Five Options is Better Than Two: Subcontractors & Political Leaders

Subcontractor involvement on my projects is critical.  I'm referring to the skilled tradespeople, experts in their fields, that come on board to complete a specific scope of work that could take hours, days, or weeks.  These folks are vital to what I do and how I do it and I'm mindful of their significance.  Because of this, I take the process of including them extremely seriously. 

This is how it works for me:  I make phone calls to invite the contractors to visit me on site to review the project in person.  When necessary I provide drawings and written specifications.  When we meet, we each ask questions, and I typically receive a written quote in the form of a standard proposal immediately or within days of this meeting.  These meetings are informative for both parties, but I'm keenly aware that I consistently learn a lot as I listen.  These interactions ultimately help me do my job as the General Contractor.  For the most part, I've grown to really enjoy these meetings and they're worth all the time and effort they require.  I'm happy when I can get one quote and thankful when I get three qualified numbers.  More than that is ideal and five proposals really does the job of establishing an accurate value for the work I need done. 

It would be frustrating for me to have five known contractors, with some restrictions that limited the process for evaluating them.  If for some reason, I could only have my face to face meetings with just two of the people, that would make my job unnecessarily difficult.  For example, if these chosen two were free to tell me whatever they wanted during the meeting, provide me with printed information, make something of a sales pitch, and talk or text questions.  At the same time, the other three contractors in this fictitious scenario would be limited to sending me a single email proposal for my review.  That's it.  Not an apples-to-apples opportunity for all the contractors, but from that system, I'd have to make my choice.  That'd be messed up and would make my project more difficult to complete and likely more expensive.  In addition, I suspect it'd negatively impact my schedule and that would cost money as well. 

Darrell Castle

Now, to bring in our current Presidential Election.  There are five candidates;  Darrell Castle, Clinton, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Trump.  The media is talking about Trump and Clinton everyday, all the time.  The good, bad, and ugly all day.  The obvious truth is, I'd love to be able to get to know all the candidates comparatively to how it happens when I'm working as a GC... with some sort of equality.  As a citizen, and further more as an American, I want as much information as I can get before I make an important decision.  I want to know about all the candidates.  Equal, objective reporting would be helpful for me and in my opinion it'd be best for the country. 

Jill Stein

After the Watergate scandal in the 1970's, the media began to be more cognizant of their role in our nation.  I won't go so far as to describe them as an addition to the tripartite established by the framers of the constitution, but they can serve as a substantial check to balance things out for the greater good.  I won't blame the media for the degradation that we've witnessed in our current Presidential Election, but I believe that our country would have been better served if they covered each candidate equally, shooting for something closer to 20% coverage across the board. 

Gary Johnson

When a home renovator is interviewing subcontractors,  two or three quotes is good, four is better, and five is awesome.  Five Presidential Candidates is equally ideal, but we need an opportunity to get to know them in news features, nationally televised forums or debates, and through interviews of the candidates as well as their supporters.  Maybe the same two would have risen to the top, but I believe we'd all have been better off if we'd had that chance to figure it out ourselves in lieu of having that decided by television producers.  

Don't Beg For Quotes

Most of those who read this post will be familiar with the song by the Temptations titled Ain't Too Proud to Beg.  Well when it comes to gathering estimates for your project, I'll encourage you to think of this song and then ignore it's message.  But this advice is not about pride it's about common sense.  Don't beg for quotes.

I've written more than once that it's important to work hard to get multiple price estimates whether you're trying to sign someone up to re-roof your house, install wood floors in the living room, or agree to take down a big tree in the yard.  Three prices is good, four is better, and five different quotes is ideal.

This is an example of how you get the value of work:  if you get five apples-to-apples prices for something that'll cost three grand, there's a good possibility you'll get estimates like $2500, $2900, $3000, $3100, and maybe $3500.  Assuming you don't know how much this work should cost, you will after you look at the five different prices since $3,000 is the average.

Now, this gets me to today's point.  I'm telling you to work really hard to get multiple estimates, but don't go too far for a proposal and into the area where it feels like you're begging.  Simply put, you don't want to enter into an agreement with someone that sets you up into that circumstance.  Furthermore, if you have to ask them for their number a second time, take this as a red flag and don't forget it.  If they can handle your business, they'll be able to deliver on the task of working up a written price estimate.  It stands to reason that if you have to do anything that feels like begging them for the quote then you'll likely have to do some similar pleading when it's their turn to work or finish their part as required.     

