Prices were being driven up beyond belief between 2002 - 2005.I am an engineer by trade, not an economist.  

I have pulled material pricing from home depot, and walked the property with 2 contractors and multiple inspectors.

What materials?

Provide an industry standard Time and Materials rate sheet and get documents signed prior to commencing work. 2.

This is my first post so in case bartering is not kosher, I'll be sure to adjust :)  I'm having a harder time estimating labor rates than material costs, which you can look up one at a time on lowes or home depot websites.Any advice for a first timer trying to build good estimates to check against contractor bids and also know if a property is worth bidding on before hauling a bunch of people through wasting all of our time.Any help is greatly appreciated and Happy New Year to you all.

I would be aware of how the weather may affect your property and take into consideration the ability of the materials and structures of your property to withstand natural occurrences.

Np. around 12 windows installed, $4-5k including material, Electric $7k, Plumbing was about $3k.

Its not a material fact about the property.

Supply constraints are generally due to 1) lack of available land suitable for development and 2) regulation of development including typical building codes, zoning laws, HOAs etc. but up to the point of height restrictions, historical districts, banned materials, requiring solar, and even outright bans on development.If you look at where high rents often beget the desire for rent control, it's usually coastal cities (the ocean is a huge land constraint).

I found them because I had driven by one of their locations for many years.