(no subject)
I keep finding annoyingly expensive things that need to be replaced on my house before I'll be able to sell it. I'd lined up a contractor to fix the dry wall problems and then repaint and install new carpet. All was well until I tried to open the master bedroom windows and realized that one was completely broken and the other sticks so badly that I can only get it open a couple of inches. There is no way I could sell this house with the windows in this condition.
New windows are crazy expensive. You can get 'builder grade' (meaning cheap) windows for a couple hundred dollars each (though the labor to install them easily doubles the price). You can also get windows that are priced as if they are handmade by angels because each window costs more than I paid for my first car. In between those two extremes are a variety of energy efficient, double-hung white vinyl windows that are all pretty much interchangeable because they're all (regardless of the brand name) pretty much all made by the same couple of companies.
I interviewed several different vendors, from the big home improvement chains to general contractors to window specialists. Holy crap, but home contractors are a sleazy lot, especially when they're dealing with a single woman who they perceive to be an easy target to rip off. One guy showed up a week late (which automatically ruled him off my list of possibilities though I let him talk just to get an estimate to compare to). He was from one of the big home improvement chains too, which surprised me. He tried to overcharge me for a cheap, builder grade window, and also tried to gouge on the labor price. When I asked him about the labor costs, he actually sneered at me (!) and told me that I should expect to pay more for labor because I live in Montgomery County. ORLY? I told him that I didn't live in the expensive part of the county, and showed him the door. Another guy was practically oozing desperation. He kept knocking the price down on bid the entire time we were talking, but only if I would sign the contract right then and there while we were standing outside by his car while he packed. Nope. I never sign contracts under that sort of hard sell pressure. It just pisses me off. I almost felt sorry for him though. He's probably on commission. (At his lowest, BTW, his bid for medium grade windows still ended up hundreds of dollars higher than almost everyone else). One vendor didn't even bother to call me back with a bid because I wasn't interested in high-end designer windows at a $1000/each. One vendor initially scribbled out an estimate for $1150/window but then 'generously' knocked the price down to $760 each. I told him no. (Seriously, who spends that much on a window? Certainly not me, and especially not in a house I plan to sell in a couple of months.) His sales manager called me a couple days later to knock off an additional $100 'because they were having a sale.' I let that go a couple days and then emailed the sales manager to ask if they had anything in a different, lower price range. 'That was the window he's already emailed me about!' was his reply, so either he'd mixed me up with a different customer, or else he forgot that his previously quoted price was a couple hundred more than what he was offering me now. That final bid was reasonable (sort of ) so I accepted it. I'm now scheduled to get the windows installed on June 5th (unless it rains). Once that's done I'll be able to move on to the next (and I hope, final) contractor and then sell this accursed house.
This entry was originally posted at http://saraqael.dreamwidth.org/11766.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
New windows are crazy expensive. You can get 'builder grade' (meaning cheap) windows for a couple hundred dollars each (though the labor to install them easily doubles the price). You can also get windows that are priced as if they are handmade by angels because each window costs more than I paid for my first car. In between those two extremes are a variety of energy efficient, double-hung white vinyl windows that are all pretty much interchangeable because they're all (regardless of the brand name) pretty much all made by the same couple of companies.
I interviewed several different vendors, from the big home improvement chains to general contractors to window specialists. Holy crap, but home contractors are a sleazy lot, especially when they're dealing with a single woman who they perceive to be an easy target to rip off. One guy showed up a week late (which automatically ruled him off my list of possibilities though I let him talk just to get an estimate to compare to). He was from one of the big home improvement chains too, which surprised me. He tried to overcharge me for a cheap, builder grade window, and also tried to gouge on the labor price. When I asked him about the labor costs, he actually sneered at me (!) and told me that I should expect to pay more for labor because I live in Montgomery County. ORLY? I told him that I didn't live in the expensive part of the county, and showed him the door. Another guy was practically oozing desperation. He kept knocking the price down on bid the entire time we were talking, but only if I would sign the contract right then and there while we were standing outside by his car while he packed. Nope. I never sign contracts under that sort of hard sell pressure. It just pisses me off. I almost felt sorry for him though. He's probably on commission. (At his lowest, BTW, his bid for medium grade windows still ended up hundreds of dollars higher than almost everyone else). One vendor didn't even bother to call me back with a bid because I wasn't interested in high-end designer windows at a $1000/each. One vendor initially scribbled out an estimate for $1150/window but then 'generously' knocked the price down to $760 each. I told him no. (Seriously, who spends that much on a window? Certainly not me, and especially not in a house I plan to sell in a couple of months.) His sales manager called me a couple days later to knock off an additional $100 'because they were having a sale.' I let that go a couple days and then emailed the sales manager to ask if they had anything in a different, lower price range. 'That was the window he's already emailed me about!' was his reply, so either he'd mixed me up with a different customer, or else he forgot that his previously quoted price was a couple hundred more than what he was offering me now. That final bid was reasonable (sort of ) so I accepted it. I'm now scheduled to get the windows installed on June 5th (unless it rains). Once that's done I'll be able to move on to the next (and I hope, final) contractor and then sell this accursed house.
This entry was originally posted at http://saraqael.dreamwidth.org/11766.html. Please comment there using OpenID.