Quality of contractors estimate

[George Smith]

I realize that there are many more important aspects of completing due dilligence(referrals, background check, etc.) but how much weight does the appearance of the actual estimate they hand you carry in choosing a contractor? It's obvious that contractors are typically not English majors, but when you receive an estimate with so many misspellings and formatting issues(ex. The heading has your name all the way to the right of the page and your other contact info[on the next line down] all the way to the left) you tend to wonder if they are as careless with their rehab work. If they can't spell, that's fine. It's the lack of effort that makes you think twice. Any opinion on this on how or if it's affected your jobs? Thanks, George

[Aaron McGinnis]

Depends on the contractor...

I have some very good subcontractors whose first language is clearly not English (And before you go assuming anything, for some of them it isn't Spanish either.) ... for them I have some mercy on their language abilities if they seem otherwise capable.

If the first language IS English, and the grasp is not good, I get a bit concerned. I would probably pass on hiring someone like an electrician if they seem uneducated. (Any trade that requires a great deal of attention to detail)

From an investor's standpoint.... I would not trust a GC that came off as uneducated. Would you like to entrust tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars of work to someone who seems to have a dodgy education or grasp of their own native language?

This sort of brings me back to my college days. I did a lot with exchange students... the experience really hammered home the idea that while some things may be forgivable across language barriers... math is pretty much the same everywhere.

This also brings to mind one of my rules of thumb - if I have to break out a spreadsheet and figure out what I should be invoiced for a subcontractor because they're not capable of doing it themselves, I probably won't be using them in the future.