Scope and contracts
Define the work before anyone is hired, then write the contract that protects you — not the vendor.
Owner's representative · Vermont
The owner's advocate for high-end residential renovations.
I'm not a contractor and I'm not a vendor. I'm the person whose only job is making sure your money goes where you intended — from scope and contracts through closeout.
Based in Grand Isle. Serving the Champlain Islands, Burlington, Shelburne, and Stowe.
What an owner's rep does
The architect represents the design. The contractor represents the build. Low Advisory represents you.
Contractor selection
Find the right trades, check references, and compare bids that are actually for the same job.
Project oversight
Site visits, vendor meetings, and the hard conversations you should not have to have with your own contractor.
Budget control
Pay applications, change orders, and a running picture of cost before the surprise invoice.
Closeout
Punch list, final walkthrough, and a job that ends when it is finished.
Ongoing advisory
A monthly retainer when you want one person as the point of contact — including the jargon.
Five steps
Every engagement starts with a conversation. No obligation.
- 1. Understand the project
What you want, what the house can take, and what the budget can actually support.
- 2. Define the scope
A written scope before bids, so every vendor prices the same job.
- 3. Select the team
Architects, engineers, and trades chosen for the work, not whoever called back first.
- 4. Manage the work
Oversight and change orders. You stay the decision-maker.
- 5. Close it out
Punch list, documentation, and a house you can live in.
About Kevin Low
I live in Grand Isle with my wife and three children, and I've renovated seven houses across New England — Victorian two-families in Pawtucket, a ranch in Warwick, houses in Easton and Sugar Hill, a beach cottage in South Kingstown, and a 1914 stone house on Lake Champlain.
That range is the point. Different systems, different contractor dynamics. A homeowner with a ranch and a homeowner with an old house both hear the same thing: this is work I've already done.
I founded Secured Network Services (SNS) in 2003 and sold it to Thrive in 2025. Providence Business News 40 Under 40. Littleton Business Leader of the Year, 2019. A volunteer firefighter for more than a decade, and a Rotarian.
Why Low Advisory
The gap
The owner's representatives in Vermont are built for towns and public buildings. Nobody in Burlington, Shelburne, or Stowe is focused on high-end houses. Historic homes are a specialty inside that work, not the whole market.
An aligned fee
On a large project the fee is capped. I make the same whether the work costs eight hundred thousand or one point two million. I'm not rewarded for overruns.
Close enough to show up
Based on Grand Isle. Four minutes from an island job. Select projects in greater Burlington, Shelburne, and Stowe — quoted for the travel, and only when being on site is still real.
How an engagement works
Most homeowners don't want to be the point of contact. Vendors will bury you in jargon until you give up. The product is being that person.
Retainer
A monthly fee to be the main contact — meetings, email, and the call when a vendor says the part won't fit. This is the usual way to start, including on the islands.
Defined project
A flat fee for a written scope and a set number of weeks. Add site visits only if you want them. The scope is the guardrail.
Full oversight
A larger renovation, often a year or more. Monthly oversight or a capped percentage. The cap is so a higher construction cost does not raise my fee.
Questions
Do I need an owner's rep for a small project?
On the islands, work often starts around $50,000. Those are a flat fee for a defined stretch of weeks, not a percentage. A percentage starts to make sense as the project grows.
How much does it cost?
A small, defined project is typically a flat fee of $2,500 to $5,000. Larger work is a monthly retainer, or 3 to 5 percent of construction cost capped at a fixed dollar amount. Every engagement starts with a conversation, not an invoice.
Why a retainer instead of a percentage?
A renovation runs a year or more. A monthly fee means someone is on your side the whole way, and the fee does not grow because the project got more expensive.
Are you a contractor?
No. Low Advisory does not build. The architect represents the design. The contractor represents the build. I represent you.
What if I'm already mid-project?
I can step in at any stage. The most value is before contracts are signed.
Where do you work?
Based in Grand Isle. The islands first, then select projects in Burlington, Shelburne, and Stowe. Being on site matters, so travel is for the right project.
Start with a conversation
No obligation. Tell me the house, the rough budget, and where you are in the process.
Kevin Low
kevin@lowadvisory.com
(802) 316-8786
Grand Isle, Vermont
References from the contractors on the Grand Isle house — Benore Plumbing & Heating, Lakeside Electrical, and Alderson Environmental — are available when you ask.