They ended up with 13 bids.

“We took offers at four o’clock and they just started rolling in — now we’re at seven, now we’re at eight,” said Kehl, a real estate agent with Compass. “At 4:15 I got one, at 4:24 I got another.”

Across the San Francisco Bay area — home to some of America’s earliest and strictest shelter-in-place rules — demand for real estate is soaring in outer suburbs and wealthy havens known for their gorgeous landscapes. From affluent Marin County to Napa wine country and south to Monterey’s Carmel Valley, brokers say the coronavirus outbreak is leading to a surge of interest from homebuyers looking to spread out.

“I’ve never seen the demand higher for Marin County real estate than when covid-19 hit,” said Josh Burns, an agent with Sotheby’s International who has been in the business for about 20 years.

Like New York, where Manhattanites fleeing the city have fueled newfound interest in tony suburbs, San Francisco is flush with people with the means to upgrade to more spacious areas. The tech companies that drive the region’s economy are also signaling a long-term acceptance of remote work, raising the prospect that there’s little need to live close to offices.

But the rush to move also shows the growing divides in a region where real estate is already out of reach for many residents, with the median house price in the Bay Area approaching $1 million. Relocating isn’t an option for lower-income people who have been among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus. In San Francisco, expensive neighborhoods have emptied as residents escape during virus shutdowns, while the Tenderloin, an area known for its large homeless population, has hundreds of tents.

“This is an example of another way the most advantaged, the most affluent have isolated themselves from this latest crisis,” said Patrick Sharkey, a sociology professor at Princeton University who focuses on urban inequality. “It’s a very small segment of the population that has another home that they can go take off to.”

After real estate deals initially fell off with shelter-in-place orders, last month saw a resurgence in interest. The suburban and rural areas around the Bay Area had the biggest rebound, while contracts in San Francisco and Oakland’s Alameda County were well below where they were in 2019, according to data collected by Patrick Carlisle, Compass’s chief market analyst for the Bay Area.

In the wine growing regions of Sonoma and Napa Valley, it’s been “an incredibly brisk season,” said Ginger Martin, a real estate agent with Sotheby’s who concentrates on the high end of the market.

“There’s a mad rush to get out of the city,” Martin said. “What I’m really doing well with right now is anything that’s turnkey.”

One of the Napa properties she listed — a $10.85 million, four-acre estate built this year with one acre of planted sauvignon blanc next to the backyard swimming pool and spa — was snapped up within hours of the buyer’s tour of the home.

But there’s also demand among more typical homebuyers. Justin Housman and his wife had been looking to leave San Francisco for Marin County before the virus hit. As they were sheltering in place with their one-year-old, finding a more spacious home took on more urgency. They found the market very different from when they first started their search.

Homes “would have like 12, 13 offers — it’s incredibly competitive,” Housman said of his hunt in the Marin County town of Fairfax. “Our realtors are just like, ‘we’ve never seen this.'”

They ended up turning to the rental market instead, eventually landing a property that had 15 applicants, Housman said.

What’s unclear is if this type of demand is a short-term trend to escape the virus, or a signal of a more pronounced shift from dense cities to the suburbs. In Marin, houses like the one Kehl is selling in Mill Valley are typically primary residences, she said. It varies more at the higher end, where purchasers tend to be second-home buyers.

Ed Glaeser, an urban economist with Harvard University, said he expects cities to be resilient so long as the virus proves to be a short-term aberration. “If this becomes a regular thing, then by all means, having a large suburban home is going to become very attractive relative to having urban space,” he said.

Cities are also now affected by protests roiling the country in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. The unrest may further delay a recovery in the appeal of urban areas, said Deniz Kahramaner, the founder of data-focused real estate brokerage Atlasa.

In the Bay Area, demand may be more about changing work habits. Tech employees who have spent months working from home may continue to do so for the foreseeable future. San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. has said employees can work away from the office forever, while Facebook Inc. expects as much as 50% of its workforce may be remote in 10 years.

Silicon Valley agent Elaine White said homebuyers are expanding beyond the areas close to tech campuses that made the location so convenient in pre-virus times. She has one client looking in the Carmel Valley and Napa and Sonoma areas, and another searching for a second home near Lake Tahoe. On a sales meeting with about 75 Coldwell Banker coworkers, White said brokers were hearing from people that they wanted larger houses with bigger lots.

