Estimate Sounds Good, But Now Wants More

JamesNLA

Hi all,

So I have a client wants work done. It requires almost all the trades.
Framing - foundation / plumbing - electrical.

I gave him the estimate (that doesn't need to be signed he liked the detail I gave on the basic overview and it was looking positive. Now, when this estimate gets completed, he will need stucco - painter - roofer - rain gutters. That's just the exterior. Interior needs Drywall (tapping) painter - cabinets counter tops.....basic kitchen remod.

So here's the problem I got. Today in the sit down he says what about finishing the whole thing? He understood that, that wasn't part of the original deal. However he wants it by tomorrow (Easter Sunday). I have a feeling if the numbers look good, he'll sign and pay the deposit on the spot. And I want this job. It's a few minutes from my house, it's fairly complicated work, and no one's at the house!!

So I can either bug a bunch of guys for pricing on Sunday morning (not good) Pad the hell out of it and hope I'm close, or stall him off. I really don't want to make him wait, because he's ready to sign, he just needs to hear the total number....what to do??

reveivl

Tell him "I'd love to give you a number off the top of my head, but that wouldn't be fair to either of us without all the info. So I'll get all the details from you, talk to all the appropriate people and get back to you on ...? with a real cost for this job" Then do it. He should be good with this, it's fair to both parties.

I hate it when people ask you how much it will cost to do something and they haven't chosen the finishes or fixtures so you really can have no idea.

Sounds like a good customer, you just have to teach him a little about how this gets done in the real world.

__________________
From where does knowledge come? If you need to know what is in a box, you could ask someone (not reliable), you could pray, (not useful), you can consult with the scripture (not helpful) or you could open the box (science)

Pearce Services

You could also offer allowances for those items, with a time frame to present final numbers based on his finish selections.

mahlere

It's a holiday...this project will take a while to complete...if he is unwilling to wait 2 days (due to a holiday) to get the pricing correct, how will he be once the actual work starts?

dirt diggler

James - are you remodeling a kitchen? an entire house? what???


aren't you a plumber/electrician???

are you getting into the remodeling biz??




like ive said - if you cannot price it - it must be out of your box ...




who am I to criticize ... but sounds like you have a PITA client waiting to blossom


AND


a job you really do not know how to do



one of those is BAD

BOTH of those can be catastrophic


tread slowly ... THINK.

muddjim

hey yáll HAPPY EASTER

Gordo

The same....a nightmare.

__________________
Looks like some pros were here.

mahlere

I think as a whole, contractors are worse than horses....dangle a carrot in front of us and we'll run in circles all day long

Gordo

Yeah. And after a while you start to see that the job is only just that......a dangling carrot. Seems like lately (past three months) most jobs are of the dangling variety. Allot of tire kickers out there wanting things done cheap and right now (a bad combination).

__________________
Looks like some pros were here.

Pearce Services

they waited and waited, now we are all so desperate for work, that we are going to work for pennies on the dollar, now we have to wait in line and hope they grace us with some way to feed our families. Of course they will not buy yet because we are not quite ready to work for minimum wage, give em a little more time.

dirt diggler

and THAT/THIS is OUR fault


not the economy's
not the HO's
not an increase in copper
not fluctuating gas prices



WE all determine our prices ... make em high if you wish ... make em low

but we will ALL reap what has been sowed

Pearce Services

Dirt, I'm definitely not blaming anyone, I'm just saying that things are different now. With the economy that way it is going, I think you are going to see much more price shopping.

You will soon discover a whole new class of customers, people you never knew existed. That waited patiently because they would not even consider paying prices that they felt were inflated. There will be HOs that will get many free estimates until they fall upon some desperate tradesman willing to work for cheap, and waste many peoples time in the process.

Every buyer has a hot button, for some it is having the upper hand in negotiating price. I think you can expect to see more of this type of customer in this economy.

JamesNLA

Happy Easter everyone!!

This customer is a good guy, he will be signing a lock down contract in order to secure us doing it. My bid for the proposed work came in 13K higher than the last guy, but he's going with us, because we actually know what we are doing. The last 2 contractord didn't even look in the attic or crawl, and for blowing out the entire side of a house 5 feet, that sort of thing is important to figure in for design and materials.

Some one mentioned the carrot dangling. Here's my thinking, when one is so busy that they have to turn jobs (nice paying ones) down, and a larger job comes before you, bid the hell out of it. As some of you say, gouge that price. That's what I did, and I am damn proud of myself for having the balls to do it. Raise the value of trasedmen in this area is EVERY tradesmens duty in every area. Unless you still like working for beer money.

Dirt - It's not just me doing this job (God help Me) my framer is a seasoned spec house builder, he does the frame up - I am doing the tankless HWH and adding a recirc to the system, and I am doing the electrical. I am subbing out all the other trades. Have a buddy who's a GC, he has been helping me get ready for the test next month, and he is pulling all the permits. Kinda like a teacher for me. Why, did I worry you?!!

JamesNLA

And the way I live my life, that is a really REALLY good thing. Same ole' same ole' is just not for me.

dirt diggler

oh i am not disagreeing with you by any means ...


however ...


WE control our prices.


right?





nope ??

dirt diggler

kind of


you're a big boy though ...

happy easter & good luck

go do it

jamesnla
i always thought and heard from others that a recirc with a tankless system was not a good idea. it makes the system work to hard. will the recirc be on a timer?
i ask because i have an addition coming up and the homeowners wanted a tankless but after talking to my plumber and hvac guys we decided against it.
please advise thanks
rodney

tcleve4911

Contract the costs you have control of & know. Have a separate allowance sheet that allows you to put reasonable costs associated with each unknown cost for each task. Review this with HO. Have him sign your contract explaining that he understands what allowance means and understands there will be a reconciliation as the numbers come in.
Written contract & communication is the key.

__________________
Back in Maine
Dubbin' Around
Doin' good stuff ......

JamesNLA

Thanks! Ya know, I used to knock GC's because I always thought they were kinda lazy and useless.....haaaa - ha. Yeah right. Last 3 jobs I have been up half the night worring about....seemingly everything. Tools on sight, guys showing up, BUDGET on track, keeping the site clean, dealing with the subs "issues", making sure subs are there for sign offs.....not to mention keeping the schedule full not only for me, but the guys I have. What an eye opener for me. It's pretty exciting though and I love the challenge. And I think it's funny when some of my friends on the job give me a bunch of crap for silly screw ups. So anyhow, I now am starting to see the real value and job of a GC. But I'm not done wiring or plumbing just yet.

Happy Easter!!

dirt diggler

and i used to knock electricians for charging too much till i pulled some wire ....good luck