Executive Properties, LLC

Executive Properties news

Congratulations Wayne McLean on 1 year with Executive Properties

Congratulations to Wayne on one year with us! Thank you for providing our clients with quality craftsmanship. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations to Wayne on one year with us! Thank you for providing our clients with quality craftsmanship. Keep up the good work!
Please take a moment to read about Wayne:

Wayne was born and raised in small town Argyle, MN. There, he started his career developing skills in concrete, heavy equipment, and earth removal. Wayne learned that it takes hard work and determination in order to make your mark in life. In 1998, he started to develop his craftsman skills as a carpenter in Grand Forks.
He moved up in the company very fast in his first year, earning his spot as job foreman at a the young age of 20 years old. He worked on several big Grand Forks building projects including the iconic Alerus Center, Flood walls Project, and Grand Forks Air Force Base new Homes development project. After several years of building many great structures in Grand Forks, Wayne wanted to improve his skills and started working as a rigger for a steel company. He excelled there as well, moving from rigger to welder, welder to connector, and then learning to be a certified crane operator.
Wayne moved to the head office as a crane coordinator of a company of 500 employees. At birth of his second child, he noticed construction going on in the hospital where it was very noisy and dirty. That inspired him to get into health care construction and improve those conditions. He spent 17 years in the health care construction industry, dedicating his time to taking every class and attending each seminar he could get his has hands on. His hard work led him to the superintendent role for many years.
Wayne has over 27 years in the construction industries and now is looking forward to help you with any project you may dream up. He is very detail-orientated and very good at helping you plan out your project from beginning to end to insure you get the best results. Wayne is an avid fisherman, hunter and family man. He enjoys spending his spare time out on the lake, hunting with his dogs, and with his wife Katie and children Dyllon, Devin, Maddie, and Abigail.

Congratulations Barry Romo on 6 years

Executive Properties & Construction would like to congratulate Barry Romo on 6 years with the company!

Executive Properties & Construction would like to congratulate Barry Romo on 6 years with the company! We cannot thank Barry enough for all of his hard work. Because of his dedication, we have gained many satisfied customers that we can now call friends. Barry strives day after day not only to do the best work for our customers, but to develop long-lasting relationships with them. Barry’s 30 years of construction experience has helped build this company. Give Barry a call and he’ll make your construction dream a reality!

Top 5 things to know when you are starting a construction or remodeling project

There are many people out there that might consider getting remodeling work done on their home or business – but few might persevere! These tips for remodeling your home will guide you into the right direction.

In our experience as a remodeling and construction firm, we have found that those that continue with their project through to completion follow the below top five pointers. If you are thinking about doing remodeling work, read on!

Tips for remodeling your home 1: Leadership and responsibility

You will need to know what kind of support system you have in place – who have you hired? If you’ve hired a remodeling and construction firm like Executive Properties, then they will take care of all of your needs throughout the project (as long as they are the only team you have hired).

For example, if you want a complete bathroom remodel and you call us, we will take care of everything. This includes inspectors and sub-contractors if required; then you will do the minimal. That also means that we will take responsibility for your project, and be leaders to ensure that it is completed to the highest quality.

You could also choose to work with individual contractors (e.g. call the electrician independently from the tiler), but this means that they will only be leaders in their section of the project, and they won’t take responsibility for anything that they weren’t directly involved in. Find more information on risks here.

Tips for remodeling your home 2: Over budget

You can talk about budget with your chosen construction firm, and they should stick with that budget as long as no surprises occur, and no changes are made. If you don’t have a construction firm and you are hiring contractors alone, then it will be harder for you to control the budget effectively.

Bare in mind that while having an overall project construction firm can be beneficial for controlling the budget, if they find a problem in your home (such as wiring that is not up to code) then they cannot work on your home without also fixing that. This can increase the construction bid dramatically, and is often a problem for new homeowners that hoped to do work on the property. Here is a link to a budget control overview.   and here is a link to a payment structure.

Tips for remodeling your home 3: Time and scheduling

Decide how much time you would be happy to invest. Projects can take as much or as little time as you let them, and to know how long you are going to be happy with loud banging, saws and crashing sounds, is to your advantage! Try to organise construction work around a time that you are out of the house, and try to make sure that the work is done in fewer, longer days if possible (rather than spread out over time). This will minimize things such as dust in the air if you are doing demolition.

For more information on working around your schedule, check out this article!

Tips for remodeling your home 4: Road blocks

Many projects have problems. This can be for many reasons. Unexpected problems in the structure of the home, changes that have been made last minute, or incorrect materials that have been ordered by different parties. There are so many moving parts that it is not always easy to keep things running smoothly.

