Pay to play; professional service agreements protect custom builders from giving away services. They're also great marketing tools.

All custom home builders share a problem. A potential client wants the builder to do a lot of up-front work-fleshing out and finalizing plans, setting the price, and so on--without any guard tee that the customer we build the house or build with that builder.

"You've spent a lot. time for no return," says Wayne Foley, a custom-builder in Great Falls, VA. "More importantly, you've taken time away from your business when you could be following more productive leads."

To solve this problem, Foley and a handful of other builders have adopted and adapted the Professional Services Agreement system, which was developed by Al Trellis, a builder in Columbig, Md., and a BUILDER columnist. Using the PS the client agrees to pay the builder to perform certain up-front services; if the buyer subsequently contracts with the builder, the payments are credited to the buyer in the first draw.

"I want to see some commitment from the owners," says Foley. "If they're willing to go into their pockets, that shows some commitment. If they don't have to pay, they'll spend your time like …