What do you do when reality gets in the way of your private home-building/ investment dream? Hire a little help.

Wayne Stangl and his son Trent knew they wanted to build their own homes in Calgary.

Wayne had gone through the process several times when he and his wife Sharon lived in Saskatchewan. Now living in Calgary, he's been watching Calgary's inner-core communities and sees that segment of a booming residential real estate market as a good place to try and pocket a little investment cash.

Trent and his wife Josie married last October. Now living in Douglasdale, off Deerfoot Trail in the deep southeast, they had their eye on a home closer to their jobs in downtown Calgary and closer to family living in other parts of the city.

Mike Sturk, Business Edge
Mike Rullo of Precision Homes, standing in front of his Altadore residence, is a custom builder who is among a group of professionals assisting buyers in all aspects of the process.

All that stood in the way of their dreams was a little slice of reality. Wayne didn't know his way around Calgary's building industry. Trent already has a full-time job in oil and gas.

Enter Michael Rullo, the "guy down the street."

A Calgary boy turned entrepreneur, Rullo started building inner-city homes a few years ago. Since then, Precision Homes has completed five executive-style homes, including several on infill-sized lots.

Rullo plans to build four more, all of them down the street from where he lives in an Altadore home that serves as a kind of showhome for Precision's work.

Rullo's contention is that you can't grow out of a home that has everything. (Picture four skylights on the top floor, infloor heating throughout, a kitchen with top-line appliances, a master bedroom, living room and den with custom-made cabinets and an $80,000 Oscar-themed media room on the walkout level.)

Rullo started building that house in 2004 and soon found himself touring a parade of the curious: People who'd heard about the home's lengthy list of features and its feng shui-inspired floorplan.

Trent Stangl toured the home with a mutual friend of Rullo's earlier this year. He liked what he saw, brought his dad to meet Rullo and the rest is history.

Rullo's still building homes. But now he also works for the Stangls, who bought a lot down the street.

Wayne Stangl sees Rullo as a "facilitator.”

For a fee, he helped the Stangls find the lot in Altadore, guided them through the lot sub-division process, then helped them sell the existing home and even identified a quality home mover for the job.

Rullo will also help the Stangls with home design and development permits, and will introduce them to tradespeople with a reputation for quality. He'll also share his access to builder prices, getting the Stangls discounts on everything from appliances to tile. When necessary, he'll walk the Stangls through the process of site changes. Individual contractors may get paid more for the extra work involved with changes, but Rullo won't take a kick-back for the negotiation.

While no one wants to be specific about what he's making on the deal, Rullo does say it's based on services rendered. He's also worked with other clients who've paid $1,000 for a basic consultation covering details such as design and lot location, a potentially big-ticket item for investment property. (That fee is refunded from the bigger-ticket price if they secure his services for the duration of the construction or renovation project.)

Rullo says he shows his basic-fee clients how builders make money off particular features and educates them about ways to maximize a home's value without breaking the bank. (Think upscale hardware on builder's-grade cabinets, or builder's-grade granite versus a higher-end stone.)

"Michael brings a lot to the table," says Trent. Although he knows he could find his own way through the process, it would be considerably less efficient - and a lot more hassle. "At the end of the day, I spend all day talking to oil marketers, not framers," says Trent.

His dad says the process of building a home he might put directly onto the market could evolve into a second career in Calgary. For now, he's content to have Rullo onside, even though the contract does not cover site inspections, actual hirings and the other duties of a general contractor.

"Along the way, we're using his knowledge and experience in the marketplace," says Wayne. "For us, right now, this hits a very good niche."

Helping consumers access quality trades and solid information is old hat to Steve Rogers of Calgary. Six years ago, following his own personal nightmare with a home-improvement project gone bad, Rogers started a company called Home-Work Canada.

Home-Work has signed agreements with more than 120 Alberta companies, each of them vetted for licences, insurance and good referrals. For $50 up front, Rogers provides clients with the names of three prospective contractors ranging from architects, structural engineers and interior designers, to painters, plumbers, landscapers and those who offer general handyman services.

They'll quote residential and commercial projects, leaving the final decision to the client. "We look at ourselves like a marketing arm for reliable contractors," says Rogers, whose contractor referral service is free to seniors and disabled. "One call and you pretty much get access to three good contractors."

This year, he expects the company to be involved with 1,500 projects, ranging from backyard decks to kitchen renovations, basement developments, office renos, condominium developments and even custom-home construction.

Rogers admits he cautions clients against acting as their own general contractors on large projects, since few people really understand what it means to oversee a major building project and assume responsibility for issues such as liability and workplace safety. Instead, he tries to point clients towards knowledgeable individuals who will act as independent managers.

On large-scale renovation and construction projects, Rogers also recommends clients hire an independent designer to provide a kind of built-in check and balance to the work.

His one frustration is with clients who want three quotes for something such as a small drywall patch.

Like Rullo, he's also seen what happens when you don't charge for a service. In Rogers' case, people took advantage of the estimate process to set prices for jobs they planned to give to family and friends.

"I found the people I'm giving free advice to never did anything," adds Rullo. Others kept coming back with questions or to 'borrow' his design ideas, only to have them not work when they missed part of the concept.

Those who paid saw value in the service and used the information to take action. That's an investment-savvy approach Rullo likes - and respects.

Web Watch: www.homeworkcanada.com

(Joy Gregory can be reached at joy@businessedge.ca)