Choosing a Contractor

So nobody told me how hard it would be to choose a contractor.

We interviewed three contractors, two of whom have experience and/or history with our particular property and one who was new to the whole project. In this economy, this process definitely is taking on a new urgency for builders. New construction is much rarer than it was a couple of years ago, and there is definitely more competition for work. Emotions were high in some cases, not only among the contractors, but also with our architect and designer. Yikes!

All three contractors had terrific references, not surprisingly. Two of the three had similar numbers and approaches to their own fees. The third would possibly be less expensive in the long run. One contractor has a personal interest in one of the two town homes we're building. Two of the contractors have more than 20 years experience in construction. One has eight. All have experience working with our architect, with varying numbers of projects. Only one has experience with our designer, but our designer could work with anyone. We have concerns about our privacy with one contractor--we're building in a small town, and he knows a lot of people and is very gregarious.

One contractor has been incredibly proactive, and one is quietly confident. One hasn't been particularly communicative. We could work with all three. They all have differing styles, but two mesh more with ours. They have all built beautiful homes.

HELP!!!

So we made a decision, and it was definitely tough between the final two. We would absolutely recommend the two we haven't chosen for consideration for anyone. We've gone with the most proactive contractor, the one who has introduced us to our daily project manager, and who we have the most familiarity--through our designer and architect--with. I'm lucky that I'm not the one who gets to deliver the news! The man will be much better at this than I, as the emotions might be high with one of our choices.

This part has been stressful, though we're honored to have had such excellent choices. So tomorrow we should be able to move forward, solidify numbers and let the fun begin!

phew.