage everything, or you can hire an architect. The cost goes up for each successive choice, but hiring an architect that has experience renovating is always the best choice. In most cases, they will save you more money than they charge, between the discounts they get and the mistakes they will help you avoid.

When I renovated an apartment in Buenos Aires, I was pressed for time to find someone to manage the project. The most responsive choice was an architect who not only spoke English, but also understood English. There is a difference. I was hesitant to hire her because I thought her fees were too high. But I decided to go for it because she was highly recommended and had worked with foreign clients before.

Alicia Sujoy is Lief's architect in Argentina. E-mail: arqsujoy@arnet.com.ar. The architect in Croatia is Lovorko Slamar; e-mail: lse@pu.t-com.hr; website www.golf-tar.com.

That was the best decision. I didn't have to make any special trips to follow up during the renovation. As the work progressed, she sent dozens of photos along with explanations of the work and the status of the project. When decisions had to be made for finishes like tiles and paint, she sent photos of samples with description of texture, etc.

The Argentina project came in over budget by less than 20%, which in my experience is pretty good.

I used a project manager for the renovation of my apartment in France. Long story short, the final cost was about three times the original estimate. Granted we made some changes along the way as you always do with a renovation, but nothing that would have tripled the total cost. In the end, the apartment is exactly as we wanted it and it cost about the same as what a professional architect in Paris estimated. So the financial expense was the same, but the headaches were more.

When I bought another apartment in Argentina directly below the first apartment, I called the architect and had her work up the plans and the estimate. She did the second apartment without my visiting the country once during the renovation. In fact, the apartment rented right away after it was completed. I didn't see the finished project for more than a year-but when I did, I was more than satisfied with the work. The project came in less than 10% over budget, mostly because it was a complete gut job, which is always easier to estimate.

My next project? Renovating a house in Istria, Croatia. The architect is hired. The plans are done. We're just waiting on approval for permits before we can proceed. The house now is but bare stone walls. I am pretty sure the architect's budget will be right on target, since there aren't many mysteries to uncover.

Bio
Lief Simon is an international real estate investor and consultant. Over the past 10 years, he has invested in real estate in more than a dozen countries, from Argentina to Thailand. You can contact Lief directly by e-mail at: ILlief@liefsimon.com