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Old 05-06-2018, 11:50 AM
 
1,348 posts, read 786,952 times
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Bear Hunter - when you eventually comprehend my post #16 accurately, you will realize you were inferring things that were NOT put forth by me. Just read it again.
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Old 05-07-2018, 06:05 AM
 
526 posts, read 457,021 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Travel Crazy View Post
Bear Hunter - when you eventually comprehend my post #16 accurately, you will realize you were inferring things that were NOT put forth by me. Just read it again.


Obviously your thinking out there some. If you can get folks to work for half or third good luck.
Way back in the dark ages when I was in school it was taught the average person get between 3-4 est. and the highest and lowest usually gets tossed. When my business was running full speed my receptionist was told to be polite and try to ask how many est they had already received, if it was more then 3 she was told to explain they didn't need ours if it was more then 5-6 just tell them we're not interested in a nice way because they were just looking for the cheapest price.
My main bus in the beginning was HVAC so it took hours to do a ht. load/gain then print out the proposal, ya had to measure rooms, windows doors and survey their electrical system. The est could have encompassed 2-3 hrs easy.
I should clear one thing though service work I do/did charge by the hour. If ya ever look thru some of HVAC products books for service it's obscene with their rates for work. 6 hrs for a comp change out or 3 hrs for a contactor, it's worse then a car dealer charging 12 hrs for a break job.

Average Bear I think would of been better getting a quote because it seems like the contractor took a little long but then again I did not see the job so. Plus the guy may have done a superb job. The last bath I did was 4.5 days in and out with a helper for 2 days that I make no money off so I just pay his time.

Thank you DLM2000.
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Old 05-07-2018, 08:35 AM
 
Location: Gods country
8,082 posts, read 6,701,620 times
Reputation: 10392
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bear Hunter View Post

Obviously your thinking out there some. If you can get folks to work for half or third good luck.
Way back in the dark ages when I was in school it was taught the average person get between 3-4 est. and the highest and lowest usually gets tossed. When my business was running full speed my receptionist was told to be polite and try to ask how many est they had already received, if it was more then 3 she was told to explain they didn't need ours if it was more then 5-6 just tell them we're not interested in a nice way because they were just looking for the cheapest price.
My main bus in the beginning was HVAC so it took hours to do a ht. load/gain then print out the proposal, ya had to measure rooms, windows doors and survey their electrical system. The est could have encompassed 2-3 hrs easy.
I should clear one thing though service work I do/did charge by the hour. If ya ever look thru some of HVAC products books for service it's obscene with their rates for work. 6 hrs for a comp change out or 3 hrs for a contactor, it's worse then a car dealer charging 12 hrs for a break job.

Average Bear I think would of been better getting a quote because it seems like the contractor took a little long but then again I did not see the job so. Plus the guy may have done a superb job. The last bath I did was 4.5 days in and out with a helper for 2 days that I make no money off so I just pay his time.

Thank you DLM2000.
He was a one man show who did the plumbing and minor electrical work who was a perfectionist and did a above average job.
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Old 05-07-2018, 12:28 PM
 
Location: DFW
13 posts, read 9,701 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EcoDeb View Post
You might want to check with Home Depot and Lowes. They have partnered with local subs and usually the prices are quite competitive. You may want to try Greenville, SC for contractors. We had our roof done by a large company there, did a super job and at fair prices.

IMO you may want to go with a move in ready place, especially if you are not on sight. Price per sq ft is much higher in WNC than the Metroplex, housing is still kinda on the cheap side here in the DFW area, especially dated homes.
Good idea on Greenville, will keep in mind. Price / SF may be higher in WNC, but property taxes and insurance costs are skyrocketing here. TX has the 2nd to 6th highest property taxes in the US, depending on how you compute. About 2.3% of appraised value. NC is 1/6th to 1/4 of that. Over the years, that will make up a lot of $ difference in the original price. Property taxes up 30% in the last 3 years. Homeowners insurance up 19% / year (thanks mostly to Houston flooding). Auto insurance up 42% in 18 months. With these kinds of uncontrolled increases here, it's just not viable to stay, especially in retirement mode.

Arlington's mayor believes his job is giving away our tax money to sports team owners and other billionaires. Half our property taxes go to the school district, where administrators and principals earn $250K, and high schools build $60-100M stadiums. As far as the actual education, nobody seems to care about that much. Add in the overabundance of monster pickups and SUVs on the road, and temperatures over 100 degrees for 2 months out of the year, and there's not much to recommend living here. NC state income taxes are pretty negligible for retirees, and the thousands of dollars difference in property taxes more than offsets it.
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Old 05-07-2018, 04:03 PM
 
1,348 posts, read 786,952 times
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Originally Posted by g1inskyms View Post
Good idea on Greenville, will keep in mind. Price / SF may be higher in WNC, but property taxes and insurance costs are skyrocketing here. TX has the 2nd to 6th highest property taxes in the US, depending on how you compute. About 2.3% of appraised value. NC is 1/6th to 1/4 of that. Over the years, that will make up a lot of $ difference in the original price. Property taxes up 30% in the last 3 years. Homeowners insurance up 19% / year (thanks mostly to Houston flooding). Auto insurance up 42% in 18 months. With these kinds of uncontrolled increases here, it's just not viable to stay, especially in retirement mode.

