Why does a contractor want to know if I plan to live in the home?

Question

Hi everyone,

I purchased a new house as a primary home, although I currently have a primary home that I plan to rent once the new house has been renovated. I called a roofer to give me an estimate to replace the roof of the new house, and he asked twice if it I was going to be living in it. Why would a contractor want to know if I am going to live in the house or not?

Account Closed · Answer

@Cynthia Hartley, @Sam Valme and @Russell Brazil - regardless of the contractor's physical place of business, DC has licensing laws for those working in the city. The salesperson selling the work is required to hold a Home Improvement Salesperson License, the contractor performing the work is required to hold either a Home Improvement Contractor License or a General Contractor/Construction Manager license, and for home improvements (defined as: "This classification applies if you conduct any of the following: the repair, remodeling, alteration conversion or modernization of, or addition to, residential property, all as may be more particularly defined in the regulations."), there is a THREE day contract cancellation period.

I'm always wary of the folks who can do the work "on the spot".

Russell Brazil · Answer

The roofer I use is in Frederick, MD so I doubt they will go all the way to dc. That does bring up a point though. ...most of the contractors I use infrequently are from Frederick, Anne Arundel, Eastern part of PG. If the contracter is from DC, MoCo, Nova then they are likely to be on the high side.

Tony Fendi · Answer

A personal residence ppl will spend more money on higher quality materials and labor. Flips and rentals most ppl want shingles up and no leaks, bare minimum. This will result in 2 different prices.

Kris Mcfarlane · Answer

@Cynthia Hartley

Being a carpenter the only logical thing I could think of would to know when he could start working on the property, but also how much to charge. If you show up and it looks like the person has deep pockets normally you can charge a bit more.

If that was me I would just get a new contractor in.

Cynthia Hartley · Answer

Thanks everyone for your input. I did end up getting two more quotes. One was from a GC who said the roof was in good shape, except the flashing in the front of the house, where one major leak was evident, and except for the vent pipe in the bathroom where the other leak was evident. He said he would repair the leak and apply aluminum asphalt coating for a price of $3400.

The last quote was from another roofer who said he would take off the old modified bitumen rubber roof and install a new one, including new flashing, for $10,000 with a 10 year warrantee

The prices are really all over the place.

A colleague said he had Home Depot replace his roof with a 30 year warrantee for $9,000 and it was a sloped, shingled roof. I may check HD and Lowes to see if they replace roofs and what their costs are as a benchmark. Never been a fan of those stores, but it is what it is. Definitely a learning lesson.

As I continue to look for roofers, I will also start looking for basement excavators. I suspect that will be harder than finding a reputable roofer.

Thanks again guys for your input and listening to me rant about roofers.

Robert Blanchard · Answer

Maybe he thought as a primary residence you would spring for better materials.

Even though he was on Angie's List , which he paid to be on, that does not necessary mean he is a good contractor.

I rather deal with Contractors that are referred by other RE Investors via a REIA group or on BP.

Even at that, I would always get 2 or 3 quotes just to verify that they are not padding the price just to be able to go down or offer you a "do it now" price for a new Client.

Hugh Ayles · Answer

The contractor may want to know if it is your residence for tax reasons and also for lien reasons in case of non-payment.

Cynthia Hartley · Answer

Thanks @Sam Valme,

The property is in DC. The Deanwood area in SE DC to be precise. If you have any recommendations on roofers, I welcome them. Please PM me.

Eventually, I will be writing a blog on my experience. Hope it will be informative and educational.

Thanks!

Cynthia

Sam Valme · Answer

@Cynthia Hartley as @Kris Mcfarlane said, this definitely sounds like a contractor to pass on. Unless the work was scheduled on that day.  Theres no need bring in the team. On the other hand, from a sales perspective, their motivation to close same day business is commendable. (Slow clap) Assuming your property is in our neck of the woods (DMV) you'll have plenty of options when it comes to all kinds of contracting. On the the next one! :)

Good Luck!

Why does a contractor want to know if I plan to live in the home?

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