Price for Contractor?

Question

I am looking for a general contractor since I do not have time to do a soft remodel myself.

I have a two day job for two guys working it. linoleum flooring, five interior doors replaced, small counter top installed, some vinyl floor trim.

I prefer to supply materials and pay an hourly rate.

What is a general contractor hourly rate?

I have called four places and the one who will do it by the hourly rate are charging $160 per man hr. The others have to see the job and bid it.

Thanks

J Scott · Answer

Btw, I've said this in many threads, but it's worth repeating after Aaron's comment above...

Aaron mentioned charging $40/hr for consultation and bids.  A lot of investors (and i used to be in this camp) balk at the idea of paying for consultation and bids, but I now see the value, and would never ask a GC to give a free bid (other contractors, yes, but GC, no).

Here's why:

-  A good GC is busy and values his time.  If you find one that will spend an hour or two with an investor in hopes of getting work, he probably doesn't have a lot going on (spending time with homeowners is different...that should be free).  I don't want a GC that's not busy.

-  A GC who is getting paid for his time is more likely to honest about the big problems that might impact your decision to purchase.  If a GC is working fr free, he's not going to want to tell you anything that may make you back out of the deal.

-  A GC who is getting paid isn't going to have to pad his bid to cover the dozen other investors who wasted his time and never called him back.

-  A good GC replaces a lot of specialty contractors and can save you a LOT of time.  For example, a good GC can help evaluate structural issues, mold, etc and keep you from having to find specialists to do the same evaluation.

-  Aaron is actually my GC and because we work together a bunch (and he knows he'll get plenty of paying jobs from me), he'll never charge me to evaluate a rehab issue or bid a job.  But, there have been several cases where he's looked at a house with me and told me some bad news about the cost of repairs (mostly structural stuff), and I backed out of the deal.  I happily paid him his small fee (despite his protests)...given the thousands he saved me by helping me avoid a bad deal, it was well worth it.

-  Lastly, the thing I like about guys like Aaron is that they are often investors also, so they can look at your project not just as a contractor, but also an investor.  Basically, guys like Aaron are inexpensive mentors.  While I don't need this anymore in my business, I would have killed to have essentially a mentor at $40/hr when started in this business.  And it's still worth the $40/hr to learn the construction side of things when evaluating a new deal.

Just some thoughts on paying good GCs for their time when a job is bigger than just hiring a handyman or two...

Aaron McGinnis · Answer

I charge $40/hr to evaluate property and deliver bids to investors.

Generally speaking, my markup on a project varies from 15% to 50% depending on the size and complexity of a job. (Ironically, the smaller the job the larger the markup... middle and heavy jobs get smaller markups, and heavy to extreme jobs start getting larger markups again to cover the complexity of it)

To wit - a carpentry crew tends to run between $600-900 per day (10 hour days), depending on crew composition and the type of work being done.

I don't like to use handymen very much, but that has to do with the type of jobs I run... there just isn't much of a place for them. My plumbers deal with plumbing, electricians deal with electricity, HVAC for the HVAC.... and so on.

However, I will say that a general-purpose handyman around here will run in the $20-25/hr range. At $25/hr, I tend to expect quite a bit... they need to be fairly autonomous and able to handle virtually anything.

And when I say handle, I mean handle. I don't ever expect a handyman to do things as fast as a specialty sub, but I do expect them to be cheaper. I also expect to check behind them to make sure it was done right. (Amazing how easy seemingly simple things can become.)

Conversely, when I use a specialty trade I expect them to do all of the above in about half the time and without me having to check their work. They will probably cost more as well.

Joe Delia · Answer

I've had pretty good luck with service magic for people i don't have referrals on.

Marcus Geiser · Answer

Also I looked at a local handyman franchise and they told me they charge $70 an hour per guy. This might not be a bad route if your in a hurry. Just google handyman and your city and you should be able to find the right company.

Marcus Geiser · Answer

I work for home owners and REI's. I perform jobs from large rehab's to general repairs. Right now I am between projects and waiting on an excavter for a 90' wall and 27'x19' concrete patio. As I wait I am helping out an investor with a stalled project. We are charging him $450 per day for a three man crew. Two skilled guys and a labor.

If you have completed rehabs call the contractor and ask him if he needs a day or two? I think I could complete the list of work for you in a day if everything is there.

If I bid it:
5 doors     $250
Floor         $2.00 per square foot
Trim          $100 Maybe???
Counter     $100.00

No more than $700 and I could make a a few bucks between jobs. Or I would send my guys.

Look into skilled trade temp services. I have one local that will provide carpenters, flooring, etc. They cover work comp, taxes, etc. They bill you pay. Just stay away from Labor Ready!

J Scott · Answer

Justin -

You can do a lot of trial and error trying to find a good and reliable handyman.  A better bet is to try to find another successful investor in your area and ask for a handyman reference.

Barring that, you'll need to manage very closely, which is the issue you're trying to avoid in the first place.  Unfortunately, there is no good answer between get someone who is highly recommended and manage very closely.  The only other option is to pay a lot of money for a reputable GC.

Justin Case · Answer

Thank you that is great information.

I have two eight hour days of work. It is simple to me, I just do not have the time with my work schedule.  
The handymans I called this morning want to bid the job or labor rate is $100hr. This tells me the average joe falls for this high price.

How can I know that the handyman will show up the two days I schedule him for this small job?

J Scott · Answer

First, what do you mean by "general contractor?"

Generally speaking, GCs are going to be much more expensive than handymen or specialty contractors (plumbers, electricians, etc), because they hire handymen and specialty contractors and mark up the prices to cover overhead.

If you need to pull permits, hiring a GC is a good way to go, especially if your locality requires a GC to pull the permits.  But, if you're doing some simple cosmetic work like this, you're probably better offer just hiring a good handyman and/or some good specialty contractors.

For example, a good handyman should be able to do most of the stuff on your list:

- Install linoleum
- Replace interior doors
- Replace trim

The countertop may need to be done by a specialty contractor, depending on the material and fabrication method, but even that could probably be handled (ordered, managed) by a good handyman.

Btw, a really good handyman will probably run you $20-25 an hour, and you're probably only talking about a few days of work here (assuming you've captured all the work in that list above).

Of course, finding a really good handyman that you can trust is the hard part, but finding a good GC is also difficult, and will be a LOT more expensive.

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