Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.
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IDEAS? OPINIONS? Join the conversation HOT SPOT / DISCUSSIONS FROM FORRESIDENTIALPROS.COM AND QUALIFIED REMODELER���S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES QR���s sister publication, Residential Design + Build, posted a new blog by Todd Vendituoli titled, ���Pondering the Next Four Years.��� Todd thinks the construction industry is in for rocky times, due in part to high unemployment and taxes and rising fuel and medical costs, all of which cut into middle class incomes. His post generated some FRP user feedback: ���I also feel that the remodeling market is going to stay down at the level we are at today in the Southeast. They are still closing places of employment, and nothing new is opening up for our young people regardless of education or skills.��� Save the Date ���Jim Wright ���Medical costs alone are going up 10 percent. I am a custom builder/remodeler of 20-plus years in northwest Florida who is happy his business is still in business. My medical insurance coverage for a family of five costs close to $20,000 per year. How in the world will we be able to enjoy any quality of life with medical costs being that much? I have not run into anyone who understands Obamacare, but it will be hard-pressed to solve this dilemma.��� ���Grant Wood ���I am much more positive about the future. It seems like housing has hit bottom and is starting its way back up ��� and soon construction will follow.��� ���GarciaCabinetmakers See Todd Vendituoli���s full blog post with all comments and add your thoughts at ForResidentialPros.com/10832741 March 25��28 Spring Training is back, and will feature four days of free webinars about marketing, exterior design, kitchen/bath design and sustainability. Shawn McCadden started a discussion on LinkedIn about Linked payment schedules that create and protect cash flow. ���Will Delta Airlines let you pay after you land? Will Dell Computer let you pay for a custom computer after it���s built? Of course they won���t! So why do contractors find themselves financing projects for their customers and then end up waiting and even begging for their money?��� Here are what some of our group members had to say: T en percent down, 10 percent final, and I usually split the middle payments into three. First payment due when I secure the permit, second payment on the first day of work and third payment halfway through the job. Always tie payments to days on the job, not the completion of a certain phase. That way there is no question of when the payment is due. ���Stephen Thompson, Hartford, Conn., area F ront-loaded payment schedules work for the trades that supply material-heavy services, such as cabinets. However, they are a real problem for GCs and, in some jurisdictions, against the law. Here we have a 10 percent holdback by law that you are not to get until 45 days after substantial completion. I usually worked with a 10 percent deposit, 15 percent on the first day of work, 10 percent holdback and the remaining 65 percent broken up and matched to milestones of start of stages. With this schedule, no client ever balked at cutting a big check because something was not yet done, not enough money in the account, etc. ���Robert Wright, Ottawa, Canada, area M ost of our payment schedules start with about 12 percent, and the succeeding payments are predicated on definite points such as ���start of framing,��� ���start of prime paint,��� ���close-in inspection,��� with the final payment of ���punchlist complete.��� Our standard procedure is 10 to 12 percent at substantial inspection and 5 percent at punchlist. We���ve been using this system for 20 years with very little pushback.��� ���Mark Scott, Washington, D.C., area Read more comments or share your own response by joining our LinkedIn group, 42 February 2013 QR ForResidentialPros.com magazine.