How we work and what it costs
Daven Residential is a small, owner-operated construction company. Charles Davenport is the licensed general contractor and runs the field. Amanda Davenport manages the plans, the budget, the subcontracts, the draws, and the paperwork. There is no layer between you and the people doing the work, which is the point.
We take a limited number of projects each year so that each one gets that attention. That constraint is worth understanding up front, because it shapes both how we work and what we charge.
The five steps
- Land and financingFind your land and talk with a lender about what you can borrow.
- PreconstructionAbout six to eight weeks. Plans, real prices from our trades, and a budget.
- Your loan closesYour lender reviews the budget, prepared in its format, and the construction loan closes.
- ConstructionOpen books. You see every invoice and approve every payment.
- Move inA final walkthrough, closeout, and the keys.
How we work
Four rules shape every project, from the first plan to the final walkthrough.
Your land, your financing, your house.
You own the land and you hold the financing. Your construction loan pays for your house, and we never mark up, finance, or hold your money.
The books are open.
You see every subcontractor bid, every invoice, and every line of the budget. We charge a fee for planning and running the project, and we add no markup to any cost that passes through us.
You approve before we pay.
Invoices come to us, we review them against the budget and the work in place, and we send you a payment request for the exact approved amount. Nothing gets paid that you have not seen.
Changes are written down before they happen.
Nothing is added to your project without a written change order showing the cost and the schedule effect. Surprises at the end of a build are almost always the result of decisions nobody wrote down at the time.
Phase one: preconstruction
Most problems in a custom home are decided long before anyone breaks ground. Preconstruction is where we find out whether your project works, what it will actually cost, and whether we are the right builder for it.
Over roughly six to eight weeks we confirm your project is ready to start, walk the site and assess what it will take to build on it, develop your program and preliminary plans, write a scope of work by trade, build a line-item budget with allowances and a recommended contingency, price the major trades with our subcontractors, identify where cost can come out without hurting the house, plan your selections and when each one has to be made, lay out a milestone schedule from permit through completion, prepare the budget in the format your lender needs, and coordinate with your lender and any licensed professionals your project needs.
At the end we meet to walk through what we found, and you get a written budget you can take to a lender and an honest recommendation on whether and how to proceed. That recommendation is sometimes to wait, or to build something smaller. We would rather tell you that in week six than have you find out in month nine.
What preconstruction delivers
- Project readiness reviewWe confirm the basics are in place: your land, financing, budget, who makes decisions, and a realistic schedule. You get a short written assessment.
- Site and feasibility reviewWe walk your lot and look at access, slope, utilities, septic or sewer, setbacks, and covenants. Anything likely to affect cost is flagged early.
- Program developmentTogether we write down the rooms, sizes, and priorities that matter most to you. This becomes the brief the plans are drawn from.
- Preliminary residential plansFloor plans and exterior elevations, developed far enough to price your house with real trades.
- Scope of work developmentA written scope for each trade that spells out what is and isn't included, so prices can be compared fairly.
- Preliminary budgetA line-item budget with allowances for your selections and a recommended contingency.
- Subcontractor pricingWe collect and review prices from our subcontractors for the major parts of the house, so the budget rests on real numbers.
- Value engineeringWhere cost can come out without hurting the house, we show you the options and what each one changes.
- Selection planningAn allowance plan and a schedule showing when each choice, like cabinets, tile, or fixtures, needs to be made.
- Preliminary scheduleA milestone schedule from permit through completion, so you can plan around real dates.
- Construction loan budgetYour budget prepared in the format your lender uses for its draw schedule.
- Lender and professional coordinationWe work with your lender and any licensed professionals your project needs, so everything lines up.
- Preconstruction review meetingOne meeting to walk through what we found, the budget, and our honest recommendation on whether and how to proceed.
Available if you need them
- Additional plan revision roundsOne round of plan revisions is included. More rounds are available if you want them.
- Third-party investigationsSurvey, soils, environmental, or licensed design work when your project needs it. These are project costs with no markup.
Preconstruction fee
| Estimated construction cost | Preconstruction fee | Credited if you build with us |
|---|---|---|
| Under $400,000 | $6,500 | $3,250 |
| $400,000 to $750,000 | $9,500 | $4,750 |
| $750,000 to $1,250,000 | $14,000 | $7,000 |
| Over $1,250,000 | $18,500 | $9,250 |
Pricing effective September 1, 2026
Half the fee is credited against your construction fee if we sign a construction agreement within 180 days of delivering your preconstruction work. Half due at signing, half on delivery. One round of plan revisions is included, and additional rounds are available if you want them. The plans and budget are yours to use on your property either way. Fees shown are effective September 1, 2026.
Phase two: construction
The fee is billed in installments tied to construction draws, so it tracks the work rather than arriving in a lump.
Our construction fee covers everything we do to plan, buy, coordinate, supervise, document, and close out your project. That includes subcontractor selection and contracting, purchasing and material tracking, scheduling, field supervision, invoice review, lien waiver collection, construction loan draw packages, budget-versus-actual reporting, change order administration, inspections, and closeout.
| Construction cost | Fee |
|---|---|
| Under $400,000, and all remodels | 14% |
| $400,000 to $750,000 | 12% |
| $750,000 to $1,250,000 | 10.5% |
| Over $1,250,000 | 10% |
| Minimum project fee | $55,000 |
Pricing effective September 1, 2026
The rate is higher on smaller projects because the work is not much smaller. A $300,000 house takes nearly as many invoices, inspections, subcontractor conversations, and selection decisions as a $700,000 one.
The minimum fee applies to every project. On homes under roughly $460,000 it makes up a larger share of the cost, so smaller homes work best when the build is simple and quick. We will tell you early whether yours fits.
What we do not do
We are clear about where our work ends, and what we are licensed to build.
Licensed design work
Amanda prepares residential plans and drawings, but she is not a licensed architect or engineer. Where your project needs sealed structural design, a survey, geotechnical work, or engineered systems, we will tell you and bring in the right licensed professional. Their fees are project costs and we do not mark them up.
Small remodels
We also do not take small remodels. It is not that they are beneath us. It is that they cannot be run properly alongside a full custom build, and doing them badly would not serve anyone.
What we are licensed to build
Charles holds Georgia Residential-Basic and Residential-Light Commercial qualifications. That covers single-family and two-family homes and townhouses, and also multifamily and light commercial buildings under four stories and under 25,000 square feet. If you are a developer or business owner with a small commercial building in mind, that is work we are licensed and equipped to take on.
Amanda also works professionally as a project manager on data center and smart building programs, which means the documentation, scheduling, and cost control practices behind your house are the same ones used on projects many times its size.
Whether we are a fit
The projects that go well for everyone tend to share a few things.
- You control the land or have it under contract.
- Financing is approved or clearly obtainable.
- Your budget and the house you want are in the same range.
- Everyone who has to say yes is in the conversation.
- The schedule you have in mind is a real one.
If most of that is true, a preconstruction agreement is the sensible next step. If some of it is not yet true, tell us anyway. Working out which piece is missing is usually a short conversation, and it costs nothing.
Start a project
Tell us about your land, your financing, and the house you have in mind. Amanda reads every inquiry and replies personally.
Start a project