Renovating a home in South Florida is a costly endeavor, full stop. When you’re spending this much money on anything, it makes sense to explore every way to minimize the total price tag and protect your wallet. 

This is precisely why we work with our clients on where they can save on their project and where they should splurge. In the design phase, we can figure out a lot of the issues and get it perfectly in budget. But once we move on to the build phase, it’s a different game entirely and we always caution our clients against opting for the general contractor who offers the lowest bid without doing a good amount of due diligence. 

As we have served as an owner’s representatives on dozens of construction projects, here’s what to consider when evaluating low bids from GCs: 

A Low Bid Can Indicate Low Experience

Let’s say you receive proposals from three general contractors (we always encourage our clients to get three proposals). Two are just 5% apart from each other. The other is a whopping 30% lower than the other two. 

Why is the third one so much lower? Either they know something the other two don’t, or the other two know something they don’t. Odds are, it’s not because this contractor just knows how to cut costs better than their competitors. 

Maybe the cheaper bid unknowingly omitted several crucial elements that the other, more experienced contractors were careful to include. In that scenario, you will have to pay for those expenses in the end through a change order, and it might increase the total cost higher than the other two – and lengthen the project timeline to boot. 

If you don’t hire us as your owner’s rep on the build, we’d recommend going to the other two bids and asking them why theirs was more expensive than the cheaper one. Armed with that information, you can then go to the cheaper one and ask them to explain the difference (this is part of the work we do when we’re working as an owner’s rep). 

A Low Bid Could Come from Inaccurate Estimations

This is a spin-off of the previous situation. Say you’re building a new construction home and need to pour the foundation. How much does it cost?

Well, it depends how you do it and what needs to be done. For example, if it’s too close to the water table, we need to take that into account. There are certain methods which cost more and some that cost less. If the GC doesn’t have the experience in this, they might just look at the size of the foundation, estimate how much concrete they’ll need and add the labor cost for it – not accounting for the water mitigation part. 

But to be fair to GCs – those that have more experience can come in and explain how there’s an even better way to do the water mitigation that will cost a fraction of the cost…but you won’t know that just from their proposal. You either need an owner’s rep to vet the bis and see how the break down or do that work yourself. 

A Qualified GC Won’t Win You Over with a Number

An experienced contractor won’t try to win you over with a low number. That’s not how they show their expertise. The right contractor will win you over by providing a complete, accurate scope of your project that minimizes delays and unforeseen expenses. Yes, this might not be the lowest offer on the table, but it will be the most detailed, the most realistic, and you’ll have more reasons to believe that a smooth and efficient experience is lying ahead. 

At Debowsky Design Group, we understand the difference between cutting costs and cutting corners. We know when it makes sense to save, and when it’s in your best interest to choose the higher quoted price. So, if you have a design project in mind but you’re concerned about the cost, give us a call. Together, we’ll create a realistic budget and ensure your design is executed according to plan.