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I never ask what the budget is. To me the budget is defined by what they are asking for and by listening carefully and reading between the lines. It is not a hard number, but if someone is talking about 200 face feet of stone wall, 600 sf of bluestone patio, and big pergolas it tells me a different story than if they keep telling me "we're not millionaires, you know", and talking about ways to cut corners. Its not hard numbers, but you know what to do.
My belief is to show them what they want and then have them deal with the reality of what it costs. The result is that you never disappoint in the design phase, you don't have to spend hours and hours calculating as you design, and once they see it they usually come up with the money if they want it bad enough. Anything short of that makes them feel like you did not give them what they want even if it is on budget.
Ever go car shopping and spend more money than you wanted to because once you took it for a test drive, you knew you wanted it and you were probably not going to find another like it for less? Do you say "what do you have for $15,000? Or do you say I want a low mieage F150 extended cab 4x4 with under 20k miles .... for $15k?
Either way, if you really want that truck, you are going to pay $20k or you won't get to test drive it and have to settle for less. Chances are that the salesman is going to find out what you really want and get you to test drive that $20k truck knowing that once you are horny for it, you'll find a way to buy it if you can. In the end you are happy and so is he. Why should it bedifferent with a landscape? Give them what they ask for, so they either rise to it, or they are the ones who determine they need to cut it back.
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