This is another supportive reason for using an experienced remodeling firm. They will have seen it all before, and will know how to quickly and easily problem solve you to success. If you are managing your project on your own then you can also pop into different stores (such as Lowes) and ask questions there. They can often be very helpful and give great advice.

Don’t lose hope! Has it turned into a nightmare already? Read this!   Or download these Apps to control those unexpected changes!

Tips for remodeling your home 5: Consider environmentally friendly

Something that is often not considered are environmentally friendly practises. These might seem complicated at first,but there are simple things you can do. Examples are installing solar panels to charge outdoor lighting, or using better quality windows and insulation to regulate temperature. These can be very beneficial in the long-run, and can result in you saving money.

You can buy those materials on your own, but you might find that construction and remodeling firms buy in bulk and can get them for a lower price. You also know the job is done right! Just ask your local firm about environmentally friendly practises that they adopt. Find more info on this subject here, here and here!

Still need answers? Check out articles here, here and here! If you have any questions and want to reach out, remember to give us a call at (701) 330 1273 or contact us here!

 

View more of our articles here    or follow us on Facebook! for more support

 

Write us a review and win a hat!

Write us a review and win a hat!

Executive Properties top tips for working with construction companies – from a construction company

Our top tips for working with a construction company are finally here!

We all know how it is. The sun is out and we all start to think ‘Gee, I sure would love a new deck’. But if you start that deck project now, you might end up having the finished product in 3 or 4 months time. Top tips – start your planning early, know what your outcome should be.

This article is for those of you that are considering a new remodel of your home or your businesses  property. We want to make the process as streamlined and efficient as possible, so that you can start sipping on your margarita on your new deck when the sun is out – not months later.

We will go through our number one tips in terms of how to handle your own construction company, things that make a relationship really work well, and other things that make it turn out big, messy and expensive.

Years of working with confused clients and stressed out organizers has led to this point, and we think that we just might have it all figured out – Executive Properties has a pretty great strategy when it comes to handling situations of customer confusion!

 

Top tip 1: We can give parameters, but we can’t make the decisions…

To set the scene here, we’d like to say that we can advise you and let you know our opinion, but we are always going to be unable to make choices for you. You’re the customer! Unless you want to sign your life away and completely give up control, we suggest that you try and embrace this amazing level of oversight that you can have on your own project.  

This is one of those few times in life that everything comes down to you. That can be incredibly rewarding, but it also demands a high level of commitment and research from your end. If you want us to make the choice for you, you should be aware that we do not know the theme of your home, nor do we know what designs you do or do not like.

The risk in this case is that you might ask us to make choices for you and then we will purchase materials, that you end up hating or needing to replace. To avoid this, you can do some preparation to decide what you like and what you don’t like.

The internal or technical details are things that we can organise – like what materials to use, or what brand of insulation you should use in new walls etc.  

You need to have a clear vision of the external aspects, like colors and styles, designs of items like sinks and faucets, or even an overall structural shape for things like deck additions.  

 

 

Top tip 2: Know what specifications you want…

 

OK here is a brief (but effective) list of things you might want to consider looking into and making a choice about before you sign any work contracts. Remember, it is totally okay to ask for your remodeling companies input while you make these choices.

You should try to have most of the specific items (below) selected and ready before work starts, or ideally before you even get a bid.

Additionally, if you can find these things before the bid, then your bid will be far more accurate, and also (as an added bonus) your remodeling company will probably become your new best friend.

  • baseboard style and color
  • trim style and color   
  • paint (colors?)
  • flooring type (vinyl? wood? ceramic? laminate?)
  • cabinets (store purchased or custom built? These can take up to 3 weeks to arrive!)
  • Sink type (farmhouse? undermount?)

This list is not exhaustive, so try to think about the project at hand and break it down as much as possible. In fact – you could even give us a call and we can give you a quick breakdown of items you might need to consider! We love our job, so we are always happy to give advice.  

 

 

Top tip 3: Bring some pictures, designs or ideas to your bid…

We have the internet at our fingertips! That means that we can do two things;

  1. Find the perfect local and reputable remodeling firm for our project
  2. Find photographs of projects that we like, for when we are planning said remodeling project.

There are some amazing websites that you can use, like Pinterest and Houzz.

Executive Properties tries to stay as proactive as we can with different digital platforms. We think every construction firm should do this to stay up to date with new ideas and designs.

Now, I am not suggesting that your finished product will be like the picture that you find. It will give the construction firm a general idea about the colors, styles, overall direction and designs that you like.

If you are unsure about what specific products you want (like sinks, wood or paint), then having pictures of work that you love can really help us to piece your project together with you. Help us help you!

Additionally, this can help you to decide what you really want from this project. The WORST thing you can do in a construction and remodeling project is to change your mind halfway through.

