And he paid how much for this condo??
Is it worth the purchase price plus the improvements.
SMH that he spent a fortune on these improvements and bought his kid an IKEA bed. But then, with all those bells and whistles in the master…I can’t imagine he is expecting his kid to be there very often!?
Remove any master bath countertop samples that are not in stock for immediate delivery. Don’t give him the choice of something that will further delay finishing this project.
@thumper1 No matter how beautiful the inside is decorated it will still have the funky Spanish exterior
cb needs to take a private review of the condo during the day so she can personally approve the steam shower!
What brand is that fridge?
Jym - it is Kitchenaid. Nice, solid appliances.
50% over isn’t all that bad, considering all the unknowns going in, the extent of the hidden damage, and all the changes.
On my cape cod renovation, the builder gave me a rough estimate, then billed by T+M because there were too many unknowns. He billed out labor at $45/hour (including his own), and then added a 15% “project management fee” on top of everything - all the materials, subs, and labor charges. And I know he wasn’t paying his workers $45/hour… he did ok for himself. 
He was ok with us providing a lot of materials and some subs that he didn’t charge the 15% for, which was nice of him.
I hope cb did at least equally ok.
You wrote this in your first post on this thread…
I just have to wonder…why four years since his daughters are now 10 and 13…
And will he even break even when he sells this place??
That $180k includes a lot of the expensive stuff such as flooring, appliances, balcony, doors and windows. The irony is he still has the original single pane aluminum sliding doors. We repaired them to open and close smoothly but I could never find replacement handles. They are still the ugly 70s handles
My best guess is the condo is probably worth about $1.4 million now, as long as he finishes the extremely expensive fireplace tile (which he put on hold because I told him that labor for install, caulking it up and painting was going to be very expensive and difficult) and updates the front windows and sliding doors. He paid $1.15mil. The flipped townhouse end unit is trying to sell for $2.2 mil and they will not get it.
I can guarantee he will not be moving in the 4 yrs he thinks
regarding time and materials… I only charge my actual cost for hourly labor, with an added percentage on their hourly rate to cover payroll taxes, payroll cost, workman’s comp and insurance. There is no way I could fairly charge the same rate for each crew member. Some are highly skilled and others are laborers. You need both types to fill out the team. Could not in good conscience charge $45/hr for a laborer that is being paid $16/hr. And then charge 15% over that?
First time I did a remodel for someone, I charged actual labor and realized about a month into the project that I was literally losing money because of payroll taxes, social security and workman’s comp. that was a big wake up call. I know most contractors add a large pad to hourly wages.
Next Move - I am about 30 days away from getting the new funding I need to purchase a property. That’ll be 30 days with no income and I’ll lend my crew out to other contractors that are swamped or some are going on well deserved vacation breaks.
This is probably TMI but my Equity Line of Credit on my residence expired after 10 years last fall after its 10 year term. That was the main source of funds I used to run the business. I tried to renew it last year but my husband passed away in the middle of the signing the loan docs and they cancelled everything. Due to the new tax laws, equity lines of credit are not tax deductible so most lenders do not even offer the product anymore. The few banks that do are very conservative with underwriting and they denied my app because of a lot of issues, mostly being newly single and losing his steady disability income and my wildly fluctuating self employment risky income. For example, it’s really hard to show a tax return where I made ZERO from the business for the entire year I was working on that giant Del Monte project. Because of that year, I needed to wait until I could do my 2018 taxes for a new tax return.
So, have been working hard to find new creative financing and am just now starting up again.
Our sider charged $75/hr flat “time plus materials” for any repairs beyond normal rot around windows… paying $500 or so for fixing that giant rot on the side of the house was money very well spent for us. The alternative could have been waking up with no wall in the MB. 
I too think the guy is not moving anywhere anytime soon. He is probably buried under a small mountain of credit card bills.
Well, in my builder’s defense, most of the time it was him and one other guy, who is a pretty skilled carpenter. He subbed out a lot of the stuff that would typically require laborers.
Respectfully, cb, I think this is short-sighted. No one does this. I guarantee you that the subs you do hire, if they have employees, aren’t doing this. The whole point of having employees is to be a force multiplier on your profits. If you are only getting exactly what you are paying for the employee, there’s no profit!
In my industry (software), when you hire contractors, it is not unusual at all for the contracting agency to bill 3x what they are paying the actual worker. And no one bats an eye at this.
Law firms pay their associates 1/4 of their billed out time… partners split the profits.
So if he bought the place for $1.15 million and put $250,000 into it, his total all-in cost is $1.4 million. Which is what cb thinks he could sell it for now.
I hope he wasn’t doing this for the profit.
"regarding time and materials… I only charge my actual cost for hourly labor, with an added percentage on their hourly rate to cover payroll taxes, payroll cost, workman’s comp and insurance. There is no way I could fairly charge the same rate for each crew member. "
yes you CAN and SHOULD! Simply because other contractors DO!
Clients don’t know the skill level of YOUR employees. Nor should they be charged only what each individual worker cost you. What your clients care about is the finished project. THAT is why you are hired- because you have shown over and over again that you are conscientious about the quality of the end result.
cb, you are guaranteeing that you will never make enough $$, in your very competitive field, if you continue to short change your self with your too generous T & M policy. Its time to rethink that part of your business, especially given the recent changes in your overall financial status, due to the unfortunate death of your husband.
Take out about 10% that covers excise tax, closing costs, and realtor fees… and he is in a hole.
I doubt the resale value was what motivated him to get those borderline bordello gizmos…
If this guy cared about money, he wouldn’t have bought some of the unnecessary “stuff” he bought.
Maybe he is the type that has no ideas about budgeting. “Ohh I love that, I must have that!” Then comes buyer’s remorse. Plus he is not a DIY person and likely has no idea that a $1000 tub purchased online costs big money to install.
Or that an inexpensive IKEA bed takes time to assemble! Or needs a hired person to do so.