“Buyers are all putting a larger emphasis on features like distinct home offices, special outdoor spaces, access to open space and if it’s within their budget, things like swimming pools,” said Marin County’s Burns. “Having a far commute to San Francisco is less of an issue right now than I’ve ever seen it before.”

The new target reflects growth of 67 per cent year on year from presales of Bt21 billion last year.

The revision was triggered by strong presales in the first five months of this year of Bt22 billion, up 168 per cent year on year.

Srettha attributed this strong performance to consumers’ confidence in the Sansiri brand and strong marketing strategies.

Purchases of single-family houses climbed 0.6% from March to a 623,000 annualized pace, government data showed Tuesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a drop to a 480,000 rate of sales. The median sale price fell 8.6% from a year earlier to $309,900.

Even with the gain, sales are unlikely to rebound to pre-coronavirus levels, said Alex Barron, an analyst with the Housing Research Center in El Paso, Texas.

“We’re still trying to understand what is the new normal,” Barron said. “Is it sales down 20% from the 2019 level or down 40%?”

Mortgage rates near all-time lows may be starting to put a floor under the housing market, helping explain a recent increase in builder sentiment. At the same time, soaring unemployment and tighter credit standards may limit the strength of the recovery in housing.

Three of four U.S. regions showed stronger home sales in April than a month earlier, reflecting 2.4% gains in the South and Midwest, the Commerce Department’s report showed. Purchases climbed 8.7% in the Northeast and dropped 6.3% in the West.

The government’s data measure signed contracts to buy homes.

Now, with the effects of coronavirus shutdowns reverberating through the economy and the nation set for its worst recession in 90 years, the concept that owning property is a license to print money is under threat.

While the covid-19 pandemic has upended property markets from Canada to Singapore, Australia is more vulnerable than most to a housing slump. It has one of the world’s highest levels of household debt, the nation’s banks are heavily exposed to mortgage lending, and many mom and pop investors rely on income from rental properties, which are also under pressure.

“Australia’s had an obsession with residential property for a long time,” said Richard Holden, professor of economics at the University of New South Wales. “A lot of people have a lot of their wealth tied up in residential property. I’m pretty worried.”

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest home lender, estimates that under a short, sharp economic downturn this year followed by a quick recovery next year, house prices will fall 11% by March 2023. In the worst-case scenario of a prolonged recession, prices could plunge 32%.

That’s a marked reversal from before coronavirus hit, when house prices were back near boom-time peaks, having rebounded rapidly since a 21-month slump bottomed out in June. Longer term, home values have tripled since the turn of the century, propelling Sydney and Melbourne into the ranks of the world’s least-affordable places to buy.

To help avoid a calamitous decline, banks have rolled out a huge assistance package, with almost 430,000 borrowers given a six-month payment holiday. All up, banks have deferred AU$211 billion ($138 billion) of loans, including to businesses. Meantime, around 2.9 million workers are receiving government wage subsidies of AU$1,500 every two weeks.

That has helped avoid a flood of forced sales that could drag down the entire market. Property listings in Sydney are down 27% from a year ago, according to data provider CoreLogic.

Along with would-be buyers vying for a smaller number of properties, there’s other factors helping prop up the market. Interest rates are at a record low, and most of the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost are concentrated among younger people in low-income work like hospitality and retail, who tend not to be homeowners.

And after a brief pause during the height of social-distancing restrictions, open-house inspections and public auctions have restarted.

“The banks, and by extension the housing market, are fairly well firewalled at present, and it would take a lot to outweigh this,” said Tamar Hamlyn, co-founder of fixed-income investor Ardea Investment Management. “The most likely scenario is slowly lower prices in a low-turnover market, as in the absence of any forced selling it’s quite likely that the various buffers in place can prevent a shakeout for the time being.”

Still, even as Australia starts to emerge from the shutdowns, the after-effects will linger for years. The central bank expects unemployment will peak at 10% this quarter, be at 9% at the end of this year, and hold above 6.5% for the next two years.