‘’No Steve, we can’t change the entire room theme from a modern contemporary metallic theme to a rustic farm style! We’ve already finished the flooring and painting!â€

Not really, we won’t stop you from changing your mind, but it can get expensive to be unsure about what you really want to get out of a remodeling project. Look at some pictures on your own or with your family, and have fun with it!

Get creative and think outside of the box. If you have a good remodeling company (hint, like Executive Properties!) then whatever you choose design-wise will look well-done and aesthetically pleasing.

Master bath with tub in new construction home

Top tip 4: Have a budget in mind…

Now we don’t expect you to figure out the precise total job costing, or go to different stores to find out the average price of products. However, if you have a good idea about how much you might be able to spend, then we can try to tailor our work to fit that.

If you aren’t at least vaguely sure about price, then it is difficult for us to select materials. With no price baseline, the bid might end up being a lot pricier than you wanted. Then, you might get deterred from doing remodeling work, and then you will have to live deckless for the rest of your life. No summer barbecue for you! (okay, being a bit over dramatic here but you get the point).

You can either ask us about possible budget ranges, or you can do some of your own research first. Remember you can also talk with your firm about paying in installments, or even doing smaller aspects of a larger job, over a longer span of time.

If you have a specific type of product in mind, like a brand of sink, it is always worth looking up the average cost of that sink. If that sink is out of your budget, then perhaps you should talk to the remodeling firm about what you can afford, and what you do like.

 

 

Top tip 5: Ask about adding value…

 

Adding value. Unless you own a home that you want to live in forever, adding value should be something that everyone considers. According to the Minneapolis Cost vs value report (2018);

  • A new garage door can add up to 112.6% of the jobs cost to your home (that is $4,043!)
  • A deck addition can add $10, 147 to your homes value at resale
  • An upscale bathroom remodel can add up to $30, 362 to your homes value

DEPENDING ON A FEW THINGS…

  1. That the work is done to a high quality
  2. That the work uses high quality materials
  3. That the work is kept in good condition

Essentially, you want to be sure that you are using a great, reputable construction and remodeling firm (like Executive Properties) before you make any additions to your home, especially if your aim is adding value.

 

 

Top tip 6: Ask about the construction company’s past experiences with your type of project…

 

You are the customer, not a builder. You should never need to know about the ins-and-outs of building a home in order to be confident that you are choosing the right team. That means that if you don’t understand something, you should feel free to ask as many questions as you want – and don’t let anyone bombard you with terminology. There are everyday terms for everything!

Perhaps you are doing a project that is more unusual, or you just don’t know what to expect. It is totally acceptable to ask the firm if they have done projects like this before. They should have great before and after pictures to show you too!

In these pictures you can ask about anything you see. What paint color did this customer choose, what type of trim is that, and what was their budget? Did this customer have any unexpected changes to their budget? Were they happy with the outcome?

 

 

Top tip 7: Ask about subcontractors

 

At Executive Properties we keep subcontracting to a minimum.

We try to do all of our work in-house. That means that we have complete control over your projects quality and outcome.

Other firms are not like this, and our industry has a reputation for not doing the work in-house. Sometimes firms offer services that they cannot do to book the job. Then they contract out a different firm to do the work, and take an unnecessary slice of the profits. That’s your money! Not illegal, but certainly ethically and morally questionable, and it means that you (the customer) pay more for no reason.

It is vital that you ask about subcontractors. Ask what they do in-house, what they will need to sub out to professionals – and how much that will cost.

Remember, it can be quite normal to need to sub out specific skills. Professionals such as electricians, plumbers or Hvac generally require specific permits and special training. As far as the framing, structures, walls, floor, design, wood work and everything else? In house.

 

And as the old saying goes – plan twice, build once.

 

Please remember, if you have any questions, just get in touch with us.

News for February 2018

It has been a busy news month here at Executive Properties. News and updates are becoming more and more important as business grows in the Grand Forks area!

Our team has made some changes, with new members of the group arriving, and sadly saying goodbye to others – but the Executive Properties team led by Barry Romo and Chris Grochow is still rushing around, getting the job done!

 

The winter is as cold as ever, but the snow seems to (somewhat!) have calmed down. This means, for us, that we are going to start planning to put away the shovels and snow vehicles, and pick up more modeling and construction tools. We are excited for a hot summer, and look forward to making homes look as good as they should over these next few sunny months!

 

A summer deck

A beautiful summer deck

Perhaps a new deck, with a cold beer? A remodeled rustic kitchen with fresh ingredients that have actually been able to grow outside? Or how about sliding windows that let in the cool air on a warm day?

 

What ever your reason for calling executive, no job is too small. See you soon!