We’ve done a lot of our home repair projects ourselves. In fact we typically are do it yourselfers. Usually because we’re pretty handy, and usually to broke or cheap to pay someone else to do it. Although there are some areas we never do like plumbing and electrical work.
But then this year happened and we ended up hiring out more than expected. The biggest money saver though was asking for a referral from a friend and joining up with our neighbors for a bigger “project” and discount.
Our insulation was quoted at $1800, but since we got our neighbors to do it, we were given a discount of $150 to $1650. Not bad for just telling our neighbors how great the deal was! And yes you have to use a “Certified and approved” contractor to get the 75% cash back rebate. Our neighbors got the same deal, and didn’t have to hassle with negotiating or meeting 3 different contractors.
Our painter had done a friend’s place and we could see the quality of his work for his price. It wasn’t the cheapest, but when all was said and done, he did fantastic work. And we rehired him for more work, and he is willing to give us another discount.
Finally, our painter referred our HVAC guy and again we got a discount. He quote came in a little under our lowest quote. Probably because we were referred and he needed the work.
I’m not saying this always happens, but was a very unexpected perk for us and in some cases, pushed us into doing a lot more repairs than we budgeted because these projects came in cheaper than expected.
Have you found the referral discount to be worth it when doing repairs to your home, car, or health?
2 responses so far ↓
1 JoeP // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:22 am
I’m a little wary of entering into discussions with a contractor who says something along the lines of, “Since you were referred by Mike, I’m giving you a 5% discount.” I guess I have to trust that he is really giving me the discount, and I normally don’t have too much faith that contractors are trustworthy until I’ve personally worked with them. I think the only time I’ve verified a referral discount was when we were sitting down hammering out the contract, and I brought it up and saw him do the discount on the spot.
Most of the time, any discounting is done through negotiation: cash deal is a plus, off-season work when things are slow, me prepping the job site (e.g., removing and reinstalling molding and doors, moving appliances and furniture for new floor, etc.), and general haggling. Most contractors I’ve worked with are open to some pricing give and take.
2 LAL // Nov 13, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I noticed I don’t get a lot of give when I ask for a cash discount. Seems like the people I want to use are in high demand. Their services are slim picking. ugh.
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