Advice from Craig
Why we are not the cheapest quote
The short answer
Craig’s view is that the cheapest quote tends to cost you more in the end. A price far below the others usually means something has been missed, or one person is trying to do everything and is stretched too thin. He is clear this is no knock at one man bands or small firms; he started somewhere himself. Madisons watches its own rates closely and aims to sit in the middle, neither the cheapest nor the dearest. His advice: be wary of a quote that is wildly cheaper, take up references, and look after your money. Buy cheap and you often buy twice. See how design and build with one team and one price works.
Transcript
Wow, big question. Now, we was asked the other day about costs, why we’re not the cheapest, but sometimes why we’re not the most expensive, because we do try to fall in the middle. We monitor our rates quite a lot. But you tend to find that the cheapest quote always costs you more in the end, because A, they’ve probably missed stuff, B, they’re probably trying to do everything themselves and stretch.
And I’m not putting down one man bands or smaller building companies at all, in any way, shape or form, because at the end of the day, every market needs a very versatile workforce. And I started somewhere as well. So it is what it is.
But just be wary of wildly cheaper, because nine times out of ten, we’ve found over the years that people that come in 50 grand cheaper on a 100 grand job, half the price, tends to mean that they don’t really have an intention on doing the job.
Two or three years ago, we went to two or three projects, over a period right near December, just before, just after December, early January, we’re going into houses that have been opened up, money gone, deposits paid, and no one to be seen.
So just be careful. Money’s really hard to earn. Look after it, do references, don’t always go with the cheapest builder, because that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the cheapest builder. Sometimes they say buy cheap, buy twice, and it really is true.
Transcript lightly edited for reading: filler words and false starts removed. The captions on the film are word for word.
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