General Contractors in Chicago Heights charging to give a quote.

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General Contractors in Chicago Heights charging to give a quote.

Yocheved Beer
Member since 2022 · 72 posts · 10 votes

Hi bigger pockets! I am a new investor putting a lot of offers and I got two excepted.

The contractor is charging 350 dollars for him to quote a price.

Is that normal? 

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Jennie Berger
Lender · Chicago IL · Member since 2020 · 357 posts · 229 votes
3y

Until @Jonathan Klemm responded, I thought to myself: "All these people saying it's CRAZY for a GC to charge for an estimate" are clearly NOT General Contractors. :D  

@Marcus Auerbach provided some quality insight and a more comprehensive overview of what a 'walkthrough' and 'estimate' really consist of. It would behoove you to get crystal clear on exactly what you are asking the GC for.

1. A walkthrough with a verbal, ballpark estimate? (probably takes an hour)

2. A walkthrough with a written ballpark estimate? (could take days)

3. A walkthrough WITH a written scope of work and ballpark estimate? (could take days)

4. A walkthrough WITH a written scope of work and CONCRETE estimate? (could take weeks)

5. Do you have your scope of work or are you expecting the GC to devise one? (various times)

6. Are you looking for a detailed, written comprehensive estimate with measurements, scope, and other pertinent details so you can then go shop that estimate around with other GCs? 

I'm sure I missed some here, but the fact is all of these are going to demand different amounts of time and work from your GC. 

There is no one-size-fits-all-answer. Some will charge. Some will not. Some will charge a little. Some will charge a lot. Some may look at it as an opportunity for business and a future relationship. Nobody here is right or wrong or crazy or normal.

Good luck!

Jennie Berger

Property People

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  • Jaron WallingPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    3y

    @Yocheved Beer No. That's insane. From one investor to another I wouldn't pay >$100 for someone to walk a property, look at my SCOPE OF WORK, and give me a quote. Maybe he is driving way out of his way? Call around and find another contractor if you have too. 

    1Reply
  • John Warren
    Real Estate Broker · 3412 S. Harlem Avenue Riverside, IL 60546 · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    3y

    @Yocheved Beer it feels high.... but you are also printing offers and trying to see what makes sense without spending a lot of time on each deal. The general contractors in the space HATE spending time with folks who do this, because they run around writing quotes that never land them jobs. Once they find clients who spend a bit more time on a project/know the game, they don't have to do much work and they can stay constantly busy. 

    This is a chicken or the egg issue. You are not the first investor trying to solve this though, which is the good news! Once you dial in on your costs, you can rapidly build out your own budget without much input from GCs. 

    1Reply
  • Paul De Luca
    Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Yocheved Beer:

    Hi bigger pockets! I am a new investor putting a lot of offers and I got two excepted.

    The contractor is charging 350 dollars for him to quote a price.

    Is that normal? 


     I think it depends on what goes into the quote. If they're just walking the property and giving you a rough estimate, that seems ridiculous. But if they're given you a full write-up detailed breakdown, that's not substantially different from what I've heard other GCs charge.

    1Reply
  • Alfath AhmedBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    That seems very expensive! I would connect with your local facebook groups to find GC's, connect with other investors through networking to find other GC's, or look here. Good Luck!

    [email protected]614-802-5698
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  • Teresa Marie
    Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 2 votes
    3y

    I'm in Wisconsin and have had one contractor let me know that he would charge $250 to give me an estimate.  I skipped him and found other contractors who did not charge to give an estimate, however, I have a feeling this is going to become a more common practice.

    2Reply
  • Marcus Auerbach
    Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Jaron Walling:

    @Yocheved Beer No. That's insane. From one investor to another I wouldn't pay >$100 for someone to walk a property, look at my SCOPE OF WORK, and give me a quote. Maybe he is driving way out of his way? Call around and find another contractor if you have too. 


    Insane is not the word I would use. Free estimates are not really free, in the end someone has to pay for it. So either the investor pays indirectly for the last 5 free estimates the contractor has written or the contractor charges for his time to create one.

    You provide a SOW (most don't) and so you know how much work it is. 

    As a contractor you can spend half a day if not more between driving to the job, walking it, taking notes and then typing it all up, researching prices - because you better make sure your numbers are right, you will be held to them. And if you aim high to be safe, you won't get the job or you overcharge the customer.

    We are talking about a GC, which means a whole house project, not just an estimate for a carpet install (that should be free!). I can appreciate how frustrating it is for a contractor to waste a day on an estimate for a newbie. But I think it is reasonable to ask for the cost of the estimate to be credited back on the job.

    My contractors don't charge for estimates, but that is because we have been working together for years and Milwaukee is all old houses. In fact most of the time there is not estimate, just an invoice. You can do that once you have a year long relationship and both sides know what to expect. I would certainly not recommend that for a newbie.

    2Reply
  • Calvin OzanickBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Janesville, WI · Member since 2017 · 707 posts · 297 votes
    3y

    We work just a bit north in Rock County, WI, and they would be laughed off the phone if this occurred. This is totally insane. Do not pay that! While it may be hard to get quotes, this has scam written all over it, or at the very least, shows how inept they are with what is going on in the market. 

