Why Do General Contractor Like Me Charge So Much Money?

“Save 30%-50% By Learning The Secrets And Systems Needed For Your Next House Renovation!”

Are you kidding? 

You are kidding, right?

You are asking me why I charge so much money for house renovations?

Pleassseee....The real question should be whether I am actually charging you enough to take on your little project. A man of my stature deserves a lot of money for their efforts. 

You see, my little whippersnapper, using the services of an experienced bonafide general contractor like myself comes with a hefty price. 

On house renovations that are in that $50,000 dollar price range, I will have a $15,000 to $20,000 profit margin built in. In a house renovation that was up in that $100,000 dollar price range, I would make sure that I would get $30,000 in profit for my work. 

Now...you might say that this is outrageous. How could you charge $30,000 for three or four month’s worth of work on a project, where all you have supplied was your supervision? 

Folks, please let me explain.

There are costs involved in being a general contractor. There is your license and possible training that it requires, depending on the municipality and area that you operate in. 

There is liability insurance and there is other stuff like marketing, bookkeeping, and stuff like that. 

What about the possible equipment, tools and staff that I bring to your project? 

What about my vacations in Fiji, the speed boats, the sports cars and all of the other accrewcramongs that come with being a general contractor. Someone has to pay for all of these things and... 

That person is you... 

Seriously speaking, $30,000 profit divided over three or four months of supervision is $10,000. Is that a lot of money for someone who takes on the responsibility and liability of a renovation project?

I’ll let you decide…

People need to consider that the life of a contractor is not easy. Depending on where you live, weather plays a major part in how much money you can make as a contractor in renovation and construction. Construction slows down dramatically in the winter, no matter where you live. The holidays during December is a time where most people just want to spend time with their families, and not deal with contractors and their work.

In the summertime, business is booming and there is a lot of work out there. But, you can’t bank it for later use, and tell your customer to wait in November to get around to doing it. As a contractor, you take on as much as you can, and make excuses for being late to start or finish the work. 

There is a limit to the amount of work that you can take on and as a result, you will always lose business to someone else. There have been many times where I have taken work that had low margins, because I wanted to keep my employees working. As soon as I signed the contract and took on this crappy project, a juicy project came around that I have had to pass on because I was busy.

Construction and renovation business is pretty tough, and it is never steady. You are constantly on the hunt for more work and when you find it, you need to capitalize on it. 

That’s the breakdown of the business of a contractor and why they charge as much as they do.

If you think that you can plan and manage your own renovation, then you are definitely on the right path. There is a considerable amount of money that you can save. The biggest issue that you will encounter is finding the right information and resources to help you on your journey.

Once you are able to figure it out, house renovations will be a skill set that will continue to serve you for the rest of your real estate investment career. It will help you in determining renovation costs for future property acquisitions, and you will save money by completing the house renovations, yourself. 

For more information on house renovations and real estate investing, visit www.vansturgeon.com to help you in your real estate investment journey.