And while banks are going all out to support existing borrowers, they are tightening the screws on new customers, placing less weight on variable income like bonuses and overtime when assessing borrowing capacity, and being ultra-cautious about people who work in hard-hit industries.

“Banks aren’t going to lend based on a ‘future return to normality,’ they will lend on the now,” said Redom Syed, the founder of mortgage broker Confidence Finance. “A major shock to lending markets is coming.”

Then there’s the sudden drying up of immigration, which has been one of the key drivers of house prices, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne where new arrivals tend to settle.

On a net basis, more than 470,000 immigrants moved to Australia over the past two years. Now, with borders shut and international travel unlikely to resume anytime soon, the government is forecasting immigration will slump 85% in the year starting July 1.

“Migration is going to the biggest feature of what drives housing market dynamics,” said Paul Bloxham, chief economist for Australia at HSBC, and a former central bank official. “We see weaker demand for owner-occupied property, weaker demand for rental property and weaker demand for property for students.”

Landlords are also facing an uncertain future. Unlike in the U.S. and Europe where big firms such as Blackstone Group and Vonovia own thousands of apartments, Australia’s rental market is largely a cottage industry of mom and pop landlords. For many, the monthly rent doesn’t cover their loan payments — and instead they count on tax breaks and price growth to turn a profit.

That leaves them in a precarious position if tenants can’t pay rent. While evictions have been suspended for six months, there is no financial support for renters, and instead the government has urged landlords and tenants to negotiate rent breaks themselves.

Meantime, tens of thousands of international students are stranded overseas, leaving their rental apartments empty, while the shuttering of tourism has seen AirBnB units flood back to the market.

“We are well aware of a surge in short-term accommodation now being advertised for long-term leasing,” said Louis Christopher, managing director at consultancy SQM Research.

Rents in Sydney have fallen about 6% from a year ago, and will decline further if high vacancy rates are sustained, he said. “That’s good news for tenants but a disaster for landlords.”

Then there’s the question of what happens later this year when the government and banks start to unwind the extraordinary level of support propping up the economy. With a household debt-to-income ratio of 187%, Australia is one of the most indebted countries in the developed world.

“That’s the cliff edge,” said Sarah Hunter, chief Australia economist at BIS Oxford Economics. “If the economic recovery isn’t established by then, there is the risk of a big stumble.”

The Covid-19 crisis has impacted the housing market in the first quarter of 2020 not only in investments but also sale of housing but the slowing of demand and supply has balanced the market, reducing the risk of problems from excess supply, said Vichai Viratkapan, bank inspector and Real Estate Information Centre (REIC) head at Government Housing Bank.

In the first quarter of 2020, 89,024 units of ownership were transferred nationwide, down 16.7 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2019 but up 2.5 per cent year on year (YoY), with total value of Bt210 billion.

House ownership transfer in the Bangkok metropolitan area in the first quarter was 45,678 units, down 18.3 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) and 4.4 per cent YoY. The value of house ownership transfer was Bt129.406 billion, down 24.4 per cent QoQ and 2.7 per cent YoY.

The housing ownership transfer value in the region in the first quarter totalled 43,346 units, down 14.9 per cent QoQ but up10.9 per cent YoY. The value of ownership transfers was Bt80.888 billion, down 13.5 per cent QoQ but up 25.0 per cent YoY.

The REIC expects that by 2020 there will be 311,719 units of ownership transfers nationwide, down 16.7 per cent YoY. The total value of ownership transfer will be Bt746.206 billion, down 14.8 per cent YoY.

The Bangkok-metropolitan area will have 160,350 units of residential units, a decrease of 19.1 per cent YoY, with a total transfer value of Bt472.401 billion, down 17.4 per cent in value YoY. Total regional units will be 151,369, with the total value of transfer at Bt273.805 billion, down by 14 per cent and 9.9 per cent YoY respectively.

New individual housing loans

In the first quarter of 2020, the total value of individual housing loans was Bt138.238 billion, down 13 per cent YoY. The REIC expected that in 2020, the total number of new housing loans for individuals nationwide will be Bt571.196 billion, down by 10.8 per cent YoY.

