Quote:
Originally Posted by AMG_G
From my past experience don't tell them that your budget is x amount. They will usually quote you for a little less than x. If they didn't know your budget it will be a more "honest" quote.
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I struggle with this, I agree with the statement and have been burned by it in the past. There have been a few occasions where I have met with clients and done up designs based on their wants and needs only to have them be shocked by the costs in the end. I will always ask up front a budget so I can design within the constrains. Materials are a major cost in any job and if I know budget X then that allows me to choose tile A or B. 90% of the time my labour is not affected by materials.
Because I do design and build I can usually nail down my exact cost right from the get go because I know what I am building, layouts, materials are predetermined and are accounted for in the quote based upon the agreed design.
People can feel that the budget question is disingenuous (because most contractors will do the exact thing you mentioned) but those are the reasons I ask it.
In the end it costs me some jobs, I am just trying to separate myself from other contractors by being as open as possible. Most appreciate the open communication and those are the people I want to work for anyway.