So Cal Architects/Custom Home Plans - Anybody know any?

[C-2]

Has anybody worked with a So Cal architect to develop a set of custom house plans? Or know of any firms who also sell plans?
We have seen the numerous plans available on the net, but they need to be engineered for California, so it's almost like starting with nothing is what we are being told.
Thanks in advance

[boxscore]

It's gonna be tough getting it done. Don't make the mistake we did last year, and try to get it done cheap and fast. You'll get burned as we did. Finally had to part ways with the architect and start over. Burned us for 15 large. The industry is reaping the benefits of the rise in construction cost. Those costs have risen 40-75% over the past couple years and architects typically try to charge 6-8% of construction cost. The funny thing is that their cost of ink and paper is the same! We built a custom house 3 yrs ago and paid the architect (w/ engineering) $25,000. This year we getting pounded over the head for $65,000. He's doing top notch work and it'll pay off down the road, but it stings right now. My advice would not to be shortsighted when retaining your architect. It'll be hard to resist, but don't get a crappy set of plans. Thoise crappy plans may not come close to considering what something costs to actually build.

[SummitKarl]

Has anybody worked with a So Cal architect to develop a set of custom house plans? Or know of any firms who also sell plans?
We have seen the numerous plans available on the net, but they need to be engineered for California, so it's almost like starting with nothing is what we are being told.
Thanks in advance
I can get that done for you
$1800 for your custom plans (from scratch)
and $0.55 per sq ft (under roof) for the ENG part
it may not require to be eng'd if the design meets conventional IRC-2003 code, check with your local "Building Dept" for their requirements for plan acceptance (check list), and either get me the web site that I can pick them up from, or e-mail me the list.
Karl

[boxscore]

$.55 for engineering?....California engineering?... Really?
No... really?

[SummitKarl]

$.55 for engineering?....California engineering?... Really?
No... really?
REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I use a place in Utah that has stamps for Ca,AZ,UT, NV and so on. only a 2 week turn as well, and the ENG's always find away to hand deliver the plans to Havasu :D

[C-2]

Keep em coing guys, this is the kind of input we are looking for.
We have walked thru quite few models to get an idea of what we want/need. Our only dilema with an architect is timing - I would rather build now than later. Sell our existing home while the market is still strong, get a rental for the next year or two while we build. Pain the arse, but we figure it will be our dream home on an acre, in the city, for less than what we are paying now on our existing residence.
I plan to call/contact anybody who responds to this inquiry and again, am very appreciative of your experiences, good or bad. That's why I posted it here! :)