Under a stipulated sum contract, you pay the contractor a flat fee (which includes construction costs, overhead, and profit) over a period of time in the form of progress payments.
While the notion of the flat fee may comfort you, there are some disadvantages to using a stipulated sum contract:
(1) Flat fee does not [...]

In May 2006, the Texas Legislature passed school-finance reform lowering the school property-tax component. But as Texans are about to pay their 2006 property taxes, most property owners are paying more on their 2006 tax bill compared to 2005. This is occuring because of increasing appraisals (more on this topic later) and the [...]

To reduce the animosity in carrying out an apartment-to-condominium conversion, a meeting with current tenants should be held. This meeting should occur way in advance of the statutory 60-day notice to vacate requirement.
At this meeting, which should be the first of several, be sure to convey that you will work with existing [...]

Ever wonder why most commercial office space agreements look like photocopies of documents produced before the computer age?
I thought about this after looking over a lease agreement for one of my clients. And my conclusion is sinister: The landlord (or landlord’s leasing agent) is doing everything possible to get the tenant from negotiating [...]