Melissa Hryszko: Designer & Co-Owner of Veranda Estate Homes

Jan 24, 2021

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Today Brad speaks with Melissa Hryszko, an interior designer at Veranda Estate Homes, a construction company with over 45 years of experience in building custom luxury homes in Calgary, Alberta and beyond. Veranda is a proud multiple SAM Award-winner, a member of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program as well as the Calgary New Home Builders Association.

Melissa speaks on Veranda’s stringent process for screening potential clients. It all starts with a ten-page questionnaire. A proposal is then drawn up based on the information given by the client through that questionnaire, as well as inspiration sent by them through a Pinterest board or photos on Instagram. Veranda then hones in on the client’s budget, the style they are looking for, and the features and elements that they would like in their home. The time it takes to get from that initial meeting to finally being on the ground typically ranges anywhere from three months to over a year.

Even when it comes to budget considerations, Veranda has a strong preference for lump sum pricing over cost plus and maintains strict standards around that budget, staying within 1% or 2% of the purchase agreement price on the move-in date. Their goal is to always keep the client in mind by being conscious of and respectful of their budget.

Listen in as Melissa further breaks down Veranda’s unique approach to pricing a project and how they communicate costs, options, and changes with their clients throughout the process, from vetting, consulting, and, finally, construction.

Topics Discussed:

[02:38] Flexibility in selections up front?
[04:41] Detailed budgets?
[05:56] Budgeting for materials increased cost
[09:41] Pushback on cost plus or lump sum
[13:56] Allowance for the furnishing before or after breaking ground
[16:36] Months creating design book
[19:32] Dispute and proximity for community or neighborhood
[22:01] The hardest part of Melissa’s job as a designer
[23:54] How involved do the clients get?
[25:50] Counseling clients on where to put their focus
[27:29] Preventive maintenance for children and dogs
[30:13] Walking through existing home to investigate lifestyle
[31:30] Favorite part of the home design?
[33:35] Balancing different styles of design
[36:40] Mixture of Specs and Build-to-Suite
[39:32] Social media management
[43:45] Generating leads from Instagram
[47:09] Crafting cabinetry from raw materials onsite
[49:24] Staining cabinetry timeframe
[51:53] Protecting high end finishes during construction
[55:07] Vetting clients?

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Key Quotes from Episode:

It is our job to stay as close to budget as possible, because everybody has a budget and we want to be conscious of that and respect it.
Maybe one out of every 50 clients end up doing cost plus. Fixed price makes us accountable for construction time and all the work that goes into the home.
The one thing that drives me to start a new project is to do something unique and different.
As Rob says, we wear two hats. We wear a developer hat and we wear a builder hat.