Contractor price - lump sum or breakdown?

[Ryan K.]

Curious to know how everyone is receiving contractor scope of work and pricing for rehab projects, do your contractors provide a scope of work with a lump sum total, or do they break down the items? 

For example, say you need drywall, insulation, windows, siding, minor plumbing and electrical,, etc., are your contractors providing a total cost, say $25k, or do they break it down like $2k for drywall, $2k for insulation, $4k for windows, $11k for siding, $4k for plumbing and electrical? 

Id prefer to see a breakdown for a couple reasons, first it helps me understand how much various items cost in my area so I can apply that to other potential projects. Second, if anything changes during the work or if I need to fire a contractor I have a better understanding of what is owed.

What I'm finding though is many general contractors wont provide a breakdown.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Troy Sheets]

Originally posted by @Ryan K.:

Curious to know how everyone is receiving contractor scope of work and pricing for rehab projects, do your contractors provide a scope of work with a lump sum total, or do they break down the items? 

For example, say you need drywall, insulation, windows, siding, minor plumbing and electrical,, etc., are your contractors providing a total cost, say $25k, or do they break it down like $2k for drywall, $2k for insulation, $4k for windows, $11k for siding, $4k for plumbing and electrical? 

Id prefer to see a breakdown for a couple reasons, first it helps me understand how much various items cost in my area so I can apply that to other potential projects. Second, if anything changes during the work or if I need to fire a contractor I have a better understanding of what is owed.

What I'm finding though is many general contractors wont provide a breakdown.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Always get estimates that are broken out for all the reasons you mentioned plus a few more! If he's not breaking out the items, are you sure your scope and his are the same? Either the GC is overcharging and doesn't want you seeing what he's charging per item or he's taking a SWAG at the price and hoping he does well. If he gets halfway through and his SWAG was low, you can bet he'll be hitting you up for extras. 

Another thought, is this for a property you own or something you're "looking at"? I get verbal ballparks all the time just to run numbers then, if I move forward, as part of due diligence period, I get an itemized estimate so I have a better idea of the actual cost. Newer investors don't realize how much time it takes a GC to put together an itemized estimate. I use a few GC's and won't ask them for written until I'm committed to the property so I'm not wasting their time. If you ask for written estimates on more than a couple properties and they don't get the job because you didn't move forward, what're the chances they're going to show up again to give you any more written estimates? 

The market is booming and any decent GC I know is super busy. Be respectful of their time and it'll pay off later with them dropping what they're doing to look at a property with you, once you have that relationship and have proven that you're not a tire kicker.