How Much Money Is A Contractor Actually Worth?

I've been a contractor since 1986 and this seems to be one of the biggest problems that homeowners and other employers of mine seem to have. Is my contractor charging me too much money? This seems to be one of the biggest issues and confrontational problems in the construction industry today.

First of all, we need to figure out how much is too much money. If you're a lawyer making $800 an hour and you hire a contractor to work on your home who only charges $75 an hour, is this person actually charging you too much money? If you work at a grocery store and you make $25 an hour and your contractor is charging you $75 an hour, is this too much money?

The biggest problem with this question is to actually figure out how much money a contractor is actually worth. Most people are probably going to have a problem with this, but I'm going to tell them anyway. I know contractors that have made anywhere from six dollars an hour to over $1000 an hour.

Six dollars an hour obviously seems to be poor wages for an experience building contractor and $1000 an hour seems to be a little ridiculous. It's all in your perspective and how you look at it though. If I was charging you $200 an hour and it cost you $800, but I saved you $1200, would $200 an hour be a lot of money?

I truly believe that it's the client and the contractor's perspective of how they actually look at what they deserve to be paid. If the contractor believes that he is worth $150 an hour and won't take any jobs for less, then that's what he's worth.

If a contractor believes that he is worth $150 an hour but does jobs sometimes for $25 an hour, his wages are obviously very flexible.

It's really up to the individual. If the contractor charges you what you believe to be a ridiculous hourly wage, you probably won't hire that contractor again. If you hire a contractor who works for $12 an hour and does pretty good work, you will probably tell all your friends about this person.

A contractor is only worth as much money as you are willing to pay and continue to pay, if you choose to use that person ever again.