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We are considering purchasing a small brownstone which needs extensive renovation and wonder how to assemble the best team for the work given our tight budget. We have already brought 2 architects, a designer, and a contractor to the house, plus have talked to several others. So far, all the bids are in the range of 350-500K which is of course a large range but it seems to depend on the kind of team we use and finishes we select. While economizing with finishes seems straightforward, saving on our renovation team is more confusing. The most expensive way to go is to have the architect project manage the whole thing plus work with us to select all the finishes – this evidently will add at least 16-18% to construction costs (or $70K on 400K of construction costs). Another way to go is to have the architect do drawings only to file with DOB, then trust the contractor to execute everything. Problem is, both my husband and I have demanding jobs and small kids and are worried about our ability to really supervise the GC. A designer we worked with on a smaller job has offered to project manage for us, as well as help us select finishes – but this could add up to a lot of fees too – perhaps as much as 30K if not more. For budget reasons, I’m tempted to just trust the GC but also don’t want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, since I saw how great the designer was when we did the small job for us – she saved us money by finding great, economical choices, negotiating discounts on products, catching GC errors, etc. – plus she definitely increased value of our apt. If we were handier or less busy, we would be better equipped to supervise GC. So one question is: are there GC’s out there who are really great and will advocate for you (as opposed to their workers, and cut corners on your job)? If so, I’d love their names! Or, do people think it’s foolish NOT to have an architect and/or designer supervise the job? If we do go with the designer, our other worry is that, even though her hourly rate is significantly less than an architect, she does not have as much experience as an architect so I’m not sure she’ll be as efficient. But others tell me that renovating these small brownstones is pretty straightforward and a fancy architect is overkill. Any advice greatly appreciated…