Outside Expertise

Firm helps people serve as their own general contractors

DETROIT, MI (Sunday, February 12, 2006) - For people wanting to build a home, it can be a bit of a quandary. They possess neither the funds to hire a general contractor nor the expertise to run the job themselves.

It's the kind of situation that can prevent them from building at all.

Enter UBuildIt, a Kirkland, Wash.-based company that recently opened franchises in Shelby Township and Brighton to assist homeowners with the building process. In little more than a year, they've helped clients get 19 homes under way in metro Detroit, including several in Oakland County.

"We're unbaised advocates," said Kevin Reilly, owner of the UBuildIt-Brighton office, which opened in September 2005. "We're looking out for the best interest and trying to help them avoid making mistakes."

UBuildIt, which was started in 1988, now has 114 offices in 31 states. Other Michigan offices are Okemos and Grand Rapids.

With UBuildIt's system, homeowners act as their own general contractors — responsible for liability insurance, for scheduling subcontractors and for making sure they obtain all the needed permits and inspections. UBuildIt provides a manual with schedules and checklists, conducts site visits to point out code violations, and connects clients with a network of area contractors.

"Homeowners are managing their own projects," said Reilly, a former auto and aerospace engineer who opened his franchise after building his own home, hiring staff with building expertise. "By managing it themselves, they can save 5 to 30 percent."

The savings start with UBuildIt's fee, Reilly said. While general contractors typically keep, 18 percent to 22 percent of a new home's cost for overseeing the building process, UBuildIt — because it is assuming far less responsibility — charges a fee of 5 percent to 8 percent, he said.


This Oakland Township home is being built by the homeowners with the assistance of UBuildIt.

Additional cost-cutting comes as the result of negotiated prices with subcontractors and materials suppliers in UBuildIt's network, said Pete Moceri, owner of the Shelby Township office, which opened in November 2004. UBuildIt has national contracts with Sears and Sherwin-Williams for discounted home products, he said.

"Then, you can do some of the work yourself," Moceri said. "If they want to do their own flooring and save money, if they want to do their own insulation, it's up to them. It's geared towards somebody who wants to be involved. It's not for somebody who wants to cut a check and (say) 'Call me when it's done.'"

A Brighton company called Help2Build tried a similar business model, as an independent, in 2003. However, the business failed in 2005.

"That business didn't take off as well as we hoped it would," said David Lieberman, who founded the company, but spent little on advertising. "The type of people that wanted to save money by not using a builder wanted to nickel and dime everything. I think it was too specific a niche to catch on."

Lieberman said he suspects UBuildIt will be more successful because of its national advertising reach.

Moceri and Reilly said they're unaware of any current competitors for UBuildIt in this market.

Mike and Kacy Bailey contracted with UBuildIt in 2004 when they decided to expand their then-1,100-square-foot Troy home to the 2,700-square-foot structure it's grown to today. They gutted the inside, remodeled and put on a two-story addition.

"Basically, we couldn't afford to hire a contractor," said Mike Bailey, whose home renovation was completed in October 2005. "We had quotes by contractors who could do the whole job, and it literally ended up being twice what we paid."

Despite some initial hesitations, the two General Motors Corp. engineers tackled the job of their lives. The couple which lived with Mike Bailey's parents for about 10 months, scheduled subcontractors, took a swing at demolition, handled painting and cleanup and even much of the electrical work.

"It was kind of like working two jobs," Bailey said. "It was stressful, but in the end, it was worth it, for sure. I'm really glad we did it."

UBuildIt's contribution was providing quality contractors, helping the couple stick to a time line and pointing out issues on the site that needed to be addressed, Bailey said.

"We probably saved more money in the end than we would have had we not used UBuildIt," he said.

The goal isn't necessarily to wind up with the least expensive house, said Moceri, a former automotive engineer who has been a licensed builder since 1991, completing 15 homes through another building company he owns.

"Some of the people, instead of putting money in their pocket, they're taking the money and putting it into upgraded materials." Moceri said. "It's a way to get a lot more house for their money."

Adds George Boechler, a construction consultant for the UBuildIt-Shelby office who has worked in the building industry for 23 years, "They're building essentially what amounts to their dream home. They're looking for an upgrade in quality."

One of Moceri's clients is putting up a 3,450-square-foot home in Oakland Township with a turreted ceiling in a child's room, a two-story great room, a spacious master suite and a mud room/locker room. The four-bedroom home also will have a home office and a three-car garage with a bonus room above.

The homeowner has expressed interest in doing site cleanup and installation of hardwood floors, but a hectic work schedule may change some of those plans, Boechler said.

"He always has the flexibility to bring a contractor in," he said.

UBuildIt also offers customers flexibility when contractors don't live up to expectations, Moceri said.

"If the customer wants to fire the subcontractor, we have more than one rough carpentry crew (for example)," he said.

Working with UBuildIt also prevents homeowners, as onetime customers, from falling through the cracks when subcontractors get busy, Moceri said. Tradesmen sometimes fail to show up at job sites when work for bigger customers becomes available.

If that happens to a UBuildIt customer, the subcontractor falls out of the company network and loses future referrals.

"If one of the subcontractors doesn't call, doesn't show up, we have clout." Moceri said.

Adds Reilly, "Those that have a high level of customer service will be those we do business with at the end of the day."

Reprinted with permission of The Oakland Press
Article Run Date: Feb. 12, 2006 - Section E
Author: Doug Henze

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