I think in general, folks that have moved around a lot, or custom built homes, are better able to visualize spaces and overlook old/dated/yuck. This is our 11th home, and we’re in an area where people want turn key, so we were able to get a house with super bones, in an amazing location, for our budget because we could see the potential (and were willing to wait to have the work done).
Virtual staging is big here. I find it off putting. To me it’s false advertising if it isn’t clear from the listing that the pics have been photo shopped. Based on my year of scouring realtor.com, those homes sat on the market for a long time.
My client moved into a VRBO for a month. She had to move out today and will be in a local hotel that has a kitchenette for 2 more weeks. Most likely we will only have one bathroom done and kitchen functional by Feb 15th, but luckily it’s not my fault. Reason we cannot finish any other bathrooms is because she ordered custom cabinets built and they do not even arrive until Feb 13.
We are coming down to the wire. I have to listen to a tearful tirade at least twice a day about how she’s stuck in a crappy living space and every day is costing her money.
When I first created the schedule, which was submitted with the bid, I made it very clear it was going to take 14 weeks. Entire schedule was based on permit approval and first inspection by Nov 18. There was 9 weeks of work required after first building inspection. Since she did not get permit approval until Dec 20, and because of holidays, we did not have inspection until Dec 26, we are behind schedule in her mind.
Last week I brought out the original schedule (which did not have dates on it but Week Numbers) and very carefully showed her that we are 2 weeks ahead of schedule!! And we would be done by Feb 15 if she did not keep adding scope and the dang cabinets were installed
She doesn’t know what’s going to hit her when we have to storm into her house at 8am every day for a couple of weeks to get this finished. She does not strike me as the type of person who is awake, completely dressed and ready to endure noise and mess all day by 8am
I would have stopped answering the calls a long time ago. I can’t even begin to imagine dealing with someone like that. You have the patience of a saint!
With some people, facts and evidence make no difference. All that matters is what they want to believe. Unfortunately, no matter what you tell her, she’ll always think it must be your fault because how could it be hers!
@coralbrook I just hope you and your crew are being compensated well…and that you are charging her extra for every single change to the original scope of your work for her.
@coralbrook I agree with everyone above. The problem, I see, is that she doesn’t get that she is outside scope and has caused these delays. This is the type of client that no matter how much you bend over backwards for, she will still b****, moan, and complain. And then trash you in any reviews.
I wish you lived on the East Coast, because I’d love to re-do a kitchen/LR/FR layout in our condo!
ooh, as I type this, I just realized… you have amazing vision. I’d love to send you photos and a layout… can I hire you to help me re-arrange our ground floor layout? I haven’t found anyone local that I’m terribly impressed with their vision. When I see the changes that people have made I think of better ways to manage the space. Not worth paying for. You? Worth paying for!
Hi everyone!! We backed ourselves out of the townhouse, threw everything into a truck and van, and departed at 9:30pm last night. I have never been so relieved to finish something. But No!! Of course we are not really done?
We finished everything on our list but the cabinet company did not really finish their cabinets so we still need to install some cabinet handles. But the worst part is she cannot make up her mind for her master vanity mirrors and lights. She ordered beautiful sconces and I’ve given her 3 or 4 nice designs. About 2 weeks ago she loved the idea of putting up some trim pieces and mounting custom sized mirrors between the trim with the sconces on the trim. We moved all the wiring for that design but had to wait for cabinets and countertops
Then she hated the backsplashes because they were taking away counter space. She did not understand that tearing off the backsplash tears up the drywall behind and it’s days to patch, sand, repaint.
I told my guy to just stop work and work on something else because she started calling and sending a million pictures of things that didn’t match the reality of her space.
In the end we have to go back tomorrow and start back up again to the original design which she finally, begrudgingly, decided was the only thing she could do. Cost and budget do not seem to factor into any of her reasoning. She thinks she’s been bullied into everything the entire project. She completely forgets every long involved discussion and email thread with explanations on constraints and why things cannot be done a certain way.
