OWNER'S REPRESENTATIVE

What I Do

As an Owner's Representative, I provide transparency to the entire project and the project team. Much like a guided tour through a museum you have never visited: I walk beside you the whole way, stop at every exhibit, and explain what you are looking at so you can decide what you want.

Building a custom home means hundreds of decisions, most of them in a language you have not had to speak before. Your architect will ask questions about structure, layout, and how you live. Your engineer will hand you drawings. Your interior designer will need selections on a deadline. The county will send revisions. I sit with you through all of it. When you know the answer, I help you say it clearly. When you do not, I can answer for you.

I look at every cost with one question in mind: is this money going toward the best interests of my clients and their home? The goal is to get the most out of every dollar without spending on things that will not matter to you or to the next buyer.

I provide transparency. Architects, engineers, designers, agents, and builders all do their jobs better when the owner is informed, organized, and able to decide. That is what I provide, and it makes their work easier too. I work on your behalf from the first site visit to the day you receive your keys, and I never bid on construction for a project I represent, so my only interest is your outcome.

Scope of Services

Site and Feasibility Assessment of a lot or teardown before you make an offer: soils, utilities, setbacks, tree and stormwater requirements, and a realistic cost to build. If you already own the site, a program and budget that fit it.

Team Selection Help choosing the architect, engineers, and builder suited to your project, and a bid process that compares proposals on the same terms so the numbers mean something.

Contract Review Review of design and construction agreements before signature, with the terms that cost owners money identified and the changes to request.

Budget and Cost Control A project budget maintained from design through closeout and updated as decisions are made, so you always know where you stand and what a change will cost before you approve it.

Scheduling Review of the design and construction schedules against your move-in objectives, tracked and adjusted throughout the project.

Construction Oversight Regular site visits and walkthroughs, attendance at construction meetings, quality checks against the drawings, and review of every payment application so you pay for work that is complete and correct.

Change Order Management Each change reviewed for necessity, pricing, and whether it was already covered by the contract.

Decision Support The information you need, distilled into plain recommendations, so you can make decisions quickly and without second-guessing.

Written Reports A monthly report covering progress, budget, schedule, open items, and decisions needed, plus cost reports, cash flow projections, and punch lists as the project requires.

Insurance and Draw Coordination Coordination with your insurance advisor and lender, including independent draw inspections when financing is involved.

Closeout Punch list, warranties, final lien releases, and the documentation you will want when you sell

Project Rescue and Expert Support For projects already in trouble: an assessment of what has been done versus what has been paid, a plan to finish, and expert witness support for your attorney if it comes to that.

Most clients begin with a site assessment or contract review and expand from there. Full representation is priced as a percentage of construction cost, agreed in writing before we begin.

How I Work

I answer to my clients and look out for their interests first. Communication is the key to the delivery of a successful project. I meet in person for all trade work. I am at the design meetings, on the site, and in the room with your builder, and I am a phone call away in between. You are welcome at every meeting, but you never have to be at any of them. You get one person the whole way through, and that person has built a luxury portfolio of homes for the past three decades.

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For Architects, Designers, Agents, and Builders

If your client has an owner's representative, you have a partner. I make sure decisions come back to you on time, questions get answered, and the owner understands what you have designed and why. I am here to help your project succeed, not to get in its way.

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Confidentiality

Discretion is a condition of this work. Clients are never named, photographed, or discussed without written consent. References are shared only with permission, and this page carries no project photographs for that reason.

About Sidd Kashyap

Sidd Kashyap has spent 32 years building and developing homes in the Washington area. He is the founder of McLean Custom Builders, where he has delivered luxury custom homes in McLean, Great Falls, and Arlington. Earlier in his career he built custom homes valued from $1.5 million to $4 million for private clients in Arlington, managed multiple concurrent projects as a development manager, and led construction of a multi-unit development in Arlington built to commercial code.

