A potential new Client reached out via email the other day. Kudos to this gentleman for being quite knowledgable and prepared. He’s wanted to make an offer on a property but was nervous about the mapped critical areas risk.
He had a LOT of questions he wanted me to answer to help him understand what he might be getting himself into. My respect goes out to him for offering up front to pay me by the hour for my help. I took him at his word, I spent an hour getting him the information he wanted, and in that short time, got him the preliminary feedback he was seeking to feel comfortable making an offer for the property….. with a feasibility period. During the feasibility period, he would hire me to complete a formal critical areas analysis.
This experience gave me an idea – why not offer preliminary consultation services by the hour? I am able to help Clients better understand what is being asked of them by local jurisdictions (and why), explain to them what critical areas are about, talk about risk and timelines, and forecast what permitting paths lie ahead per different scenarios. I can also point them to professionals in other disciplines they might need.
As such, I revised the Client Information Form (CIF) to include a second page that can serve as an agreement to cover preliminary consultation services. Feel free to click here to check it out!