MT BACHELOR DESIGN STUDIO

I recently purchased a second home in Sunriver, and we looking to add some additional square footage and garage to make our home more roomy. The house was built in the 70's and has some problems, so I sought out MBDS for their cool designs displayed on their website. I gave them my budget and wish list, and they delivered a spectacular product however the bids came 140K over budget. So we went back to the drawing board, and came up with a scaled back version of the original design. MBDS sent over another bill for the changes and then I started asking questions about how much it was going to cost to finish the design and provider a final setup of plans to be submitted to the HOA. At this point, I realized that MBDS is way out of my price range as over 10% of my budget was going towards architecture & engineering fees. I think we came to an understanding that I need to move on, and MBDS provide all the work in the appropriate files and I sought out another architect. Howard and his team are experienced, hands-on, and really cater to the clients individual needs. They would agree to make regular meetings sometimes on a whim, and were very accommodating and responsive to phone calls and email. They also have a network of contractors and engineers which were somewhat useful to have access to along the way, and with all that being said, so do other architects. MBDS's hourly rate is pretty standard, however a major cost by MBDS had to do with 3D models which after working with another architect I saw him click one button and I was provided a 3D model in seconds at no additional charge. I was stunned and felt ripped off my MBDS once I saw this. Maybe this new architect has better technology and allows him to do things more efficiently. The lesson here is get at least 3 bids, which I did not do, and make sure the architect understands general construction costs and can stick to your budget.