Arlington's mayor believes his job is giving away our tax money to sports team owners and other billionaires. Half our property taxes go to the school district, where administrators and principals earn $250K, and high schools build $60-100M stadiums. As far as the actual education, nobody seems to care about that much. Add in the overabundance of monster pickups and SUVs on the road, and temperatures over 100 degrees for 2 months out of the year, and there's not much to recommend living here. NC state income taxes are pretty negligible for retirees, and the thousands of dollars difference in property taxes more than offsets it.
From what you describe, the property tax scenario is definitely better in WNC than your current location. However, pls know that property taxes in Asheville-city went up 20% or more for 2018. Mine increased about 26% while friends in North AVL said theirs went up almost 40%. Still less than DFW but also realize that there is NO political diversity on City Council and it's unlikely there will be any time soon. It is populated with only the tax-and-spend crowd. Writing on the wall: taxes headed higher.

Also, the voters passed 3 city bonds in 2016 and, if they are all executed, they create an almost 100 million debt obligation, including the interest payments. For a city of just less than 90,000 population! So, if that gives you pause, you may want to consider outside AVL city limits.

Also, Buncombe County is dealing with the fraud and, effectively, embezzlement from the (now retired) long-time county manager, her son and there may be others yet to be charged. All is not well at the county level.
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Old 05-08-2018, 01:45 PM
 
526 posts, read 457,021 times
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Originally Posted by Above Average Bear View Post
He was a one man show who did the plumbing and minor electrical work who was a perfectionist and did a above average job.

Glad you got a great job. Like was said earlier sometimes ya get what ya pay for.
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Old 05-08-2018, 08:34 PM
 
Location: Gods country
8,082 posts, read 6,701,620 times
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Originally Posted by The Bear Hunter View Post

Glad you got a great job. Like was said earlier sometimes ya get what ya pay for.
It’s been my experience that I almost always get what I pay for.
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Old 05-10-2018, 04:53 AM
 
526 posts, read 457,021 times
Reputation: 569
Quote:
Originally Posted by Above Average Bear View Post
It’s been my experience that I almost always get what I pay for.

I think that's all anyone wants on either side. Fair pay, fair work.
It's just that some have no clue what it cost to operate a business and are just looking for the cheapest price nothing more.
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Old 05-10-2018, 06:19 AM
 
902 posts, read 800,171 times
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I'm always amazed when folks complain about construction and labor costs as feast or famine is nothing new to the construction world. Those who do quality work are usually booked solid doing existing client and referral work (for the most part) while the scrubs on sites like Craigslist are there to pick up the rest and take advantage of impatient and cheap people (again, for the most part). Even more so in a hot RE market like we have here in AVL.

Remember that the trades cashing in now and leaving you hanging will be crying the blues and cutting each others prices to become your best friend once the market cools. Pretty much the norm in the construction industry and nothing new.

Best bet is to do your homework, have reasonable expectations and schedule properly (including delays). Know what you're getting into, do the less skillful work yourself if you can and be willing to pay for (and wait for) a quality contractor to do the majors (electrical, drywall, plumbing ...).

Those out there constantly trying to score deals are usually just in it for the power struggle and bragging rights. Impatient people who ultimately waste more time and money trying to cheapen out versus being aware of current market costs, timeframes and workmanship.

Basically you shouldn't take on projects that you can't afford in terms of cost or time. It's not a business owners responsibility to take on the burden of someones uniformed expectations and / or undercapitalized decisions.

Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 05-10-2018 at 07:11 AM..
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Old 05-11-2018, 05:06 AM
 
526 posts, read 457,021 times
Reputation: 569
Quote:
Originally Posted by VinceTheExplorer View Post
I'm always amazed when folks complain about construction and labor costs as feast or famine is nothing new to the construction world. Those who do quality work are usually booked solid doing existing client and referral work (for the most part) while the scrubs on sites like Craigslist are there to pick up the rest and take advantage of impatient and cheap people (again, for the most part). Even more so in a hot RE market like we have here in AVL.

Remember that the trades cashing in now and leaving you hanging will be crying the blues and cutting each others prices to become your best friend once the market cools. Pretty much the norm in the construction industry and nothing new.

Best bet is to do your homework, have reasonable expectations and schedule properly (including delays). Know what you're getting into, do the less skillful work yourself if you can and be willing to pay for (and wait for) a quality contractor to do the majors (electrical, drywall, plumbing ...).

Those out there constantly trying to score deals are usually just in it for the power struggle and bragging rights. Impatient people who ultimately waste more time and money trying to cheapen out versus being aware of current market costs, timeframes and workmanship.

Basically you shouldn't take on projects that you can't afford in terms of cost or time. It's not a business owners responsibility to take on the burden of someones uniformed expectations and / or undercapitalized decisions.
The only advertising I did was what the distributor and manufacture did for free.
Which is why I always tried to find out how many est one had already received, more the 4 and no doubt looking for the cheapest price nothing more and I was never the cheapest. I did use quality products, aluminum registers over steel, wrapped metal duct no fiber(cancer board), always more then one return and down the list. I couldn't compete with fiber board and stamped steel registers. I always bushed the highest efficient equipment because with rebates and less cause always paid back pretty quickly.
I did good bad or good economy, I did lots of service and when the economy was bad most couldn't afford the change outs so fixing the older junk units was their only choice.
One last thing, the thing that till today that still gets me mad is when folks whine they get screwed because they give contractors thousands then don't finish or leave. People if a contractor can't afford to buy the basic materials for your job they have financial/money/credit issues. DO NOT give anyone money for nothing!



Good day and good luck.
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