Real Numbers. Real Experience.

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After 25 years and over 500 commercial projects the thing that still surprises people is how much money was already gone before they called me.

✔ Decades of hands-on construction experience
✔ Active real estate investor, Houston & beyond
✔ One consultant. Every phase. From acquisition to finished product.

If you're doing value-add deals, repositioning properties, or managing rehabs, and you're tired of hiring five different experts who don't talk to each other, I'm the one person who connects all of it for you.

WHO I AM

I am Jeph Burnett. Houston based construction consultant, accredited inspector, active real estate investor, and expert witness for insurance companies and attorneys on construction disputes.

I spent 20 years as a general contractor before transitioning to consulting full time. I have developed over a million square feet of retail space and hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space. I have evaluated institutional portfolios for publicly traded REITs and reported findings directly to their boards. I have managed ground up development of golf courses, marinas, medical facilities, financial institutions, and retail tenant buildouts inside national chains.

500 commercial projects. Every asset class. Every scale.

I am not a construction manager. I am the person who knows what your project is actually going to cost, what can go wrong before it does, and how to protect your capital at every stage.

THE PROBLEM

Most construction problems are not construction problems. They are planning problems that show up during construction when fixing them costs three times what preventing them would have.

I reviewed a commercial repositioning bid recently. New facade, parking, lighting. Competitive number. Professional presentation.

Missing from the bid were the structural supports for the parapet addition and the roof modifications the parapet required. Both mandatory. Both code. Neither listed.

Not an oversight. A calculation. Win the job at a number that looks good then surface the real scope after demolition starts and walking away is no longer realistic.

The updated bid came in $260,000 higher.

Nobody on that project was reading the bid the way a contractor writes it. Nobody was asking the questions that expose what is missing before the contract is signed. That is what I do on every project before a client commits to anything.

THE TRACK RECORD

I served as construction consultant to a publicly traded NYSE listed REIT evaluating 25 plus properties averaging $30 million each and reporting findings directly to the board at weekly meetings.

On one repositioning I caught incomplete engineering on a structural addition, identified missing windstorm specifications, resolved permit documentation gaps before submission, and flagged material lead time issues with no listed alternatives. All on a project that had already been signed off by the people who were supposed to catch it.

None of those issues were caught by the engineers, the project managers, or the contractors bidding the work.

Insurance companies and attorneys hire me to provide expert opinion, estimates, and documentation on construction disputes and defect claims. I have been on every side of every type of construction project that exists.

That experience is what you get access to when you work with me.

Pre-Purchase Construction Assessment

Before you buy know exactly what you are buying into. I walk the property, assess the real cost of needed work, identify hidden issues, and tell you whether the deal actually pencils when you factor in real construction numbers not optimistic estimates.

Bid Review and Scope Development

I read contractor bids the way a contractor writes them. I find what is missing, what is padded, and what will become a change order the moment work starts. Most clients find more than my fee in the first review alone.

Rehab and Repositioning Strategy

I build the scope, review the bids, hold contractors accountable, and guide every decision from demo to done. You stay focused on the investment while I protect the budget and the timeline.

Owner's Rep and Project Oversight

Embedded oversight protecting your interests on site. Contractor accountability, quality control, schedule management, and direct reporting to you or your board.

Institutional Portfolio Evaluation

Property condition assessments, deferred maintenance planning, capital improvement scoping, and budget development for REITs, private equity funds, and portfolio owners.

Expert Witness Services

Independent expert opinion, estimates, and documentation for insurance companies and attorneys on construction defect claims and disputes.

Ongoing Investment Consulting

A construction savvy advisor in your corner on every deal. Deal review, bid analysis, market evaluation, and straight answers when something does not feel right. Billed at $250 per hour in 15 minute increments.

WHO I WORK WITH

Real estate investors doing value add, rehab, and repositioning deals in Houston and surrounding markets.

Developers building ground up or repositioning commercial, multifamily, and mixed use projects.

Publicly traded and private REITs needing independent construction evaluation and board level reporting.

Private equity real estate funds requiring pre-acquisition assessment and capital improvement planning.

Private lenders wanting independent construction review before funding a deal.

Insurance companies and attorneys needing expert opinion and documentation on construction disputes.

Out of state investors buying Houston properties who need qualified eyes on the ground.

TESTIMONIALS

"You are a straightforward businessman who knows his business. I have never heard anything but great things. You like sharing the information you have obtained quite freely."
— Ed Ayers, President & CEO, Houston Realty Advisors

"Jeph has a wealth of real estate consulting experience and has proven to be very adept in a variety of real estate situations. He can utilize his 25+ years of industry experience to be a great problem solver. His depth of knowledge always amazes me. His greatest quality is being a straight shooter, he really does have his clients' interests above all else, and that's really rare to come by."
— Anthony T., Investor / Entrepreneur

"Sometimes as a real estate professional you can be too close to a project. You need a fresh set of eyes. Jeph is the expert you need to guide you through that dilemma. He isn't going to always tell you what you want to hear, but he will tell you what you need to hear to move forward. Don't wait, call him today, right now."
— Thomas D. Day, REALTOR

"We saved time and money every time we work with Jeph."
— David Blankenship, R.E.I.T. Board Member

CLOSING

Every day you make construction and investment decisions without the right expertise in your corner is a day you are operating blind. Bad bids go unchallenged. Good deals get passed on. Projects go over budget.

I have spent over 25 years learning what most investors never figure out.

Let me put that to work for you.

25 Years of Real Deals. Here’s some value add insight.

Everything I know about construction, real estate investing, contractors, and protecting your money- written down honestly for anyone willing to read it.

How to Read a Contractor Bid: What a Houston Construction Consultant Looks for Before Any Client Signs

The Guru Wholesaler Hard Money Trap: How New Real Estate Investors Get Set Up to Fail

Houston Multifamily Due Diligence Checklist: 12 Things to Do Before You Close

Why I Don't Mentor Real Estate Investors: And What I Do Instead

From Mowing Yards at 12 to a Million Square Feet: The Unfiltered Version

Read more on the REI Guide Service blog.