Tech-industry homebuyers building their dream homes today are not your average clients. 

“Our construction document sets can be 160 pages long, [and] most of our clients don’t want to read through that,” says David Stone of Tim Barber Architects in Beverly Hills, Calif. “But our tech clients have always asked for the entire set. They read every line and they come back to us with questions.”

Who are these well-read clients, what’s it like working with them, and what do they want in a home?

On the surface, they want a home that reads as “dumb.” Behind the scenes, they want genius. Understanding that tension, and the underlying desires driving it, is the key to working with them successfully. Read more about today's tech buyer. 

International buyers spent $56 billion on U.S. residential property last year, and a large share of that overlaps with the custom home market.

"It's not about changing the aesthetic of a project, it's about rethinking the process behind it," says Alberto Dana of Concepto Taller de Arquitectura. "Serving a globally-minded client requires stronger sourcing strategies and a clear understanding of what can realistically be achieved locally versus what needs to be brought in."

"It's become a much more hands-on approach, with homeowners being involved in construction and needing more and more information, that requires somebody available to manage the client's expectations all through the project," says Melissa Kennedy, president of Meadowlark Design+Build.

"Construction is high investment, high touch," Kennedy says. "You're touching something that is most people's greatest asset, and they want to know what's going on."

To meet that demand, builders are redefining project management roles into "construction concierge" positions focused on people as much as execution. Meadowlark's version has produced an 85% client return and referral rate. Read more about the rise of the construction concierge.

Bella Mancini and Taryn Burns, partners at Mancini Burns Design, recently expanded their concierge services to cover construction management, moving logistics, and art curation.

"When these decisions come too late, the consequences can be costly and disruptive, especially if they are made after the walls are closed," the firm says of interior decisions like electrical and lighting plans.

Their fix is to time interior decisions together with the earliest construction planning, rather than treating them as a later phase. Read the full Builder in 5 interview.

"We always start with the exterior finishes and move in step with the construction process," says Richard Jackson of JacksonBuilt Custom Homes. "Inside, cabinets come first because they set the tone for everything else."

Guild Craft's Jay Endelman takes a different approach, giving clients four vetted options per product to prevent decision fatigue. Dick Clark + Associates builds full-scale on-site mockups so clients see finishes in real light before committing.