Comparing Individual Construction Estimates
It's easier to do when you're in the store shopping for
fruit, comparing apples to apples. You examine each apple individually,
to make sure that there aren't any problems with it, and purchase the
best ones available, at the best prices. You're obviously not going to
buy an apple that you don't like the taste of, so you won't even be
examining these apples.
It's pretty much the same when dealing with individual construction
estimates. We're not going to even bother examining the contracts, from
the contractors that we don't get along with or the ones that could've
rubbed you in the wrong way. You're not going to examine the
construction contracts, that don't have enough information in them
either.
It's one of the biggest problems for contractors, actually comparing
apples to apples. How do we compare, individual construction contracts
with each other? One contractor hand wrote his estimate, but didn't
provide enough details, but you really like his personality and his
price is reasonable.
The other contractors, seemed to be pretty good people, but there
estimate is a little more money than the guy you like. Each one of their
contracts has specific information about the job and their contracts
look very professional. You can easily look at these two contracts and
understand the scope of work that will be performed by the contractors.
I would like to make a suggestion, have the contractor that you like,
that hand wrote his construction proposal, to give you a detailed list,
like the other contractors, so that you can compare the estimates and
make a final decision about which one of the contractors you will be
hiring.
If the contractor refuses or tells you that they have provided all of
the information in the contract, you could always show them a copy of
the other contractor’s proposal without the prices. It's not a bad idea,
to help the other contractor, create a detailed list, because they could
have forgotten something and now the contractor that you favor, is more
expensive than the other contractors.
You must be able to compare the services of each individual contractor,
or you could find yourself paying even more money, and suffering through
agonizing time delays, as you and your contractor argue about what was
and wasn't included in the job.