WISE OWL HOME PLANS

We have worked with Jim Wise at Wise Owl Home Plans for many years. His talent & creativity are apparent in the plans he draws, whether it is a small guesthouse or a custom 5000 square foot home. At the first meeting, it is apparent that he is courteous & a professional to work with.

Like any building project the blueprinting took several months to complete. The staff did the best they could to get us scheduled in around what worked for us, even allowed us to bring our two little ones in.

Extremely well. Worked with our vision for the shop, including skylights, a bathroom, and a look similar to our home.

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Victor came by. He was very professional and knowledgeable. However, the estimate given was only for the as-built drawings and not for the entire project. Only after the as-builts were completed and they sat down with me and spouse to narrow my project down with me then give me an estimate for designing the project. It was explained that the as-builts would be for me to keep regardless of whether I chose to use them or not for the final project. Thus, I could not compare their prices to anyone else's and would already be deep into the project with them. He also wanted to bring in his own builder for first dibs which I did not have a problem with, although he seemed rather pushy about that. The biggest reason I went with someone else is because of how he answered one of my questions. I live in a really nice neighborhood and I think some builders get $$ in their eyes when they come here. When I asked "How much do you think this project will cost (range)?" his answer was "How much do you think it will cost?" Cha-ching! While I may not be poor, I am not rich. I'm looking for a bargain, not to pay the total retail price. I was VERY confident that they would do a great job and give me a great product. The builder he was bringing in had a great reputation. Also, Victor bragged that the software they had would have me taking an 3-dimensional walk through my home before the plans were through, which sounds pretty cool! I guess I will just have to use my own imagination!

Jim Wise at Wise Owl did a great job designing our new home. He listened to our ideas and incorporated them into a beautiful home design. His virtual design process is a real advantage. He uses software that allows you to see the design in 3D while you are meeting with him, and changes to the design are made real time. This really speeds up the design process. Jim's experience in home construction is a plus, as the final design was "builder friendly" and our builder had very few questions. When he did, Jim responded quickly. It was a great experience working with Jim on the design and now that construction is wrapping up, we're very happy with how the house turned out.

Even though my project was relatively simple, Jim proposed multiple architectural variations for me to consider. He drafted two preliminary plans, one for shed dormer, and one for gable dormer so we could choose. I got to see these plans in 3D mock-ups, and got the final architectural plans emailed in pdf, and mailed print-outs. After the final plans were complete, Jim even took input from my building contractor to revise the plans free of charge. He again updated my plans a third and fourth time based on feedback from the framer about a concern for headroom and costs of lateral engineering (per earthquake codes). Jim guranteed the plans would be permitted by the city, and worked with my builder to minimize building costs. I highly recommend Jim to others.

Pretty good, we had some technical difficulties sending drawing files but we were able to work around those issues.

Jim Wise was extremely helpful from the start. His "virtual" design software was very helpful in determining how this project should be put together. His bid was not the lowest, but also not the highest, by far. In the end, I definitely got my money's worth. He was very candid in advising me of some of the difficulties I might run in to when adapting new building techniques and construction codes to a home that was built without the newer procedures. And of course, some small problems did show up-- but each time Jim was quick to return my calls, or even show up at the job site to discuss what should be done. I began this project as a novice, but learned a lot and saved money in the end by his continued support as the project moved along. I really do believe that he made extra effort to assist me beyond my expectations of the service for which I paid him.

Jim was quite easy to work with. He is very personable and listens well. When we had significant concerns about his initial plan proposal for our project he "re-imagined" the project given our further input. On the whole we have been quite happy with the product.

In addition to his design expertise, Jim has experience as a general contractor and has worked in a lumber yard supporting home building. This experience along with a good bit of patience was critical to the succcessful designing of our project. He was able to point out the construction and cost pitfalls and suggest workable aternatives. He has multiple contacts in the industry and used them to verify the design and well as point us in the right direction for hiring contractors. We are pleased with the final design or our home and have had several compliments on the result. Jim was easy to work with and has a way of gently directing you along the best path.

Great... see above.

The project went excellent. The great thing about Jim is that he has experience as a general contractor. Not only did he and his team do a good job with the plans but he also had many recommendations on how to plan things that would be easy to build. This in turn kept the cost down and was a great overall project. In addition, he was able to get the prints drawn under "prescriptive path" which enable me to get all permits without any engineering cost saving me over $2K! The permits went off without a hitch.