Also, if a business person says they'll get you a price by "tomorrow morning," then they better have it for you by the next day before noon.  However, it's another warning signal when someone promises to provide your written estimate and are late.

If you find yourself working a little too hard just to get a price, that's okay.  Don't hang up the phone or slam the door.  Just acknowledge what you're doing and get the estimate you've been after.  Thank the person for their time, but use someone that quoted you in a timely, professional way.  These may be tradespeople more accustomed to using their hands and tools than office equipment or computers, but providing written estimates is part of the job too and you should accept nothing less than basic courtesy and professionalism.

See Push Hard to Get Quotes (July 9, 2012)

Push Hard to Get Quotes

A common mistake people make when serving as their own General Contractor is to hire the first and only person they meet on any given trade.  Roofing, ceramic tile, or the septic tank installation; it doesn't matter...you have to push hard to get multiple quotes and resist the urge to take a short cut and move ahead with less than three.  

Let's use plumbing as an example.  The rehabber and Joe Plumber meet and tour the property.  They talk about the project, perhaps review some drawings or sketches together, and answer each others questions.  This leads to an estimate and the novice renovator has to make a decision.  First of all, they don't have to tell the plumber yes or no at this point.  However, what happens many times is that the inexperienced renovator jumps into an agreement too quickly. 

I know how this goes in the mind of the renovator or home-builder because I've been there hundreds of times.  The plumber seemed like a good guy that knows what he's doing and what he's talking about.  Maybe he came highly recommended and that adds to the impulse to give him the green light.  Renovating a house is a lot of work with a long list of things to get done.  The person making the decision is focused on crossing things off their massive to-do list and having a plumber on board (with a name, phone number, and agreement) would feel like a big step in the right direction.  Plus, it's easy to award the first plumber the job and rationalize later that his competition would have likely been in the same ballpark (price-wise).  This is totally wrong.  You shouldn't stop at one quote and settle for that because one estimate won't give you an accurate understanding of the value of the work.  It's tempting to move ahead with the first price from contractor #1, but it's a mistake even if your uncle (a retired plumber) told you how much the job should cost, you got a guesstimate from a helpful licensed GC you know, or you diligently researched the subject on the internet.  Those are all smart steps on your path to finding a plumber and signing him on, but you need to keep going.

Let's say the first plumber (that good guy who seems to know his stuff) offers to do the job for $4,150.  You keep at it and plumber number two hands in a quote for $3,300, a third company says they'll do it for 3,000, and a fourth man submits a $2,500 estimate.  Three bids is good, four is better, and five is great.  For the sake of this example, let's just say a fifth quote comes in at $3,250.  This let's us know that the plumbing work for this job is worth a little over three grand.  It's not uncommon for the bids to stack up this way, and I'll also point out that I don't always take the lowest price.  I'll look hard at all the proposals, but ultimately I want a trades-person who can perform.  

A construction budget can get out of hand quickly and awarding work without getting plenty of prices is oftentimes a big part of this.  Going with the first quote would have meant overspending by a thousand bucks.  If you do something similar on all the major trades you'll be hemorrhaging money unnecessarily and budget headaches make any project harder than it needs to be.  I understand that there will be rehabs and scopes when five prices is just not doable; rural areas off the beaten path make magic numbers four and five a real challenge, some scopes are specialized and you'll be thankful to just get two bids (i.e. stained glass window repair), and sometimes it won't make sense to beat the bushes for prices when the cost is minimal.  I get all this, but really try to get three numbers from qualified folks and if you're able to get four or five on the big ticket things (like demolition, framing, roofing, drywall, painting, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc.) then do it.

Finally, there's a second very important reason why you really must get more than one quote per trade.  You have to be ready with a Plan B.  What if you choose someone and they have an accident or some personal family issue?  Things happen and you've got to have an alternate in mind so you can keep moving forward if something unfortunate occurs.  This preparedness is just smart business.  Like it or not, the sheetrocker, painter, and electrician will sure see it like this (as business), so you need to be ready to see it this way too.

Don't be foolishly impulsive and don't get caught with your pants down.  Get those quotes.