New housing supply during the first quarter of 2020 showed that 60,165 units of residential building permits were issued nationwide, down 17.9 per cent QoQ and 27.7 per cent lower YoY. The number of residential construction permits in the Bangkok-metropolitan region was 20,590 units, a decrease of 18.6 per cent from the 4th quarter of 2019 and a decrease of 36.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. As for regional housing supply, 39,575 units of residential building permits were issued, down 27.8 per cent QoQ and 30.9 per cent lower YoY.

The REIC estimates that by 2020, 256,601 units of residential buildings permits will be issued nationwide, down 16.5 per cent YoY.

In the Bangkok-metropolitan region, there will be 97,441 units of residential building permits, down 20.7 per cent compared to last year. In the regions, it is expected that 154,160 units of residential building permits will be issued, down 22.7 per cent YoY.

According to survey data of new residential projects for sale, it was found that during the first quarter of 2020, there were 15,932 units of all types of new homes for sale in the Bangkok-metropolitan region, down by 49.3 per cent QoQ and down 29.6 per cent YoY. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, in the Bangkok-metropolitan region alone there will be 79,408 units of new housing for sale of all types, consisting of 35,734 units of newly-launched housing projects and 43,674 units of newly-opened condominiums, down 19.9 per cent YoY.

Meanwhile, the number of completed housing projects registered in the Bangkok-metropolitan region in the first quarter of 2020 also decreased with only 21,260 units registered, down 24.7 per cent QoQ and down by 12.3 per cent YoY.

It is expected that by the end of 2020 there will be approximately 80,563 units of registered completed housing units, down 27.8 per cent compared to 2019.

The direction of the housing market in 2020

The REIC expects that this year, despite the country’s overall economic slowdown, the housing market will not face the severe problems it did in 1998, due to adjustment in both demand and supply.

In addition, the “New Normal” trend in the housing market points to consumers being more interested in living in a house than a condominium. But, due to their tight budget, customers have to choose housing at a price that is within their ability to pay by instalments. The REIC expects that in the last quarter, those with income stability, such as civil servants and those with regular salary, will return to buy housing.

Closing transactions declined 17.8% from the prior month, the biggest drop since July 2010 after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit, to an annualized pace of 4.33 million, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The April rate was the slowest since September 2011 and compares with the Bloomberg survey median of 4.22 million rate.

The pandemic has undercut demand in many markets, as tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs in the past few months and remain generally uncertain about future economic conditions. Despite mortgage rates near record lows, the outbreak put a freeze on showings and open houses as people stay home.

“The economic lockdowns – occurring from mid-March through April in most states – have temporarily disrupted home sales,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. “But the listings that are on the market are still attracting buyers and boosting home prices.”

So far, prices have held up. Inventory was tight before the pandemic and with homeowners reluctant to move because of health and employment risks, the buyers who have started returning to the market are facing bidding wars in some markets.

The median home price increased 7.4% from a year earlier to $286,800. Inventory was down 19.7% last month from a year ago to 1.47 million units, the lowest on record for any April. The number of homes for sale would last 4.1 months at the current sales pace. Anything below five months is seen as a tight market.

Meantime, the residential real estate market may be starting to stabilize. May data from the National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo showed builder sentiment improved after falling in April by the most in records back to 1985. The housing market picked up last year and early this year after a lackluster 2018.

Existing home sales slumped in all U.S. regions in April, led by a 25% drop in the West from a month earlier. Contract closings also fell 17.9% in the South, 12% in the Midwest and 16.9% in the Northeast.

Existing-home sales account for about 90% of U.S. housing and are calculated when a contract closes. New-home sales, which make up the remainder, are based on contract signings and will be released Tuesday.

The programme, “Dusit Care – Stay with Confidence”, being rolled out at Dusit Hotels and Resorts worldwide, includes the introduction of new facilities, services and operating procedures across five distinct dimensions: flexible stays, safety and well-being, local experience, technology, and Dusit care kits, the company said.

It added that to limit queues and offer added convenience for guests, flexible stays covers, amongst others, check-in and breakfast. All Dusit Hotels and Resorts will offer flexible check-in times, while breakfast will be available at any time of the day.

Safety and well-being will see each Dusit property enhance its already stringent health and safety practices, which includes frequent sanitisation of all rooms and public areas, to include temperature scans on arrival, provision of appropriate space in restaurants, and more measures designed to protect the health and safety of guests, customers and employees, the company said.

