Trouble Getting Bids.

mdshunk

I don't know how many of you participate on www.diychatroom.com, but this thread might be worth taking a look at: http://www.diychatroom.com/showthrea...ed=1#post19466

It is from a homeowner who has tried, and failed, to get people to bid his basement remodel. Interesting reading.

Gordo

Sounds like the HO already knows the price he wants to pay which is alot less than the true costs of the market. All to familiar.

Personality match-up could be a factor. Too many variables, cannot see the job,neighborhood,ect.

The responses posted seem dead on.

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Looks like some pros were here.

R&S Exteriors

Could be and probably so in allot of cases

BUT

I hear that complaint from HO allot. Many tell me that I am the only one that got back to them with a bid. I think sometimes a contractor is very busy and agrees to meet a HO for an estimate and sometimes they just don't show up or they do show up and intend to actually give them an estimate, but get busy and before they know it a couple weeks have gone by and for whatever reason they just blow it off.

I have gotten some really nice jobs from HO's, that were a pleasant to work for, that complained how other contractors came out but never got back to them with either an estimate or at least a courtesy call saying they either did not want the job or were to busy.

Then again some of those HO really were PITA and I could understand why no one would get back to them.

Double-A

"Hi, my name is Harry Home owner and I'm looking for a dry wall sub to install 900 square feet of dry wall for fifty cents a square foot. I'm acting as GC and <click> ... Hello? Hello?"

If he's getting that, and he's doing that, its no wonder. If he's not, then its busy as hell out there and he's gonna play hell tearing any one away for a smaller project such as his. I recommended he contact the bigger contractors in his area. They can usually spare a crew for a day or two with little impact to their overall schedules. Hope he has some to choose from.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Tscarborough

I hear it all the time, and when I spend the time to find out why, it is usually pricing or personality. I don't know any contractors who are too busy to make money.

Mike Finley

That's funny!

But Double A you got it all wrong. He's got a pre-packaged excuse for any reason anybody can give to him, with the exception of the reason he knows which is all contractors are lazy son-of-a-bitches.

He's the type of guy who would go to a party without his pants on and be absolutely sure that everyone else is crazy after 300 people in a row politely tell him he forgot his pants.

I did a quick search of this guys previous posts, the answer to why contractors don't want to deal with him are right there for all to see. Lots of attitude and cheap, so cheap that he broadcasts it like a beacon to everybody. It's not about money, yet I love his part about how he couldn't see paying somebody $10 an hour to do work he could do like tearing out and hauling out an entire basement. Whoo-wee! $10 an hour! Yowee! Around here the kid at McDonald's if he has been there more than 3 months is making close to that. I'm with him, it's simply preposterous to think somebody doing hard labor should even consider wanting more than $3.00 an hour.