How to compare multiple Home Construction Quotes and Contractor Bids
By Mark J. Donovan
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Deciding to build a new home or home addition is an exciting time. It’s a chance to finally get the living space you’ve always dreamed of, and it is also a great financial investment. As with any major undertaking, however, building a new home or home addition is a complex process and has many challenges. Chief amongst them is soliciting contractors for home construction quotes. Obtaining home construction bids can be challenging in many ways.
Home construction quotes are rarely presented in the same way, and it is easy to become confused comparing multiple home construction bids. |
In addition, determining if the contractor bids are too expensive, and/or are open-ended, can be taxing on a homeowner who has limited home construction knowledge. It can also be difficult even to get home construction quotes from contractors, particularly when housing construction is strong.
| One way to help simplify the process of reviewing home construction quotes and contractor bids is to thoroughly define the home construction project you want performed. This is accomplished via a complete set of home construction plans and specifications. By having a complete set of house plans, the home construction quotation process should be greatly simplified. With a complete set of house plans there are fewer variables to arise in the construction bid.
Use of a Standard New Home Construction Bid Sheet Another simple solution is to use my New Home Construction or Home Addition Bid Sheets. |
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Each bid sheet includes a separate “request for home construction quote” section that you can provide to prospective home building contractors to get consistent and accurate quotes. They also include a comprehensive cost breakdown table, in Microsoft Excel format, that allows the home construction contractor to include his projected costs for every phase of the project in the home construction quote.
| Visit Home Improvement Centers
In regards to questioning individual prices within a construction bid, the best way to determine if they are out of line is to compare them against multiple home construction quotes. Again, if the construction bid is itemized for every phase of the project it becomes easier to make that comparison. For specific material costs, for example doors and windows, visit your local home improvement center and compare prices. Understand that the home construction contractor will charge you a premium as he has to order and take delivery of the material. |
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In addition, as with any business, the contractor has overhead costs associated with running his business and will want to make some profit on his efforts.
With these simple tips, the process of evaluating home construction quotes and contractor bids should be a whole lot simpler, and your chances of a successful new home construction project are greatly improved.
For more help on building a home addition, see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Home Addition Bid Sheets. Our Home Addition Bid Sheets provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home building project, and what to look for when hiring contractors. They also include detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating your own new home construction building costs.
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