Getting Closer

I met with Charlie to discuss the quote. He was pushing hard to keep the subs on his part of the contract, dropping the markup/margin on those items. We left some things off of the project on my end, so the price right now is $102k. I'm thinking that's close, but...I'll be thinking this over carefully.

I've done the research on solar hot water and it looks like we can get the parts for $2000, I'm waiting on a cost to install from Charlie. While I was checking that out, I found a 3KW PV system for $17,000. I think that would cover about half my yearly energy needs. While it would probably take 30 years to pay off, the interesting thing is that the last time I priced these systems out, they were a couple thousand dollars more expensive.

Final Quote

We got the final quote in for the addition: $148,000. Way out of our price range. I tried negotiating with him, but my skills are rusty. So, I ended up pulling things off the project list, leaving him with just the structural work (basically building the shell). I would hire the sub-contrators. He went back to his office and he's reworking the numbers.

I figure with an MBA and previous management experience, I should be able to ride herd on a few subs. He just called me on the phone with a price of $125,000 for most of the job, so maybe I'll be able to afford to put carpet down on the floors after construction is complete.