Negotiating with contractors?

[LoveBWVVBR]

I've never tried negotiating with a contractor before, but is it common practice? We bought a foreclosure knowing that it needed a new roof. The quotes that we are getting are all coming in at 14-15K. It is a large house, but is single-story if that makes a difference. Anyways, should I try to negotiate this? How would I even go about doing so? I'd love to hear from anyone who has done it successfully. Also, if you do negotiate w/a contractor, how do you know that they won't just use lesser materials to make up for the lower $$?

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Not sure where you live, but here, negotiating with a roofer is near impossible! It's not like working with a carpenter or taper where they will likely get the next job from you. Afterall a roof lasts for years!

I will also share with you that the previous owners of our home "skimped" on the roof...they only put up a 15 year roof (which really means about 12 real years) and it showed! We just put up a 35 year architectural roof and our house looks so much better -- even our neighbors have commented on it. BTW, our "15" year roof was the second layer so we did a total tear off -- and the "15" year roof, we removed it after 10 years -- not because it leaked, but because it looked awful with nail pops, fungus, etc.

My advice would be to cut corners elsewhere -- but not your roof! Also, if all the bids are coming in near one another, then you are likely getting good quotes. We got 6 bids when we did our roof. 1 bid was $13,000. 1 bid was $4,500 and the rest were in the $8,500 range. We selected one of the 4 contractors who was in the $8,500 range and based it on recommendations from friends and neighbors, checked him with the BBB, and a few other contractors we know. We insisted on a certificate of insurance that named us as additional insured (in case someone fell off our roof...it's steep) and agreed that we would pay him in full on completion and agreed that he would provide us with a lien waiver (it's due to weirdness in MO law).

BTW, the guy who bid $4,500 and $13,000 wanted 75% up front -- NO WAY! I would have paid for materials upon delivery, but no way would I pay for anything else before the job was done to my satisfaction.

Good luck with the home renovations!

BTW -- we have successfully negotiated prices with carpenters, tapers and an electrician (we needed some extensive work there and he gave us a break on a new box).

K

 

[everylastbreath]

I am the "negotiator" in my house, ALWAYS negotiate with contractors, but you have to be educated before doing so, get several prices and if anyone comes in VERY LOW don't go with them, something is wrong, second- pick the company with the best reputation (they don't want shotty work on their reputation, because their business is a lot of referrals) then NEGOTIATE... keep in mind what their profit margin is (is the job price mostly materials, or labor) Be fair, you want a decent price, but the contractor has to support his business too, he is not going to do it for nothing. Also a consideration is if your asking for financing, price might be higher because of paperwork on their end. Good luck!

 

[hinodis]

I am a contractor. I do on occasion have a customer who wants to negotiate a lower price. I very rarely change my price. When I quote a price I am already giving my customer the lowest price that I can do the work. If you have a reputable roofer they most likely have plenty of work and will not go down in price. If you have someone that is willing to drop their price it may be because they desparately need work and you need to think twice about using them. Be very careful. I say go with a company that you can trust. Be sure they are insured. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Good Luck!

 

[angwill]

I had several roofing estimates done and none of them would negotiate. They wanted to instead negotiate with me to sign contracts on the spot for a percentage off the cost.

 

[Darcy03231]

If you've had several estimates done and they're all coming in at about the same price, that should tell you that's what the cost is. You might get someone to go a bit lower to match your lowest bid if you really like one contractor over another, but I wouldn't count on it.

We just had our windows, siding and deck replaced and a new roof put on. Two estimates were really close and one was really much lower. We ruled the low one out because the guy kept talking about cutting corners when he came out to look at the house to do the estimate. We wondered what corners he'd be cutting that we didn't know about!

 

[disneymomofmyca]

I am a contractor. I do on occasion have a customer who wants to negotiate a lower price. I very rarely change my price. When I quote a price I am already giving my customer the lowest price that I can do the work. If you have a reputable roofer they most likely have plenty of work and will not go down in price. If you have someone that is willing to drop their price it may be because they desparately need work and you need to think twice about using them. Be very careful. I say go with a company that you can trust. Be sure they are insured. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Good Luck!

Agreed...My hubby is a successful conractor and he rarely negotiates the price. He gives the best price right up front. Around our area we find that people who do solely roofing tend to skimp a bit and don't do the best job because they just want to slap the roof on to get to the next one as soon as possible. Sometimes a reputable general home contractor that will take care of multiple things is the way to go. And definately be careful of the lowest bid...My hubby has fixed many a roof because the home owner tried to save a buck....

 

[disneymomofmyca]

I had several roofing estimates done and none of them would negotiate. They wanted to instead negotiate with me to sign contracts on the spot for a percentage off the cost.

That seems shady! They obviously already have too much margian built in to there quote if they are able to do this...some contractors really give the good ones a bad name....

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

Agreed...My hubby is a successful conractor and he rarely negotiates the price. He gives the best price right up front. Around our area we find that people who do solely roofing tend to skimp a bit and don't do the best job because they just want to slap the roof on to get to the next one as soon as possible. Sometimes a reputable general home contractor that will take care of multiple things is the way to go. And definately be careful of the lowest bid...My hubby has fixed many a roof because the home owner tried to save a buck....

I totally agree...My Husband is an electrical contractor, we own our own business. We try to stick with the bidded contract price as much as possible. I don't know as much about roofing; but we have insurance/bonding costs, workers comp/ licenses/ permits, and our employee's pay that all have fees that are not "negotiable". If you want quality work that will be warranteed, you will probably have to pay for it. I hope it works out for you. Just check references and licenses. Good luck!

 

[SPBendersky]

First off you want to get three to four estimates to make sure of where the mean numbers are. Then dont be so caught up with the amount of money issue. Select the company or person you believe will do the best job. Now when you have the person you like whos numbers is most likely the moddle you can begin by telling him you would rather him do the work but his number is a little high. He should come down a bit. Remember each contractor figures in 10-20% just for this purpose. Keep quite until he answers. Then hit him again. Ask what can I do to help get the number where I need it. Keep quite. They will hang themselves it is tough out there. No deposits money is paid as work gets done with a 20% hold back until accepted.

Try it, it works. Be nice but firm. there are plenty of company's willing to do the work cheaper and make less. Making less is better than making nothing. Its a numbers game.

Good luck

 

[swilshire]

Around here, you're lucky to find a roofer that will even show up as scheduled to give you a bid and actually place a bid if he does show up. Then they don't want the jobs half the time, even at their price. It took us more than two years to finally get someone out at any price. I wouldn't have dreamed of trying to negotiate.

Maybe it's different a couple of years later with the housing market so bad, but these guys usually want new construction and turn up their noses at replacing roofs.

Sheila

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Around here, you're lucky to find a roofer that will even show up as scheduled to give you a bid and actually place a bid if he does show up. Then they don't want the jobs half the time, even at their price. It took us more than two years to finally get someone out at any price. I wouldn't have dreamed of trying to negotiate.

Maybe it's different a couple of years later with the housing market so bad, but these guys usually want new construction and turn up their noses at replacing roofs.

Sheila

No, so far that's pretty darned accurate here too The one roofer who showed up on time and who gave us a nice, detailed quote is in the lead. He's the most $$, but not by much. I think we'll end up going with him simply because he actually showed up.