He holds a Class A Contractor's License in Virginia and an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University, and he has managed budgets and financial reporting for projects ranging from private homes to a $1.3 billion federal program. He provides expert witness consulting on construction matters. He lives in Northern Virginia with his family.

Sidd Kashyap • 571.217.2596 • siddkashyapbuilder@gmail.com

Serving McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Annapolis, and the greater Washington, DC area.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need an Owner's Representative?

What does an Owner's Representative do on a custom home? Someone hired by you, working only for you, to guide the project: evaluating the site, helping you choose the team, reviewing contracts and budgets, checking the work, verifying payments, and translating it all into plain language. On most projects the owner is the least experienced person in the room about their own house. My job is to change that.

Why haven't I heard of this in residential construction? Hospitals, universities, and corporations never build without one, but residential owners spending comparable money have rarely had the option. In this market the role barely exists. I started this practice to fill that gap.

Isn't hiring a good builder enough? A good builder is essential, and the best ones welcome an informed owner. But your builder is managing the construction, your architect is managing the design, and nobody is managing the project from your side of the table. That's the seat I fill, and it makes everyone's job easier.

I already have an architect. Isn't that the same thing? No, and the roles work well together. Your architect designs the house and provides limited construction administration; construction cost, payment verification, and budget management aren't what they trained for. I can explain how the two roles divide the work on your specific project.

When should I bring someone in? Before you buy the land or sign anything, because the costliest mistakes happen in site selection, contract terms, and allowances. Mid-project is still worth it, but earlier is much cheaper. Call me before the offer, not after.

What if I'm only doing a renovation? Renovations carry more unknowns per dollar than new construction, because you're building into conditions nobody can see until demolition. That's exactly where independent judgment pays for itself.

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Choosing the Right People

How do I find a contractor for a custom home? Start with builders who have completed the kind of house you want, in this area, in the last three years, and visit their active job sites rather than just finished homes. Then verify the license, insurance, and references yourself. I do this evaluation for clients and can tell you what to look for on a site walk.

Should I hire a builder or a general contractor? A custom home builder runs the whole process from preconstruction through completion; a general contractor executes a finished set of drawings. Which you need depends on where you're starting from, and confusing the two is a common and expensive mistake. Happy to talk through which fits your situation.

What's the difference between design-build and hiring an architect separately? Design-build puts design and construction under one contract; hiring separately gives you an independent architect but leaves you managing the handoff between design and construction. Both work. Which is right depends on how much you want to manage yourself, which is a good first conversation to have.

How do I choose an architect? Look at built houses in your price range, not renderings, and ask how their projects have tracked against budget. Aesthetic fit matters more than people expect. I can help you assemble a short list and sit with you in the interviews.

How many builders should I get bids from? Three comparable builders, all bidding the same complete set of documents. Bids on incomplete drawings can't be compared, and the differences that matter are in the assumptions and exclusions, not the bottom line. Reading bids is a large part of what I do.

What questions should I ask a builder before I hire them? How many projects they'll run alongside yours, who will be on your site daily, how they set allowances, how they handle change orders, and whether you can speak to a client whose project didn't go smoothly. I have a full list and can join you for the interviews.

Are the cheapest bids ever the right choice? Sometimes, but a bid well below the others usually means something was left out or set low. The bid worth taking is the one you understand completely. I can show you where the differences are hiding.

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Land, Lots, and Teardowns

How do I know if a lot is good for what I want to build? The tax record square footage tells you little; what matters is the buildable area after setbacks, easements, and tree and stormwater rules, plus topography, utilities, and zoning. Two similar-looking acres in McLean can differ by hundreds of thousands in site cost. A lot assessment before you make an offer answers this. I offer complimentary lot assessment for your project before you buy

What should I check before buying a lot? Zoning, setbacks, easements, soils, stormwater, floodplain and RPA mapping, tree preservation, utility connections, septic if there's no sewer, covenants, and a realistic site work number. Every one of these is knowable in advance, and any one can be a deal-breaker. That is what my lot assessment covers.