    Wisconsin Property Managers4.7412 Reviews
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  • Eudith VacioPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Chicago & NWI · Member since 2015 · 860 posts · 521 votes
    3y

    Hey @Yocheved Beer - no way! I would ask why he is charging you so much. Is he not local to your area? Where is he coming from? Either way. I would NOT pay. I have had contractors give me quotes free of charge. But what do I know, @Jonathan Klemm is a general contractor and can probably comment more on what he does..

    1Reply
  • Yocheved Beer
    OP
    Member since 2022 · 72 posts · 10 votes
    3y

    @Eudith Vacio 

    could you dm me some of those contractors?

    0Reply
  • Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y

    @Eudith Vacio, you're the best.  Thank you for the tag!

    Hey @Yocheved Beer - It's awesome to hear that you are putting in a bunch of offers.  Action is the key to making things happen.

    I will be the first to tell you from my own experience that you get what you pay for!  I used to be a 100% scarcity-minded person and it cost me tons of money, and to be honest, I am still battling my scarcity mind regularly.  Now, I focus more on abundance and most importantly understand that the people charging a good amount value their time and what they are bringing to the table

    One of my favorite sayings is "being cheap is expensive".

    We charge for both walkthroughs and estimates, but we know we are different, and the value we bring in much higher than most contractors.  Happy to discuss this in more detail if that would help you, feel free to reach out.

    Just out of curiosity, what Chicago neighborhood is your property in?

    [email protected]
    Quality Builders4.966 Reviews
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  • Jennie Berger
    Lender · Chicago IL · Member since 2020 · 357 posts · 229 votes
    3y

    Until @Jonathan Klemm responded, I thought to myself: "All these people saying it's CRAZY for a GC to charge for an estimate" are clearly NOT General Contractors. :D  

    @Marcus Auerbach provided some quality insight and a more comprehensive overview of what a 'walkthrough' and 'estimate' really consist of. It would behoove you to get crystal clear on exactly what you are asking the GC for.

    1. A walkthrough with a verbal, ballpark estimate? (probably takes an hour)

    2. A walkthrough with a written ballpark estimate? (could take days)

    3. A walkthrough WITH a written scope of work and ballpark estimate? (could take days)

    4. A walkthrough WITH a written scope of work and CONCRETE estimate? (could take weeks)

    5. Do you have your scope of work or are you expecting the GC to devise one? (various times)

    6. Are you looking for a detailed, written comprehensive estimate with measurements, scope, and other pertinent details so you can then go shop that estimate around with other GCs? 

    I'm sure I missed some here, but the fact is all of these are going to demand different amounts of time and work from your GC. 

    There is no one-size-fits-all-answer. Some will charge. Some will not. Some will charge a little. Some will charge a lot. Some may look at it as an opportunity for business and a future relationship. Nobody here is right or wrong or crazy or normal.

    Good luck!

    Jennie Berger

    Property People

    4Reply
  • Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y

    @Jennie Berger thank you for the love.  I'll be the first to admit I am definitely a little crazy and often wrong lol

    If someone finds an awesome Chicago general contractor that provides free, detailed, estimates in a timely manner PLEASE send me their contact info because I'd love to hire them for my personal investments and partner up with them.

    [email protected]
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    2Reply
  • Yocheved Beer
    OP
    Member since 2022 · 72 posts · 10 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:

    @Jennie Berger thank you for the love.  I'll be the first to admit I am definitely a little crazy and often wrong lol

    If someone finds an awesome Chicago general contractor that provides free, detailed, estimates in a timely manner PLEASE send me their contact info because I'd love to hire them for my personal investments and partner up with them.


     How much do you charge for a detailed quote I have two properties that I need quotes on?

    1Reply
  • Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y

    Hey @Yocheved Beer -  We charge $77 virtual walkthrough, $197 for in-person, and $597 for a detailed estimate. It's probably best to take our conversation offline of forums so all these Chicago investors don't get our back and forth.  I will shoot you a PM to set up a time to talk more.  Look forward to connecting!

    [email protected]
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  • Baris Yuksel
    Investor · Chicago · Member since 2019 · 20 posts · 19 votes
    3y

    @Yocheved Beer  @Jonathan Klemm  I can see how both side have a good point for charging for an estimate. I was thinking, why not do this like car repair shops do? They charge a diagnostics fee and if you give them the job, it goes towards the cost of the project. If you don't give the job to them, well they spent time on it so they get to keep their diagnostics (or estimation) fee. That seem more than fair. 

    1Reply
  • Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y

    Hey @Baris Yuksel !  My amazing coffee-drinking friend!  

    Funny you mention that diagnostic fee model because that is exactly how we do it.  We charge an estimate fee that goes towards the project.  The majority of our Chicago clients are fine with it and the ones that aren't......well they aren't the right client for us anyways!  Also typically we'll only make that charge the first time we work with a new client.

    [email protected]
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  • Chris Merchant
    Member since 2023 · 216 posts · 133 votes
    3y

    Seems a bit pricey, but some contractors will charge a fee for giving estimates, these are usually contractors who don't really need the work but if they need to spend time drafting up a quote they feel they should be compensated for their time.  Some bigger companies have people that their sole job is to go write quotes so it is usually how the company will offset their costs of having these estimators writing quotes for people who won't hire them anyways.  The main thing to understand is if you elect to hire the company do they deduct the quote fee from the job, some do some don't but it helps them weed out the people who have no real intention of hiring them.

    1Reply
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