Did you know the average commodity contractor price goes up 50-100% from the estimate they give customers or prospects? We have yet to find a company that will give a fixed price proposal like we do at Golden-Eye Construction. There are many reasons for this. Some contractors just have no clue how to estimate to begin with, while others do a WAG, (Wacky Ass Guess) on the good old yellow pad of paper. They give prices that sound too good to be true … because they are. And as soon as these contractors realize they are in too deep, here comes the change orders for things that should have been included in their “estimate.”
Yes, it’s true that a fixed-price proposal will appear to be a higher cost up front. That’s because everything is included. We call it Project Development. We develop the project for Golden-Eye Construction to build for you. Doing everything from the architectural plans, to picking out all the homeowner-selected products, to the interior design and soft finishes. You don’t know what the labor cost is to install a product if you don’t know what the product is, right? This and our computer based in-house estimating system get the numbers spot on every time.
I was once asked by Shawn McCadden when discussing estimating, “would you rather go to bed at night knowing you’re screwed or wake up in the morning hoping you’re not screwed?” What he meant is, if you go to bed knowing you’re screwed, you can get up in the morning and work on fixing the problem. I equate this statement to hiring the commodity contractor that gives you an “estimate.” Every morning you will wake up hoping you’re not screwed.
That’s why, at Golden-Eye, we use fixed-price proposals. It protects you, the client, from any unforeseen change orders or surprises that often come with contractor estimates.