How do I evaluate a teardown property? You're buying land, so the question is what the finished house will be worth against land, demolition, and construction. Check demolition and abatement costs, what can be reused, and whether the street supports what you want to build. Overbuilding for the neighborhood is the most common way people lose money, and it's avoidable.

Should I renovate or tear down? If the work touches the foundation, roof structure, most of the systems, and the floor plan, you're usually spending new-construction money for a compromised result. If the structure is sound and you're reworking finishes and some space, renovation usually wins. The honest answer requires walking the house, which I'm glad to do.

What is a lot assessment and what does it include? A walk of the property with the survey and zoning in hand, followed by a plain-language report on what you can build, what the site work will cost, and where the risks are. It should happen before you make an offer. Ask me about it early.

Can I get an idea of costs before I have drawings? Yes, within a range, based on size, finish level, site conditions, and current pricing. It won't be a contract number, but it will keep you from designing a house you can't afford. Call me before you start drawing.

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Renovations and Existing Homes

How do I know what a house can support before I renovate? It takes an assessment of the structure, foundation, roof, systems, and envelope, plus the age-related unknowns and what code will require once you cross certain thresholds. That last item is where renovation budgets most often break. I can walk the house with you before you commit.

Why do renovation budgets go over so often? Because part of the scope is invisible until demolition. The fix is a larger contingency, a builder who's candid about the unknowns, and someone independent evaluating each surprise as it surfaces rather than accepting the first number attached to it.

What should I know before adding on to my house? Whether the lot has buildable area left, how the addition ties into the existing structure, whether your systems can carry it, and whether it will look like part of the house. most important, does the cost make sense versus new construction? That last one you'll notice every day. Worth a conversation before the drawings start.

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Money, Contracts, and Schedule

What should I expect a custom home to cost in McLean? Any number quoted without seeing your situation is meaningless, but I can tell you the number people arrive with is usually low, and it's low because it omits site work, permits, design fees, landscaping, and contingency. A realistic all-in number early is the most useful thing you can have.

What's usually left out of a construction budget? Site work, demolition, permits, design fees, surveys, landscaping, driveways, appliances above allowance, window treatments, contingency, and financing carry. Any one can be six figures on a large house. I build budgets that include all of them.

What are allowances and why do they matter so much? Allowances are placeholders for items you haven't selected yet: tile, fixtures, lighting, appliances. Low allowances make a bid look competitive and guarantee overages later. I compare allowance schedules line by line, which is where bids are really won or lost.

How do change orders work, and how do I keep them under control? Some are owner-driven, some come from unforeseen conditions, and some come from gaps in the drawings that should have been caught earlier. Complete documents prevent the third kind, and reviewing each one on its merits controls the rest. I review every change order before you sign it.

What should I look for in a construction contract? Scope and exclusions, the allowance schedule, the payment schedule, change order procedure and markup, delay terms, warranty, lien waivers, and dispute resolution. It's the most important document in the project and usually read once, quickly. Let me read it with you before you sign.

What is a draw inspection? Verification, in writing with photographs, that the work being billed is complete before payment is released. It's how you avoid paying for eighty percent of a house that's sixty percent built. I provide these for owners and lenders.

How long does a custom home take? In this area, design and permitting typically run six to twelve months and construction another ten to twenty four, depending on size and complexity. Anyone promising much less should be able to explain exactly how.

How do I know if the schedule I'm being given is realistic? Ask for a schedule with real dependencies, the items on the critical path, current permit review times, and how many other projects the builder has running. I can review a schedule and tell you where it's optimistic.

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Working With Me

How does an engagement start? With a conversation, in person, at no charge. Most clients begin with a lot assessment or a contract review and expand from there once they see how it works.

How are you paid? Smaller engagements are flat fees agreed in advance. Full representation is a percentage of construction cost, set in writing before we begin. I'll give you a number after our first meeting.

Do you build the homes you represent? No. I never bid on construction for a project I represent, so my only interest is your outcome.

Where do you work? McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Annapolis, and the greater Washington, DC area.