To promote personal well-being, Dusit’s in-room dining options have been enhanced to include personalised healthy food, while refreshment fridges will offer healthy drinks and snacks, which guests can enjoy for free. New outdoor workout areas will also be added to offer plenty of space for exercise, the company said.

For local experience, Dusit is partnering with the finest local culinary specialists and craftspeople in its various locations so guests can enjoy the best of local foods and souvenirs without having to leave the comfort of Dusit’s hotels, the company said.

To enable contactless and efficient service, Dusit is also implementing new technology to allow for mobile payments, and installing digital menus in its various outlets. Flexible meeting and conference equipment, and property-wide high-speed internet, ensure guests can always remain connected, the company said.

A Dusit care kit will be placed in every guest room. Each pack will include hand sanitiser gel, a face mask, and antibacterial wipes.

“Covid-19 has significantly impacted our industry, and there is no doubt that health, safety and security will take precedence over any other factor when customers are ready to book hotels again,” said Suphajee Suthumpun, Group CEO, Dusit International.

“…To truly inspire confidence and drive demand in this difficult time, we recognise we must go far beyond basic measures for enhanced cleanliness and physical distancing. …In a post-Covid-19 world, we must reinvent our services in line with the new normal while seeking ways to deliver additional convenience, experience and value. … This is what we aim to achieve by implementing the ‘Dusit Care – Stay with Confidence’ programme,” she said.

Maybe the thought of a renovation has crossed your mind. But this couldn’t possibly be the right time for one, could it? Well, it depends.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, home construction – including remodeling – had been deemed an essential business under the original stay-at-home orders in some states. But whether a specific project is considered appropriate is a matter largely determined by homeowners and contractors.

“Putting a roof back on is essential,” said David Merrick, president of Merrick Design and Build in Kensington, Maryland.

Merrick, who also serves as chairman of the government affairs committee for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), said contractors are more likely to take on outside rather than inside projects. In the case of a customer seeking to renovate the basement of her Washington, D.C., rowhouse, the decision was made to wait until the late spring or early summer when everyone would feel more comfortable.

Not surprisingly, home construction activity nationwide has fallen significantly since the covid-19 outbreak, according to the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, and is not expected to recover until well into 2021.

The slump in activity may work to your advantage, experts say. Because work has dried up, some contractors may be more willing to give you a better deal on the pricing than they would have several months ago when demand for their services was high.

If you opt to wait until the pandemic eases, experts say, you can still use this downtime to plan your project and get on your contractor’s radar.

“If you have a four to five month timeline, you can talk to friends on who they used and look at Angie’s List reviews on their performance,” said Kermit Baker, project director at the Harvard remodeling program. “You can do your due diligence as you prepare to get the project ready.”

Once you decide on what work needs to be done and when to do it, be sure to put your order in right away. “If you wait until September to place your order, [contractors will] have five months of orders in front of you,” Merrick said. Then, it will “be hard time to get the contractor to return your phone call.”

Here are some other factors you can consider ahead of time during this lull:

– Budgeting and financing

Probably the best thing you can do is not get too caught up in the aesthetics but to invest considerable time concentrating on the logistics.

“Every home improvement project will cost more than you think it will and will take more time than you planned,” Bob Harkson, chief financial planner at Phase2 Wealth Advisors in Gig Harbor, Wash., told The Post in May 2019. Harkson said the biggest problem he sees with his financial-planning clients is that they haven’t budgeted enough.

The tricky thing about home improvement is maximizing your return on investment. You want to spend money that will yield a return when you sell your home, but not overspend way beyond what a buyer would be willing to pay you. So how do you find the sweet spot?

Experts say that kitchen and bathroom renovations are among the projects that provide homeowners the best yields. According to Remodeling magazine, kitchens recouped 62.1% and bathrooms 67.2%. Others include: 70.8% for windows; 75.6% for siding; 68.2% for roof; and 75.6% for deck.

Dan DiClerico, a smart-home expert for HomeAdvisor, a New York-based home improvement platform, offered this rule of thumb: “You should spend about 5 to 15 percent of your home value on kitchen renovation,” DiClerico told The Post in May 2019. “So, if your home is worth $300,000, you should spend $15,000 to $45,000 on the kitchen. A bathroom renovation should cost about 3 to 7 percent of your home value.”

