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Conflicted!
Aaarrgghh!!!! I?m so conflicted about what to do.
To greatly summarize, we had been having discussions with Builder A about a plan that he had to build a house. We had a couple meetings with him, got a couple quotes from him and made some modifications to the original plan that he had. We have seen numerous houses that Builder A has built, and are very happy with his quality. Builder A asked us to not shop his plan around.
After going down the road with Builder A, DH was talking to one of his clients, who is building a house with Builder B. Client RAVED about Builder B, and especially about his price. This is a very wealthy client, so she has expensive taste. We met with Builder B. We have only seen 2 houses in real life that he has built, the house that client is building (which is WAY more expensive than what we are looking to build) and his model house, which is a downgrade from what we are looking to build. His work seems decent, but he is less of a ?known quantity? to us. DH gave a copy of Builder A?s plan to Builder B (even though we said we wouldn?t do it ? so I feel douchy about this) and we got a quote from Builder B, and were a bit surprised that his price was actually a bit higher than Builder A.
We called Builder B and told him that we didn?t want to lead him on, but we had reviewed his quote, and he was higher than Builder A (which shocked him, as he has quoted against Builder A 10 times and never been higher), and we were leaning towards Builder A since it was his plan, but if he wanted to meet with us to go over the quote, we would meet with him. We just met with him, and long story short, it looks like their prices are fairly similar, but that Builder B is actually putting even MORE upgraded stuff in his quote. His approach is to give a general quote, and then before we sign a contract, he goes out and gets quotes for EVERYTHING for the house ? SHOWS you the quotes and what his profit is and you base your contract on the suppliers? actual quotes. He is very hungry and repeatedly said he wants out business. He thinks once the actual quotes come in his price will be lower by maybe 10-15K
Now I feel super douchy because I am conflicted. I didn?t even want to meet with Builder B because we had already gone so far down the road with Builder A, but business is business. I would feel really badly about having Builder B build a house from Builder A?s plan, especially after Builder A asked us NOT to show it to people, and we agreed to not show it around. But, if Builder B is putting more expensive stuff, and is cheaper, it seems stupid not to build with him. But we have seen more of Builder A?s work. And, Builder A is local (like, lives around the block local) and he knows which lot we want to build on, so he would totally know that we took his plan and had someone else build it, and there is a good chance that we would run into him on occasion. Builder B is from about 40 minutes away, so I would never see him. Both seem like great guys. Builder B seems to be happy to make his profit based on the quote, and will not mark up any extras to make a profit on late changes. Builder A seems to have a better sense of style and what looks good, but we plan to have an interior decorator help us with stuff, so not sure if that matters as much.
Ugh. I am such a girl I have no idea what to do ? I don?t want people to look at me negatively.
Re: Conflicted!
I don't see how you can have Builder B build you the house with Builder A's plan. It seems immoral and potentially illegal.
So I would either:
a) have Builder A build the house for you
or
b) have Builder B build a different house for you (perhaps a similar plan to the original, but clearly a different plan)
I was just thinking this. I wouldn't think that Builder B would even be allowed to use Builder A's plans. Aren't plans considered copyrighted (or something similar for this situation) or something?
I agree on using builder A. I just wish I didn't know that Builder B could do it cheaper and be easier to deal with. ( I know for sure he will give us more for the same money just by going through their detailed quotes)
I totally didn't want to get the second quote. DH kinda forced my hand to do it. I felt we had to go with Builder A not matter what.
I'm sure what we will go with Builder A, I just feel bad because I really do kind of think that Builder B will do a better job and will be better to deal with.
It's just business. They win some, they lose some. Try not to make it personal.
No - I mean that I will be dealing with Builder A, and wishing I was dealing with Builder B. That is what I mean by feeling bad. I didn't mean feeling bad for Builder B