Before I came into the world of real estate, I was a builder for many years. I learned construction the the old school way. By appreticing with various trades people in the construction business. I learned all aspects of construction very well over that course of time. Everything from operating heavy equipment to building furniture. I was fortunate in my life to work along side and learn from very skilled craftsman in each of the building trades. From concrete, framing, electrical, plumbing and finish work, to fine furniture, and several other disciplines in construction. The “boom times” we are experiencing again now bring out those individuals who will take advantage of people. There is a lot of work to go around and not enough skilled trades people to meet the demand. Hence, like the housing market, prices get to unrealistic levels as we are experiencing now with a greater risk of poor quality work and getting overcharged. I’ve dealt with so many people over the years in construction where I had to come in behind the “experts” to remove, repair or replace their “handywork”. I still see many examples of that these days while showing prospective buyers properties, unfortunately. It’s why I thought to share this bit of information to help people not get taken advantage of.
When you don’t know people in the trades, how do you know who your hiring is competent and that they are not taking advantage of you? The Broker you hired should have a pool of people you can call that they know will do the job correctly and at a realistic price point. At times, they might be hard to get scheduled in your time frame because of their demand and the lack of skilled individuals. If that’s the case, here are some things you can do to minimize being taken advantage of:
- Whomever you contact, make sure they are licensed to work in your area. You can check with your local city offices.
- Get a minimum of three bids for each part of the project. Make sure you specify the scope of the work to each potential hire so you can compare apples to apples. You can be surprised at the range of estimates you might get, what they include or don’t include. I had three bids for changing out a main electrical panel. They ranged from $800.00 to $3200! My experience in all my years when hiring sub-contractors was to throw out the high and low bids and work with the one in the middle. They weren’t cutting corners on the low end and they weren’t trying to feed off you all winter on the high end. I was never burned doing business that way. The panel swap for this home cost the Buyers $950.00 and the electrician is a great guy who does exceptional work! I’ll recommend him in a heartbeat!
- Ask them for at least three references you can call or meet in person, to see the work they have done for others in the past. Some of these trades people can talk a good talk, but when it comes down to the quality of their work, well…
- These are three basic principles that will greatly minimize you from being taken advantage of.
This summer I helped my Buyers close on a nice property. They wanted to do some work on it before they moved in. They had a three week time frame. Some of trades people I recommend were scheduled out a month or more. So they got bids from other companies. My Buyers bought all the materials and just needed labor costs. Most every bid they received was unrealistic to outrageous and criminal. In the photos below, that shows the scope of work, they recieved an estimate of $2000, which would of taken one competent, knowledgeable person a day and a half to complete. Scope of work: Remove an entry door and replace it with a new one, remove a rear enrty door and frame it in, remove a window and install a French door made to fit the opening with minimum alterations. A $1000 would of been on the high end! The $2000 estimate was robbery and criminal! The same went for the engeneered flooring which they had gotten bids for starting at $3.80/SF. Realistic cost: $1.50SF. The Buyers had removed all carpets, pads and staples and had subfloor ready for floor installation.
I had some spare time and was able to get the scope of work on the doors and window/door swap, done correctly in 12 hours. I removed and replaced the front door, removed and framed in the back door, removed the window, cut the opening to fit the French Door and get set into place in 6 hours. The rest, including insulating, hanging the sheetrock, taping and texturing took another 6 hours. Total realistic labor cost for the doors and window/door swap: $600. The 1100 SF of flooring which required 2 days at $1.50 a SF to install. Total savings to them: $3930.00.
Sheetrock Removed. Widow ready to come out (French Door made to fit opening). Door framed in on left.