If you’re into analytics, HomeAdvisor’s State of Home Spending offers data and charts to help you determine whether your budget is in line with what other homeowners pursuing similar projects paid. Another useful source is the Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, which offers searchable databases to compare renovation costs by Zip code.

“The more thorough you are in the planning stages, the more likely you are to come in on budget for your project,” DiClerico said.

A major component of planning involves accounting for surprises. Sonu Mittal, head of retail mortgage lending for Citizens Bank in Plano, Texas, said you should budget an extra 10% for unforeseen expenses.

So how do you pay for a home improvement project? There is no shortage of methods. Here are a few:

Savings: This is the easiest because it doesn’t require getting approval or paying fees and interest.

A Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 203(k) or Fannie Mae HomeStyle Renovation loan: “An FHA 203(k) loan offers flexibility because you can finance up to 97.75% of the improved home value,” Catherine Holtman, operations support manager for Embrace Home Loans in Middletown, R.I., told The Post in May 2019. “There’s a streamlined version for improvements up to $35,000 that are nonstructural and a standard version for major renovations including structural changes.”

Home equity line of credit (HELOC): This provides homeowners flexibility in that they only pay interest on the line of credit they use, and the closing costs are minimal.

Cash-out refinance: Borrowers should keep in mind that closing costs for cash-out refinancing is higher than a HELOC, but interest rates are lower.

Personal loan: A personal loan is best for borrowing smaller amounts because it has to be paid back sooner and have higher interest rates than a HELOC.

401(k) loan: The loans have a low interest rate. Financial advisers discourage these type of loans because they must be paid back immediately if the borrower leaves their company.

Credit card: This is a simple way to pay for a project. However, they come with high interest rates.

– Undertaking a major project

Before embarking on a major renovation, you should take some time to determine the best approach given your budget, timeline, patience and willingness and ability to do some of the work yourself. Here are seven methods:

Design-build firm: These firms, which include designers and architects, can manage the project from beginning to end and oversee all the subcontractors. The downside is that they can be costly.

Kitchen designer: These firms specialize in kitchens and can often provide a more custom look for your project.

General contractor: A general contractor is best for people who know what they want but need someone to manage the project. Because of their relationships with vendors, general contractors often can get discounts on supplies.

Specialty kitchen store: These retailers offer discounts on kitchen components and fixtures and custom services.

High-end design firm: This is for homeowners who want the best of the best, and don’t mind paying for it.

Big-box store: Stores such as Home Depot and Ikea can often get special discounts on labor and can generally offer their services at prices lower than general contractors.

DIY: For people who would like to save a ton of money, and are also handy.

If you’re pursuing a bathroom renovation, for example, keep in mind that 50% to 75% of the project’s cost will be labor. So it’s important to educate yourself on how to negotiate labor costs or hire a contractor who can do so.

– Working with limited dollars

If you’re looking to start off small to get your feet wet, Zillow offers some suggestions on lower-cost projects that can give you a bigger bang for your buck. For instance, Zillow says spending $3,000 on outdoor “curb appeal” projects such as paint and landscaping can yield $3,500 when selling.

Zillow also recommends that when renovating to sell that you try to incorporate the latest design trends into your home.

When trying to prioritize limited dollars, Zillow recommends that you simply ignore the basement. Basement projects, according to Zillow, yield only 50 cents on the dollar even when a bathroom is added.

Justin Pierce, a real estate investor and real estate agent, suggests that homeowners opting to manage their own projects should use a construction journal to stay on top of the project and to give them a record with contractors when something goes awry.

“Keeping a journal has really helped me,” Pierce wrote in a Washington Post column in July. “If things go badly, it can be useful in court or arbitration. Contractors, especially shady contractors, are good at complicating the issue or adding doubt in your mind. They blame delays and increased costs on the weather, additional work, inspectors and the client. You may be shocked to receive $10,000 in change orders at the final accounting. This is impossible to unravel six weeks down the road. It’s best to note things as they happen and share milestones and your understanding of them with the contractor.”

Pierce said the journal should include the start date, major milestones, inspection dates, subcontractor work schedule and change orders.