Jonathan Ford

Stop Trying to Fix Your Weaknesses. Start Building on What You're Already Good At.

Warranty issues: the part of the project nobody plans for, until they need it

Most owners think about warranties exactly once: the day they sign the closeout documents and file them away in a drawer they hope never to open again. That's understandable. By the time a project reaches substantial completion, everyone is exhausted. The contractor wants to demobilize. The owner wants

Choosing the right team: the decision that determines everything else

Every project succeeds or struggles based on a decision that gets made before a single permit is pulled: who's going to build it. Owners often treat this decision as a formality. Get a few bids, pick a number that feels reasonable, sign a contract, move on. But the

When estate planning involves a property that needs to be sold, renovated, or transitioned

This scenario comes up constantly in estate planning conversations, and it's one where timing and execution matter just as much as the legal and financial structure around it. A client is restructuring their estate. Maybe a property needs to be sold to fund a trust. Maybe a family

When a high-net-worth client owns multiple properties and nobody is watching all of them closely

This scenario shows up with clients who've done well. Multiple properties. A primary residence, a second home, maybe an investment property or two, sometimes spread across different states. On paper, this looks like exactly what it is: a sign of financial success. In practice, it creates a quiet

How an Estate Operations Executive Supports Financial and Estate Planners

When a client inherits a property they don't know how to manage Here's a scenario most financial and estate planners have lived through at least once. A client loses a parent. Along with the grief, they inherit a property. Maybe it's the family home.

Welcome to Under Construction: The NBM Edition

Welcome. I'm glad you're here. This blog exists because of a pattern I've watched repeat itself for over 25 years: smart, capable owners, developers, and investors making decisions about construction projects without the information they actually needed. Not because they weren't paying

3 communication breakdowns that killed project budgets I've seen

I've been in the construction industry for over 25 years, and I'll tell you something I believe deeply: most budget overruns are communication problems wearing a change order disguise. The technical problems are real. But they usually get expensive because of how — or whether — they were

What I ask in every first meeting with a contractor

I've interviewed a lot of contractors over 25 years. And I've learned that what you ask matters a lot less than how you listen to the answer. Still, I have a set of questions I ask consistently. Not to catch anyone off guard — to understand who