We’ve all heard this one. It’s pretty straight forward and here is the basic rub. Call up 3 different contractors and schedule 3 different appointments and show each of them the job and get 3 nice and tidy proposals and simply choose the lowest price and away you go! Simply repeat for all the different trades involved in your project; mason, carpenter, electrician, plumber, roofer, plasterer, painter etc. and presto! you have your team of low bid contractors to perform all the work necessary to complete your project on budget and on time! If you haven’t picked up the sarcasm yet then let me shoot straight. It simply doesn’t work like that.
I have many different stories and examples of how difficult it actually is to secure 3 REAL bids. And by real I mean, ready to perform bids. Many guys just throw out numbers, but if you were to actually say “lets go” they would disappear like a promise from a politician. Actually getting 3 solid bids for 1 trade is a something to be proud of, but the thought of getting 3 for all your trades is simply unrealistic and unheard of at least in my world.
The solution? Work with people you can trust. Yes, they might not be the cheapest but working from the bottom up is a recipe for misery, especially if you are a homeowner.
