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Updated about 1 year ago, 09/28/2023
Turnover price quote from Vendor
Moderators please remove if not allowed:
Hey everyone,
We have a recently vacant home in indi that needed a quick turnover for next renter. Our PM’s preferred vendor send us this quote. Looking at the prices , along with pictures of property , these seems steep even from SF Bay Area rates where we live. Would appreciate if you guys chime in with your 2cents.
Thanks.
There is something to be said about the range of prices you get from contractor for one job. For example wall paint. How is there a difference of 1000s of dollars for essentially the same work that everyone will perform? I don’t believe that one charging 5000 will do exponentially better than one who is dong it for 2500.
Also With itemized list like this for a turnover, problem is that every item is up charged like it is when you get a vendor to do a single job. Same vendor wants $60 to put a padlock on the shed. Just a lock that cost 7 from Home Depot. There is some amount of ripoff one expect but things like that makes it very difficult to trust PM and their vendors.
There are some good suggestions and input in this thread so thank you everyone!
#2 Contractors Contributor
- Severna Park, MD
@Rabeeya Khan Range of prices is common with contractors , BUT the difference of $1000s of dollars is the difference between hiring a professional or chuck in a truck . With an itemized list ( also known as a scope of work ) Of course every item is up charged , as it should be . contracting is a business , done with the intention of making a profit . Not beer money for friday night
If the customer thinks the prices are high , they are free to get other quotes and choose who they want . As long as a contractor does the work correctly a high price is not a rip off , its good salesmanship . Its only a ripoff when the work is incomplete or less than industry standards .
Your example of 60 bucks to install a 7 dollar lock , In my book that would be a deal , If I sent a man to home depot to buy a lock and then drive to your house to install the lock , and then the office bill you for that lock and then wait to be paid . Our minimum charge is $135.00 plus materials .
Quote from @Matthew Paul:
@Rabeeya Khan Range of prices is common with contractors , BUT the difference of $1000s of dollars is the difference between hiring a professional or chuck in a truck . With an itemized list ( also known as a scope of work ) Of course every item is up charged , as it should be . contracting is a business , done with the intention of making a profit . Not beer money for friday night
If the customer thinks the prices are high , they are free to get other quotes and choose who they want . As long as a contractor does the work correctly a high price is not a rip off , its good salesmanship . Its only a ripoff when the work is incomplete or less than industry standards .
Your example of 60 bucks to install a 7 dollar lock , In my book that would be a deal , If I sent a man to home depot to buy a lock and then drive to your house to install the lock , and then the office bill you for that lock and then wait to be paid . Our minimum charge is $135.00 plus materials .
That would be silly of me to compare handy man quote with a license contractor wouldn’t it??? My example is between two fully licensened contractor doing business in the community. But as long as we are on topic ,most handyman do fine work as well so I don’t think every handyman fit into your category of chuck with a truck. You are in the business so I understand your bias but that doesn’t mean we as customer ignore the lack of any standard and transparency in how contractors price their work.
As for lock, yes if they were coming to do only lock I would expect to pay that much but as a part of bigger job it shouldn’t be marked up to this point. And if you think it should be that yeah it is a ripoff!!
#2 Contractors Contributor
- Severna Park, MD
@Rabeeya Khan Using Maryland as my basis . You must be a licensed contractor to do home improvements . A " handyman " is just another term for unlicensed contractor .
And just to give you an insight to the business of contracting . There are standards in the work . But as far as pricing goes the sky is the limit . Salesmen make their living by receiving a percentage of the gross profit from a job . Thats what their income comes from , commissions . There is no law against being expensive . You just have to follow the laws regarding the contract , deposit and scope of work and complete the job in the time frame .
As far as my business goes , We are never the low bidder , get 2 estimates and we will be the highest , get 3 we will be on top , get 5 or more we will be close to the top .
Your original post stated you wanted a quick turn around , thats what you are paying for , Your PM is taking a cut for getting all the trades ,
As far as the lock goes and being there to do other work the price should be less ? No thats not how to run a profitable business . Look at a hospital bill .
You are a real estate agent , do you cut your commission as the price goes up , or you sell the house in a day ? I bet you dont .
Well we agree to disagree then. As for RE agent, yes we do negotiate and adjust our commission all the time. Not only that we do many little things between the process and not up charge for it :). BTW healthcare system in the US is broken and one of the biggest scam but that’s another discussion.