DIY & Home Improvement

i was once told that a good real estate investment was a cheap house in an expensive neighborhood, so that's what we did.

what they don't tell you is that contractors then charge an arm and a leg because you're surrounded by rich people who will pay whatever and are always upgrading. there's no shortage of lucrative work so they won't come down on pricing for small jobs for the rest of us.

where i live, the work you describe could easily cost twice what they're asking. which certainly sounds insane, but really my choice is pay, do it myself if i even can, or don't do it.

i used to watch those house flipping shows where they would buy a house for $30k, completely redo everything, from roof to kitchen to bathroom and so on, then sell it at a profit for $50k. the new roof alone would cost well over $20k around here. so the shows are useless from a practical perspective unless you happen to live in an area where contractors are willing to work for dirt cheap.


anyway, we always get 3 quotes and ask friends and neighbors for references so we know what market rates are.

also always get a quote up front.