Sticker Shock

[Lershac]

I confronted one well known local builder about his pricing and my unwillingness to pay cost plus percentage. I was willing to pay sub costs plus a flat contracting/design fee. He became very irritated and confrontational at my requests even accusing me of trying to scalp his subs so that I could do the project myself. It simply wasn't the case but he obviously didn't believe me. I wanted to verify his insurance, the subs insurance coverages, the subs hiring/employment practices (with regards to illegal labor), and the actual amount the subs were charging. This was met with much hostility by the PB. I guess this is a no-no? Is this information secret? We broke off our negotiations a couple weeks ago.

So, I will be starting a new thread once we start construction so everyone can see the progress.

Some folks get itchy when you know how much they are making off your job. Some dont. I find in general (not just in PBland) that the folks that are comfortable with you knowing how much they are making are confident, outgoing, and tend to do a better job. (in general... it will vary by specific case)

If you get all the names of his subs, and you know some about building... you could GC it yourself and save alot. He was probably afraid of that. And you were gonna get some push back on checking hiring practices of his subs, thats alot of hassle for not very much reward for him, and risking finding out things he just doesnt want to know.