5 Important Things to Check Before Hiring an Architect

Many homeowners come to us after the damage is done — thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars spent with architects who left them frustrated, stuck, and no closer to building. Here’s the truth: the right architect doesn’t just shape your drawings. They shape the entire experience around them. Before you hand anyone a deposit, ask these five questions.

01 How long until you actually see revisions?

Picture this: you send your changes, then wait. And wait. Homeowners tell us they’ve gone weeks — sometimes months — just to get updated drawings back. Every delay kills your momentum. Ask exactly how fast updates are delivered before you sign a thing.

02 Are revisions secretly limited?

Here’s where it gets expensive. Most contracts quietly cap revisions at 2, 3, or 4 rounds. After that? Every single change becomes another invoice. But designing a home is a living, evolving process — so know exactly how revisions work before the surprises start.

03 Will they actually answer you?

There’s nothing worse than feeling ignored — questions sent into silence, drawings that come back ignoring everything you asked for. The design of your own home should feel like a conversation, not a one-way street.

04 Is it a real buildable plan — or just a pretty picture?

Imagine paying thousands, then discovering your beautiful floor plan can’t actually be built. It happens all the time. Before you hire anyone, confirm exactly which drawings you get — and whether the plan is truly ready for construction.

05 Will they vanish when building begins?

The hardest questions come mid-build, when your contractor is standing on site, waiting. And this is exactly when some architects disappear. Make sure their support carries you through the build — not just up to the drawings.

A WORD FROM EXPERIENCE

Demand unlimited revisions and fast delivery.

Some of our clients refined their plans more than 100 times over six months before they were truly ready to build. Now imagine each of those revisions took weeks to come back — that same dream home would’ve taken three or four years to reach the shovel. Before you choose anyone, make sure they offer unlimited revisions and fast turnaround.

Anything less, and your dream home becomes a waiting game.