Another Lesson In The School Of Hard Knocks

A.W.Davis

Ever had this happen?

I was in preparation of signing on to a $110,000 whole house remodel. I had been working with the homeowners for roughly 4 months. They gave me the runaround the whole time.....adding things, changing things.

Finally on one of our "meetings" I explained it would be benificial to just get the contract signed that way we can fit them into our busy schedule.....the homeowner chuckled and said "look Anthony we are going with you so dont even worry" So me being the nice person that I am I actually put my trust in them and continued on.....as a month passed by 2 of my estimates I had been working on for kitchen remodels had been approved by other clients....I explained to them I am currently booked through May of 08 (which I wasnt) Never heard back from them after that....I do followup calls....nothing!

Anyways .....long story short I lost the other jobs because I was "reserving" a spot in my schedule for them. Then after all of the work I did, after all of the time I put into the scope of work list......revising estimates and what not they call me and tell me they found another contractor

I should have known they where using me!! I am just glad I didnt waste more time with them on things like I have in the past with others.


Moral of the story is dont ever ever ever ever reserve a spot in your schedule for anybody......repeat......anybody, until the contract is signed.

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

L. B. Condulet

I would have taken the jobs anyway. Divide your time between all of them. Sub out as much as you can. I hate turning down good jobs.

kevjob

Did you charge them anything? No sign, No spot on the schedule.

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Kevin
Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
Kitchen Remodeling Denver

A.W.Davis

I really wish I had done that!!

I was hoping the other 2 remodels in the works would be willing to wait but I shouldve known better! Lesson learned.

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

A.W.Davis

No charge

....next time I might charge a non refundable fee to reserve a spot in the schedule before the contract is signed if this particular situation arises again!

Then again....whats a little fee as opposed to losing another job..... I think I will just never reserve a spot for others, period!

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

deckman22

Money talks & bs walks. No one is on my schedule til they sign on the dotted line. I might tell them they are on my schedule, but in reality they aren't. I just keep moving forward with other folks, first come first served.

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Deckman
www.alscustomdecks.com

A.W.Davis

Yeap....no matter how convinced you are that the job is yours dont reserve a spot in your schedule for them!

I am just fortunate I have lots of other jobs lined up to stay busy.

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

Patrick

LOL the people that I DO HAVE contracts with have a hard enough time being fit into my schedule, never mind the non signed ones.

If people dont want to wait, ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure you pose the questions, "Who do you want working for you, the guy that is booked for weeks/months because people know he is good and demand him, or the guy who can start tomorrow because he has no work and no referrals to work off"

Brock

Anytime you get that scale of a remodel you have to hold it, carress it, stroke it, and put every ounce of free energy you have until THEY are ready to sign.I don't care if you make 30 free in home visits on your dime.

Also, I never worry about "stacking" jobs. My standard response is always, "It's a little tight but we can squeeze you in." I take everything. Even if you have 10 contracts ahead of them. You just have to be creative on how to get it all done, whether it's more subs, hiring a couple more guys, etc. Beleive it or not, I have sold jobs to my competitors that I know and trust out of desperation many times. The key is to always have somebody on the site even if it you send your nephew over to the site to clean up as they are coming home from work.

A.W.Davis

I concur

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A.W. Davis Construction Co.
http://www.awdavisconstruction.com/
Your friendly remodeling contractor

SelfContract

Damn, $100K is way too big and tempting for me to knock my eyes blind too. Next time if I meet one, I would say to HO..."Please..please, before you decide to go with others, I'm willing to negotiate, to bargains....even with mexicans, etc.. I need work right away.. etc"... hahaha... just kidding.... Anyway, sorry to hear that, thanks for the lesson man, appreciate!

Teetorbilt

THAT's why I don't give free estimates. Sorry folks, my time is worth money and you're going to pay for it somewhere. Free estimates have been over here for many years. Another point is that after an investment the borderline customer is hesitant to lose the $$.

Think like a customer out of the biz and you'll be much further ahead.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Cole

I got burned a year ago on about the same size $$ of contract.

After that I started charging for estimates and I hope to never have that problem again and I know I wont!

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

mahlere

are you serious?

Celtic

Nothing sells like desperation

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Heritage

I agree with the "charge for the estimate" crowd. 110k...they can afford it. I might give them 1 free initial meeting but if I'm coming back a second time...$ pay me!

Furthermore...I do quite a few complete home renos for a builder/house flipper. I've learned to break the work down into 2 main Phases.

Phase 1. Demo
Phase 2. All else

I give a price for Phase 1. Phase one is complete...we figure out Phase 2.

Permits, drawings, Engineer approvals etc etc take time...yes. But once the house is all opened up we finally find out what we have to work with and can do it right the first time.

This makes it easy for me. Pay me for the Demo...simple contract. Then we can meet until the cows come home...you can find me on-site demo'ing your house.

I dunno...it's worked for me. I have never made more than 5 trips before cashing a deposit on a 100k+ contract.

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Toronto General Contractor-Renovation Blog-Contractor on Facebook-Renovation on twitter-Contractor Youtube

Brock

I only hope these "charge for estimate" guys move into my market. All they would get from the prospective client would be a chuckle then dead-air as they realize they have been hung up on.

Heritage

Not all contractors are built the same

Some work from the back of their VW's, party every night, hack people's homes all day long and ...

Some have spent the last 10-20+ years learning as much as they possibly could about construction, about safety, about the legalities of the business, who pay taxes, employ citizens, carry liability insurance and can take a "shack" and turn it into someone's dream mansion...leave a permanent reminder of their artistic vision on a piece of property that will last 100 years.

We build homes for people.
We build offices where people work.
We build Industrial space so companies can function.

Some of us have dedicated a good chunk of our lives to learning the various aspects of construction.

So maybe when somebody calls you up and says "I got a hundred sheets of drywall I need hung...how much"? You don't charge...any shmuck can hang drywall.

But when somebody calls you up and says "I got 110k home reno" and you need to run a diagnostic on: Plumbing, Electrical, Structural, HVAC etc. components of the house and give them advice...A. You better know what you are talking about and B. You're an idiot if you do it for free.

The more knowledge you have the more you're worth.

I wish I could call up my mechanic and tell him my car needs XYZ done to it then have him drive to my house X number of times, spend an hour there every time then give me a price but um....NOT BLOODY LIKELY!

Stop empowering the HO's and selling yourselves short.

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Toronto General Contractor-Renovation Blog-Contractor on Facebook-Renovation on twitter-Contractor Youtube

Tscarborough

Why would you hold a spot with no money down?

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It ain't Rocket Science unless you are building rockets.

Mud Master

How can you say any shmuck can hang drywall? That is like saying any sheetrocker is not in a real trade?

Yet in another thread you say any good rocker should make $20.00/hour??

It is either one or the other....shmuck's are not worth anything....

I'd like to see a shmuck hang a 22' curved soffit, or do a multi-level barreled ceiling w/ tight bullnosed corners at each levels termination.

IMO, what your saying is that hanging drywall is not a real profession, nor is it a real skill.

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