How much would you pay ?

[westwoodmom04]

I agree with the suggestion to just ask number 3 for an invoice. We had a similar situation with a landscape architect that we interviewed and she told me beforehand that she charged $100 an hour for her time just for an initial meet. No one else we interviewed did, and it was a red flag to me that this company wasn't positioned as well as the larger companies and we'd likely be asked to pay for things like equipment rentals for machinery others would have, etc. . . Of course, we did pay her for her time.

Does this renovation need to be done right now? If I'm reading right, you were quoted $43,000 to 45,000 for the bathroom, is that right? We recently moved to a "new to us" older home that needs a fair amount of work -- we are really focused on what we have to do right now infrastructure wise v. aesthetic improvements because both material costs and labor costs are sky high due to covid and increased demand. I really do think pricing will be better in 18 months or so. Not sure if waiting is an option for you, may also give you opportunity to do more in person.

[erosenst]

Thanks. Yeah it’s a red flag to me how focused #3 is about us “stealing” her ideas, being paid for the “extra” time etc.

Interesting thought on waiting 18 months and seeing if material costs drop. It doesn’t have to be done today - the layout is just “stupid” and bugs us, so knowing we will do it either way we decided to do it “sooner” than “later” and enjoy it. But if prices drop even 10% it will have been worth it.

You’ve also highlighted another concern - I think there could be an unexpected delay in getting something, and even if we plan to start in April it may not be “done done” for our January 2022 renters. The contractors and DH think I’m crazy. I’m not so sure....


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[trales]

We just had a 6 month delay getting these specialty metal posts for our foundation, and were told the beam we needed for our addition would be 3-5 months out. Stuff is hard to get an expensive. We have all the plan and are waiting until May price again and if the price is back to normal, we will do it then, if not we wait. I don't need this work done enough to pay 30% more and have the nightmare of tons of delays.

We went ahead with the foundation work, and waited the 6months as it was a safety issue on the older parts of the house. We started in Sept, and it is still not done. They are hoping the caps will be in next week, they ordered them in Oct. This is something they used to stock ,so they ordered 1000's of them and have none left in the warehouse.

I think worry about delays is real, and we are living proof.

[erosenst]

Thanks for that confirmation. It’s taking longer than DH thought just to get the bids - and the bathroom is only one part of the project. Time may be on my side by the time we get the flooring bid too.


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[AnnieW625]

Thanks. Yeah it’s a red flag to me how focused #3 is about us “stealing” her ideas, being paid for the “extra” time etc.

Interesting thought on waiting 18 months and seeing if material costs drop. It doesn’t have to be done today - the layout is just “stupid” and bugs us, so knowing we will do it either way we decided to do it “sooner” than “later” and enjoy it. But if prices drop even 10% it will have been worth it.

You’ve also highlighted another concern - I think there could be an unexpected delay in getting something, and even if we plan to start in April it may not be “done done” for our January 2022 renters. The contractors and DH think I’m crazy. I’m not so sure....


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No input on #3....unless she has been burned before and wants to make sure that her ideas are her intellectual property.

I agree that $43,000 to $45,000 for a rental bathroom seems crazy high. If it were my own regular residence then the push to get things done would be more pressing but for a rental I wouldn’t spend that much. Can you do something like Ikea instead?


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[AnnieW625]

Duplicate

[HannaAddict]

The legitimate contractors in our city often, though not always, charge to even bid the job out. There is more than enough work and it keeps them from wasting their time with people who are just wondering with no real intention of using them, or using their bid to just try and figure out how to do it themselves, etc. For a larger project, our friends paid $3k to have a very detailed bid done for their vacation house remodel and ended up going with that contractor and the amount paid was then a credit. In our area, there is a three week wait to get an appt to talk about a bid with the “good” contractors or glorified handymen for small projects. Unless you are referred by someone, it is pretty much a contractors’ market on who they want to work with. I don’t blame her one bit for not wanting you to take her layout and do it yourself and not be compensated, even if you think it didn’t take much time. That’s her work product and I don’t see it as a “red flag” at all, but the sign of a professional who realizes her work has value, does a good job, and should be compensated. And she’s probably been burned before working with people who she spends quite a bit of time with and who then decide to go it alone using her work as their plan. Happens all the time.

Prices here aren’t going down anytime soon, we are in the top 2 or 3 housing markets in the country, so 18 months may be more. But markets are so distinct, it is shocking how much less other expensive areas are across the country.

Also, vacation areas here have a premium price since expensive to live in for regular folks and so most tradespeople come from farther away as well as the premium it feels like is applied to “non-local” owners. Not sure if any of that may be a factor.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

The red flag isn’t that she wants to be paid. It’s not sending an invoice or having the pricing discussion ahead of time.



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[gymnbomb]

The red flag isn’t that she wants to be paid. It’s not sending an invoice or having the pricing discussion ahead of time.



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[erosenst]

Thanks for the additional input.

First - think I probably put people off about the 'rental'. We really bought this for our use - but knowing that we could rent it out, and would be limited in our usage the first five years, we are renting it. We have always planned to stop after winter 2022. (Welll - I'd probably still do a month a year but think DH may win here.) We also bought at a significant discount - about 70% of what the unit (and other similar) initially sold for. Do I see the market coming back tomorrow - no. Do I think it may before we eventually sell? Ehhh maybe.

The red flag isn’t that she wants to be paid. It’s not sending an invoice or having the pricing discussion ahead of time.

Yeah this. There's something nagging me that says she's less professional than she's trying to seem like she is....or something. This discussion has actually helped confirm it for me.

Having said that, agree that #3 should be compensated for 'additional' time. I think a little is the she keeps talking about 'design consultation' - but if I hire an interior designer I expect them to come with several suggestions, that we can then tweak from there - not meeting me at a showroom and walking around with me as I find things I like. Did she give her opinion? Yes...but that's different than truly design work. Probably doesn't help that we went with all of my choices. (Pulled three floor samples. She, someone from the store and I all picked favorite given paint etc. We all picked the same one. I was the one who suggested going to where the natural light was.) Again - not her fault that I have an opinion and ok design eye. Good learning for me to insist on hourly price before we continue, but I did try. Twice.

Interesting that some markets require payment for the bids - I'd actually be ok if that had been communicated upfront. Having said that - in the three markets where I've had bids, I've never encountered that - including to build a house. I think the "I expect to be paid but I'm not going to quote a price" and thinking that a basic layout is 'way extra' is what's putting me off...and what started this thread because I want to make sure I'm both fair and...not taken advantage of. Do think DH is right in this case that we'll pay her what we think it's worth.