Replies

1. 
   BossHog | Oct 05, 2002 04:47pm | #1

   There are no "average" allowances. They're whatever you want them to be.

   A bird does not sing because it has an answer. A bird sings because it has a song.

2. 
   Piffin | Oct 05, 2002 07:20pm | #2

   I agree with Boss. They are only static for a large builder with total control, recording his own costs. RSMeans might have something available but it would be more or less meaningless to most of us as individuals.

   I thought this would be a slightly different subject.

   Occasionally, I am asked for estimate pricing to do a repair to an existing home under contract to sell. I am very leery of this because what they are looking for is, let us say that the porch deck has some rot. The purchaser wants it fixed before completing the purchase. No-one is available to do it immediately or winter weather precludes doing thje work. So I estimate a price of $5500. to do the work. They want to set that money aside in an escrow act funded by the seller to consumate the sale.

   The problem comes in when doing the work and you are trying to satisfy the new owner(read potential new customer) with the sellers money, a fixed amt.

   So I've learned to stay away from these or to make it very clear that this is an estimate only with a described range of work.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   YesMaam27577 | Oct 06, 2002 05:19am | #3

   I'm not a contractor, I'm a Handyman. So I get repair calls all the time. And many of them are from sellers like you  mention -- sellers who have been told they must fix certain items before the buyer will close the sale.

   I've always thought that it was rather dumb of the buyer -- to specify that the seller fix some things. The sellers motivation, in this case, will have nothing to do with the quality of the finished repair job. Only the completion, and the price.

   So, although the buyer will get a house that's been fixed, it will have been fixed at the behest of the seller, who negotiated the lowest possible price for the repair.

2. 
   Beachbuilder | Oct 06, 2002 06:06am | #4

   We perform a LOT of these types of repairs. When it involves rot we normally suggest that an extra 50% above the estimate be held in escrow if the work will not be done until after closing.

   Piffin is correct concerning what the expectations of the new owner might be, as opposed to what the budget allows. If there is any way to perform the work prior to move-in I would certainly advise it.