How to Choose a Real Estate Development and Construction Advisor

Congratulations! You’ve identified your next project with BC Group, your top real estate construction advisors. Now you need to identify the team that will help you bring your vision to life. Before construction begins, your team may be helping with a variety of tasks including site selection, zoning, design, setting and breaking down a budget for the project and more. Project managers will also oversee contractors, subcontractors, architects and others working on the project. 

Managing a team of this size requires not only experience, but reliability. Our team knows the ins and outs and what it takes to complete projects of this size. Management of all smaller teams and individual contractors is also a challenge that we take on as it requires excellent people and organizational skills along with personal experience with the tasks or services they are fulfilling.

Here are five areas to consider as you decide who will represent you in this crucial role.

What is their experience with similar projects?
Every type of project is different. You don’t want to hire a firm whose primary experience is with renovations to be your representative for an out of the ground new building. Ask the right questions upfront, get references, and understand their portfolio of similar projects. Your team will also be able to make adjustments as needed, especially as the project moves from one stage to the next. These tasks include managing new employees, shifting focus on construction materials, maintaining schedule for the property and processing payments throughout. This is a broad and varied list of skill sets and you need to make sure each skill is represented with the depth of experience on the team you select.

Do they have the bandwidth to devote to your project?
Good real estate development & construction advisors  will be in high demand, but make sure they have enough time to devote to your project. Their primary responsibility will be to make sure your project is completed with your program and visual goals while coming in on time and on budget, and no milestones are missed. It’s a big responsibility and you need to ensure the time is available from their team.

Can they be flexible and fill just the roles you need if you have in-house team members for some of them?
How will they be at working with your team? Has the firm you are considering always done comprehensive project management or have some roles filled by employees of the developer that they needed to interact with? You need to make sure they have experience in the type of role you want them to play for you. They are your representative in meeting rooms, online conferences and on-site and they will need to work well with your team, as needed, to ensure the project is built to your specifications.

Will their decisions and reporting be transparent so you are kept apprised of everything at all times?
This is an area where surprises are bad. You need to make sure the reports and recommendations you’re getting are reliable, timely, and comprehensive. Anything less isn’t good enough.

Do they have good references from past clients?
In addition to their experience in particular areas, these certified professionals should have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. How did they do with previous clients? Were good decisions made and was communication smooth? A good firm should not be afraid to share some references with you.