Project Management has the history of thousands years. The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era, prior to then projects were managed on an ad-hoc basis using mostly informal techniques and tools. This post try to line out some milestones of Project Managent History. Read the rest of this entry »
Bid shopping is considered an unethical practice used by contractors to gain advantage over their clients in the bidding process. Bid shopping can be harmful to the construction industry because it creates an unhealthy business environment, eliminates the benefits of the bid system, promotes lower standards of quality performance, delays project completion and reduces job site safety.
Attempts have been made to stop bid shopping through contract law but these attempts have not been successful. Educating contractors of the effects of bid shopping is a means of helping to reduce the amount of bid shopping that occurs. Read the rest of this entry »
Construction loans are story loans. That means that the lender has to know the story behind the planned construction before they’re willing to loan you money. Because it’s a story loan, it’s not going to be standardized like mortgage loans underwritten to Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae guidelines. That said, there are some common features to a construction loan. Construction loans typically require interest-only payments during construction and become due upon completion. Completion for homeowners means that the house has its certificate of occupancy.
Construction loans are usually variable-rate loans priced at a spread to the prime rate or some other short-term interest rate. You, the contractor and the lender establish a draw schedule based on stages of construction, and interest is charged on the amount of money disbursed to date. Read the rest of this entry »
