Whether you are feeling adventurous and want to tackle a home improvement or a big storm just rolled through and now it’s raining in your living room, chances are you are going to have to hire a vendor to help with your next home project. A vendor is any professional you hire to complete a specific project, such as a plumber, roofer, or window installation expert. Before you kick off your next project and reach out to a vendor, review the below steps to ensure you don’t make any of the mistakes we made with vendors during our first projects as homeowners.
Three Tips to Managing Home Project Vendors
Get Three Quotes
Every time I’ve interacted with the procurement department at any job I’ve had, whether to buy giveaways for an event or buy licenses to a project management tool, they always required three quotes before they would approve the purchase. This was always to ensure vendors were competitively bidding to help us secure the best price. It also clearly showed which vendors were superior or priced as an outlier. I suggest carrying this same approach to your personal life. Always get three quotes for every project. A quote is a cost estimate for the project you want to do. I usually ask vendors to include the cost, duration of the project, warranty details, and if they are insured and bonded.
When we moved to our new area, we did not know a lot of local people or any vendors, so finding multiple vendors to bid on projects was a bit of a journey. I am a big fan of starting with recommendations from trusted sources. In our case, since we didn’t know any locals, we initially asked our real estate agent for vendor recommendations, and once we eventually met our neighbors, asked them as well. Beyond the personal connections, fortunately, word of mouth has taken on a digital form with offerings such as Yelp, Angi, and Thumbtack. All three of these services are able to help you navigate your project needs and line up vendors to quote your job…all at no cost to you. Between all these sources, you should have no trouble finding three good vendors to quote your project for you.
Set Clear Expectations
Once you have identified the three vendors you want to come to your home to accurately quote your next project, it’s important to set clear expectations. This is a lesson we learned the painful way. When a vendor comes to your home to quote your project, not only are they coming to inform you of the costs, but they are selling you their services to get your business. In essence, nearly every vendor that comes to your home is also a salesperson. As someone who was trying to gather information and better understand the costs of our next project, I did not want a lengthy hard sell. Just give me the information and I’ll call you back!
Our most painful experience with a vendor happened shortly after moving in and we were meeting with vendors for various projects nearly every day. One stretch project we wanted to better wrap our heads around was renovating our primary bathroom. We had one vendor look at our bathroom and that quickly turned into a PowerPoint presentation, a hefty on-the-spot estimate, and him pressing us to agree to a $40,000 renovation right then and there. Promptly, we asked him to leave our house. We were exhausted from dealing with so many vendors and so shocked by the price tag that when he pressed us to agree on the spot we lost it.
Kaity, being the experienced salesperson, was annoyed by the vendor’s tactics, but understood the approach. They are incentivized to secure the job and are going to push for our business. After reflecting on this experience, we realized that we need to be upfront with vendors and set appropriate expectations that we are gathering information for a project, but not looking to move forward today. This firmly lets the vendor know not to pressure us into signing on the spot and instead allows the experience to be a fact-gathering opportunity.
Brace For the Cost
We have talked at length about how excited we are to be first-time homeowners, but one thing that was really surprising was how expensive owning a home is. Beyond the down payment, closing costs, insurance, and all the moving expenses involved in purchasing a home, the upkeep is equally expensive. The pandemic has fueled home projects and with a number of other factors has caused prices to skyrocket for labor and raw materials. For example, earlier this year lumber prices hit their highs which were nearly quintuple pre-pandemic prices. Fortunately, some material costs have come down over the past few months, but costs are still inflated causing home improvements and repairs to be costly.
Our advice here is to mentally prepare yourself that the cost of repairs or renovations is likely more expensive than you anticipate. By psychologically preparing yourself for the worst-case scenario, you won’t be paralyzed when you get your quote and can make a calm decision. Additionally, don’t let vendors pressure you into making rash decisions. Only you know your finances and only you can make the best decision for yourself and your family.
If the price is higher than expected and it’s a project that can be pushed down the road, make a plan and start saving for it. We experienced a great example of this. Ever since moving in, our neighbor’s front yard was a pile of dirt and definitely an outlier on our block. One day, we went outside and they were tearing their front yard up. After asking what they were doing, they told us how badly they’ve wanted to renovate their front yard, but it’s taken them 5 years to save up to do it…and now they were ready to take the leap. They deserve to be proud for working hard to budget for a project that is going to add value to their property and looks great too. Expect the worst and make a plan to complete your home project!
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