Sandbridge Real Estate Net

Keeping Your Beach House Costs Under Control

Over paying by thousands of dollars is more common than you would believe. The range of prices that homeowners pay for virtually the same thing is amazing. A big part of what I do is meeting with homeowners to discuss how much their house would sell for in today’s market. These conversations sometimes are eye openers.

Overpaying for one time home improvements or recurring annual services seems to occur for two broad reasons.

The first reason paying too much for “the best” product or service.  Paying double or triple versus the cost of  “average”  usually isn’t  a good move financially. Avoid this pitfall by asking: Will the “best” really last 2 or 3 times longer? Will a future buyer want to pay 2 or 3 times more for basically the same thing? Get another estimate from a competitor, don’t lead them into only suggesting “the best”.

Not getting competitive bids is the second reason for over paying. Look carefully at your big recurring annual bills. Have you asked your vendor to revisit your account, can they give to you the same service at a lower cost? They may have a new supplier who can save you money.  Get a quote from a new supplier.

Wouldn’t you rather spend those same dollars on a dream vacation?   Every year!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Buyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.