How do you negotiate with contractors for home repairs?

[Anonymous]

Do you even try or do you just take estimates at face value?

[Anonymous]

get a few estimates from more than one contractor - then decide

[Anonymous]

^^ this, and it also helps if you have a back of the envelope understanding of the work that needs to be done and relative effort. For example my DH often tries to estimate how many FTE days a given project will take X daily rate for skilled labor, to get a sense if quotes are coming way out of whack.

[Anonymous]

I don't negotiate other than maybe the scope of the work. If I get a few estimates and they are relatively close together I assume that's what the job costs. I figure they are giving me their best possible price up front and if not they don't want the job that badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:get a few estimates from more than one contractor - then decide

This.

I also check reliable sources online to see if the estimates are reasonable. If anything seems off, I decline the estimate.

[Anonymous]

Yes got an estimate for labor for a bathroom remodel. $50k including counters and glass. Told the guy I really wanted to use him, but he was out of his mind. Said if you want this job come back with a realistic quote. Came back at $35k.

[Anonymous]

I will generally get multiple bids and then talk turkey with the ones that are competitive. For example:

- ask them how much they'll discount if you pay by cash/check (versus credit card). Usually they'll lower by at least 5% sometimes more.

- counter-propose with a lower price for the same scope in a reasonable way that rounds nicely (e.g., I got a bid for $5400 for some sewer work, and told the contractor I'd go for $5k even -- they agreed immediately)

- counter-propose that for the same price, they use the next best grade materials or throw in some free stuff (e.g., for windows, I got them to throw in some new shutters; for roof, I got them to upgrade to highest quality shingles and throw in some gutter guards).

[Anonymous]

Contractors are padding their estimates like crazy right now, attributing a lot of it to being burned by material prices/availability in 2020-2022. Research your own materials and get a good idea of how much those will cost. Then you’ll know how much labor and markup he’s including and you’ll have a good idea of the wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

I do a ton of my own DIY projects so I have a good sense for material costs. I will get three estimates and I always ask for how long it will take so I can ballpark labor costs. We bought an old home that needed a lot of work so I’m getting pretty good at negotiating. For newbies I recommend getting three estimates and make reference calls and hope for the best. If you find someone really good keep their number on speed dial. I have one guy I use for all my electrical projects because he’s reliable and fairly priced.

[Anonymous]

We get multiple bids and so far, the companies we narrowed it down to gave us unpadded bids.

We don’t negotiate per se but we might ask if there is a way to reduce costs. For example, can we use substitute fixtures or buy them ourselves.

[Anonymous]

A few ways.

Do demo yourself. I had basement redone due to a huge flood and I got a dumpster sent to house and hired two guys homedepot parking lot to help and we did ripout ourselves.

Then I mold remediated and sprayed and dried out myself.

I then coordinated buying material myself with my guy, had it all delivered. Filled up whole garage and some center of basement.

Then I paid cash and agreed no permits. We did contract as handyman with me self contracting which is legal.

We did entire basement, including what I spent for 35K. My neighbor had guy do it start to end spent 120K same exact size house.

My home depot guys charged $125 a day each. So for 4 days cost me $1,000 plus $500 dumpster rental.

Remediation cost me $600 for chemicals and commercial fan and commercial dehumidifier rental.

My neighbor spend $40,000 just one ripout and mold spraying.

T

[Anonymous]

Don’t. They’re trying to make a living too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes got an estimate for labor for a bathroom remodel. $50k including counters and glass. Told the guy I really wanted to use him, but he was out of his mind. Said if you want this job come back with a realistic quote. Came back at $35k.

35k labor for a bathroom is nuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes got an estimate for labor for a bathroom remodel. $50k including counters and glass. Told the guy I really wanted to use him, but he was out of his mind. Said if you want this job come back with a realistic quote. Came back at $35k.

35k labor for a bathroom is nuts

Note it includes counters and glass. Also, depends upon the size. That's terrible for a small bathroom, but if it's the primary those can be quite large. Glass plus install was $4K+ in our primary. Our primary is 20ft by 12 ft. lots of cabinets, recessed medicine cabinets, lighting, bench, 6ftx6 ft shower with small tile on the shower floor and backsplash. It would easily be a lot more than that (and was recently).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t. They’re trying to make a living too.

Sucker.