How to Compare 3 Contractor Bids: What Most Homeowners Miss
You did it right. You got three bids. Now you are staring at three very different numbers, sometimes tens of thousands apart for the same project, wondering why.
The common advice is "go with the middle one." That is too simple. And it can cost you.
Why three bids can still lead you astray
Three bids all above market still means you overpay.
Three bids on work that is not actually the same are not comparable at all.
The trick is knowing how to weigh them against each other, and against a fair price.
Step 1, make sure the work matches
Before you compare prices, confirm all three are bidding on the exact same work. One might include tear-out and hauling, another might not. One might include permits, another might not. Differences in the work explain a lot of the price gap.
Step 2, look at the itemized breakdown
A bid broken out item by item is far easier to compare than one lump number. If any bid is just a single number, ask for a breakdown first. You cannot compare what you cannot see.
Step 3, check the materials
One contractor might be pricing higher-quality materials, another mid-quality. Make sure the materials are equal quality before you compare prices.
Step 4, check labor
Labor varies by company size and overhead. A bigger company with more overhead costs more. A solo pro might come in cheaper, which is not automatically bad. Just understand why.
Step 5, check the deposit
California caps the deposit at 10% or $1,000, whichever is less. Anyone asking for more upfront is either uninformed or using your deposit as their working cash.
What a working super would do
Look at the bids with a different eye. Knowing what labor should cost in the area, what materials run, and which lines are usually padded.
That is exactly what YouSuperIntendIT gives you. Upload your bids and get a working super's itemized read that tells you which bid is actually fair, not just which one is in the middle.
The cheapest bid is not always wrong. The most expensive is not always better. What matters is what each bid includes, and whether the price is fair.
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