And all I’m hearing is how upset she is that everything is not done because she had to pay extra money to stay in hotel past Feb 15. Hello!!! Cabinets did not get installed until Friday last week!! We are not allowed to work on weekends, per the HOA. How on earth do countertops, sinks, faucets, drains and other bath stuff get done without cabinets???
OMG…so glad the complete end is in sight. This one sounds like a piece of work.
I’m sure the place is terrific and a huge improvement from where you started. Then again…i think some of her “Improvements” wer unnecessary…and just added time ad money to the project.
I believe the operative word is ‘tiny space’. She is way overboard with her complaining and whining about everything. She bought the place, I didn’t buy it!! Just this morning at 7am I am getting texts asking " how am I going to fix the water pressure?". It’s too low. I had to explain that there is nothing I can do about it because it is a condo and does not have a separate pressure regulator coming into the house. It cannot be fixed. I pointed her to the original home inspection report where the inspector reported the exact water pressure. She thinks I can ‘fiddle’ with all the faucets and get her more water pressure.
She is ballistic that the side backsplash pieces haven’t been taken off yet and she cannot use her vanity. Plumbing installed, she just doesn’t have a mirror.
I loaded more photos but I seem to have a smudge on the phone camera lens, so ignore those smudges!
Wow. The place looks palatial and gorgeous compared with what it used to be. Love the master shower tile. If she is worried about it being slippery, she can add a nice teak thingy to stand on. But it will not be slippery at all with all that grout. We have marble-ish tiles of that size in our shower, and they are just fine. Boy this woman is a piece of works. How on earth can anyone work or hang out with her? It sounds like no matter what, the glass is alway 3/4 empty for her, and it is never her fault. Pfft.
Final Budget (well, until she comes up with something else)
Original Budget was $125,000
That budget did not include permits, drafting fees, etc because she had already contracted with someone. Did not include window coverings, stair railing (because she just wanted it painted), new windows, remove huge soffit. I also had a disclaimer that I did not know final cost of plumbing and electrical because she was moving every single room to another location and we didn’t know where plumbing/drains were in order to give an accurate estimate
Here are all the additions that I documented throughout because she continuously complained about why we were over budget:
Contracted demo for higher price (she wanted to hire friend’s recommendation)
600
New electrical panel / rewire whole house 2500
Move water heater under staircase 1700
Remove soffit / drywall / beams 800
Wire repairs bedrooms (prior owner hotwired) 750
Recessed lighting / TV recessed 1504
Replumb entire house out of raised floor 3500
Wall Heaters 1250
Garage Cabinets 1500
New Windows 20250
Appliance Overrun - Bosch Induction 1000
Build Attic above bathroom w/door 1600
Glass replacement bedroom windows 1928.55
Fireproof water heater closet 250
Permits and Services 4804
Painting Cost Overrun (hired friend’s painter) 1500
Cabinet Handle Overrun 118
Leveling Floors - floors out of level 980
Quartz Overrun 1800
New Washer/Dryer 1200
Water Heater Disconnect - new bldg code 185
Master Bath Trim / Glass 688
$50,408
So, you can see that in the end we were $50,000 over budget, so total cost should be $175,408
In the end, cost was $184,159 so there was some overage in there from choices made, etc.
Is she living there with no window coverings? The master bedroom has big windows and not much privacy. Custom made coverings have a fairly long lead time but that’s her problem.
I wouldn’t like living in a complex that allows weekly rentals. I wonder if vacationers fill up the community during the Del Mar race seasaon?
cb, yet another beautiful transformation accomplished despite unprecedented headaches, complications and obstacles! I am so sorry you’ve had to endure this ungrateful, unrealistic, volatile client from hell.
I may be mistaken but think you may have said she is a realtor. I can’t even imagine doing a transaction or having a business relationship (well, or a personal one) with someone like her. I don’t know how you managed to endure it.