Here's the reasons why contractors don't quote on a renovation?

[Van Sturgeon]

You called up a bunch of contractors for this property renovation, and hardly any of them returned your phone call.

There are several contractors that you meet, and they have sent you quotes. These quotes are all over the place, and they range from $80K to $120K.

You decide on one contractor and everything seems to be fine in the beginning. This contractor is a really nice person, and you start to become friends. Then over a short period of time, your new found “bestie” starts to become erratic, as they appear and disappear from your renovation.

Oh...they have excuses like :

❌ ”Their truck broke down”...

❌ “Their kid got sick.”...

❌ “The city inspector is too busy to come today, so that’s the reason why we aren’t at your renovation.”

Every morning, you wake up with this “pit” in your stomach, wondering if your contractor is going to show up today, or not. Nobody seems to care about the loss of monthly rental income, and the interest charges on that loan you took out to make this renovation happen in the first place.

As a general contractor and a successful real estate investor of over 30 years, I see the same mistakes being made over and over again.

To start...Do you know what needs to be repaired or renovated to reach your investment goals?

If you are looking to rent your property out for $1,200 a month, do you know what you need to do to get that kind of money? Do you shampoo the carpet, or install a laminate floor? Do you install an air conditioner or a dishwasher?

These are all things that potential renters look for, and you need to be competitive with other rental properties in your marketplace.

A couple of days ago, I received a call from a person who needed my help. She had contacted 23 contractors, and only 4 decided to go visit her and her project.

Of the 4 that showed up, only 3 decided to provide her with a quote and she was confused.

In these quotes, the price range was all over the place, and it didn’t make sense. She told me that she had met every single contractor, and they walked the whole property together. She answered all of their questions, and she told them what she was looking to renovate.

When I asked her if she had specified the number of new recessed lighting in the living room, OR how far was the new hardwood floor going to be replaced on the first floor?

I could see a light flicker in her eyes, as she realized the problem.

Imagine a renovation where you are in complete control over your real estate investment. You have created a process where you never overspend on a renovation, and you have good, qualified contractors that are fighting to work on your renovation.

Hey...That “pit” in your stomach...It’s history!

To be successful at renovations, it starts with a goal. You need to establish a goal for the renovation, and you have to go out there and validate it. Goals are so important because everything associated with the planning and managing of the renovation is filtered through it. We don’t do anything to the property, unless it gets us closer to our goal.

You want contractors to return your calls and provide accurate quotes on your renovation. This can only happen when you have created a document called a “Scope of Work”. In a Scope of Work, everything associated with your renovation is included like drawings, pictures and the specification of all the stuff going into the renovation.

Trust me with this one. The Scope of Work is extremely powerful for two reasons. One, every quote that you will receive will be an “apples to apples comparison”. You are in a much better position to be able to identify the best quote, and you don’t have to worry about contractors not including or missing certain items of the renovation.

Secondly...By virtue of having a Scope of Work, you will attract good contractors who want to do business with you. You will scare off the “riff raff', because they have never seen a document like this, and they realize that there is no opportunity to take advantage of indecision and lack of knowledge.

While a Scope of Work will scare off the bad contractors, good contractors will call you back, and want to do business with you. Good, successful contractors make money by volume, and they realize that there is a lot of work involved with pricing out a renovation project. With a Scope of Work, a lot of the work has been completed for them, and as a result, more contractors will prepare a quote for your renovation project.

Once you have identified the best contractor, then you have an open conversation about the payment schedule. Payment schedule should be based on certain milestones reached in progress of work, AND then payment is made.

If you want your contractor to give you full and undivided attention to your project, then listen up! Money is only paid for services that are rendered.

It is amazing how contractors become so responsive when money is owed to them.

There is a downside to this though...You might end up losing your “bestie” in the process of seizing control over your renovation and turning it into a smashing success!