Rental Property Investor · Chickasha, OK · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 33 votes
Hi BP world! I love real estate!! I have been investing for a little over a year and have two rentals and am currently doing my first flip. I have got 3 quotes on replacing the electric wiring on my 2100 sq ft 4 br 2 bath house in Oklahoma. It already has the 200 amp service breaker box. My question really revolves on the varying quote prices and if anyone has any advice or suggestions about the 3 quotes. The first quote came in 27k, the second was 23k and the 3rd was 13k. I was having a hard time finding electric contractors but managed to get three quotes after some time. The first two seem to be more of a commercial electric companies and the third I am really not sure what is the majority of there business. I will say the third definitely seemed more hungry and willing to work with some of the nuances of the house. Has anyone experienced this type of spread on quotes before. Any look outs I should be aware of? Thank you all in advance for listening to my first post. Super excited to hear your responses!
Hi BP world! I love real estate!! I have been investing for a little over a year and have two rentals and am currently doing my first flip. I have got 3 quotes on replacing the electric wiring on my 2100 sq ft 4 br 2 bath house in Oklahoma. It already has the 200 amp service breaker box. My question really revolves on the varying quote prices and if anyone has any advice or suggestions about the 3 quotes. The first quote came in 27k, the second was 23k and the 3rd was 13k. I was having a hard time finding electric contractors but managed to get three quotes after some time. The first two seem to be more of a commercial electric companies and the third I am really not sure what is the majority of there business. I will say the third definitely seemed more hungry and willing to work with some of the nuances of the house. Has anyone experienced this type of spread on quotes before. Any look outs I should be aware of? Thank you all in advance for listening to my first post. Super excited to hear your responses!
Brock Hoffman
Did you get a detailed scope of work from each one so that she can compare the quotes to make sure everything is the same?
Hi BP world! I love real estate!! I have been investing for a little over a year and have two rentals and am currently doing my first flip. I have got 3 quotes on replacing the electric wiring on my 2100 sq ft 4 br 2 bath house in Oklahoma. It already has the 200 amp service breaker box. My question really revolves on the varying quote prices and if anyone has any advice or suggestions about the 3 quotes. The first quote came in 27k, the second was 23k and the 3rd was 13k. I was having a hard time finding electric contractors but managed to get three quotes after some time. The first two seem to be more of a commercial electric companies and the third I am really not sure what is the majority of there business. I will say the third definitely seemed more hungry and willing to work with some of the nuances of the house. Has anyone experienced this type of spread on quotes before. Any look outs I should be aware of? Thank you all in advance for listening to my first post. Super excited to hear your responses!
Brock Hoffman
Did you get a detailed scope of work from each one so that she can compare the quotes to make sure everything is the same?
Hi BP world! I love real estate!! I have been investing for a little over a year and have two rentals and am currently doing my first flip. I have got 3 quotes on replacing the electric wiring on my 2100 sq ft 4 br 2 bath house in Oklahoma. It already has the 200 amp service breaker box. My question really revolves on the varying quote prices and if anyone has any advice or suggestions about the 3 quotes. The first quote came in 27k, the second was 23k and the 3rd was 13k. I was having a hard time finding electric contractors but managed to get three quotes after some time. The first two seem to be more of a commercial electric companies and the third I am really not sure what is the majority of there business. I will say the third definitely seemed more hungry and willing to work with some of the nuances of the house. Has anyone experienced this type of spread on quotes before. Any look outs I should be aware of? Thank you all in advance for listening to my first post. Super excited to hear your responses!
Brock Hoffman
Did you get a detailed scope of work from each one so that she can compare the quotes to make sure everything is the same?
He should be providing them with a detailed scope of work he needs done if he wants it apples to apples. Not so detailed as to tell them how to perform the job, but detailed enough that they are bidding the work he wants/needs completed.
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
6y
$13k sounds very cheap for that work but without knowing the scope of work, it is hard to say. The $27k sounds high. Do they need to cut drywall to do all wiring or will that be done by others or already open to the studs? This detail makes a big difference for a full home re-wire.
One should be concerned with the extremely low bids and the highest bids. Typically, not always, the bid in the middle is your best bet, but again, this is generally speaking, not always.
Real Estate Broker · Salt Lake City & Oklahoma City · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
@Brock Hoffman, this is a common occurrence for sure, and when you are walking commercial contractors and residential contractors through the same project you’ll get vastly different numbers. However, in keeping with what @Will Barnard and @Brian Pulaski said above, you’ll want to provide them with a Scope of Work, so that they know exactly what they are quoting.
In OKC one of the things I have seen happening too much is for “hungry” companies to underbid (largely because they are hungry precisely for the reason that . . . They don’t know what they are doing yet) and then adjust the budget throughout the project. That’s the best case. The other case is that they just stop showing up one day because instead of coming to terms with the fact that they over promised and can’t deliver, they ostrich it and peace out.
You’re close enough to OKC that I think you’d be able to get any of the reliable venders here to come down. PM me if you’d like for me to connect you with my two go-tos . . . They shoot straight.
Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
6y
Are all 3 licensed contractors? For a project of this size, you will want a licensed contractor and likely will be required to use a licensed contractor. In Ca (my market), all larger cost items require a license.
Can anyone at the local REI Meet Ups provide a reference? Similar, local realtors, brokers, and PMs sometimes can provide good references.
Next you can verify the companies through various sources such as BBB, Yelp, Angies list, etc. You do have to worry about bogus reviews, but it is better than nothing.
Hopefully you are requiring permits as this likely is legally required. I am not typically impressed by the permit inspections but again it is better than nothing.
Assuming that all 3 contractors come out of the above similarly, there would be no reason to not go with the cheapest but what you may find out in doing the above is that there is a reason the cheapest is the cheapest. Sometimes you get what you pay for but other times you find a good value.
WorldWide · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
what is wrong with the current wiring? are we talking good 'ol 2-wire situation or knob and tube? the panel might be 200 amps, but what about the actual service wire running to the house from the pole? i, too, have a local electrician from chickasha i can refer if you'd like.
Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
It really depends........ you may be getting over bid by a commercial companies that don't really want this job......and you may be getting under bid by a company that has no idea what they are doing and it will cost you 2-3x more to fix their bad job.....
I'd try to get more bids from residential companies, and get a full scope of work bid.... then try and vet their reputations......
Rental Property Investor · Chickasha, OK · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 33 votes
6y
@Brian Pulaski
Hi Brian! I totally agree a scope of work would have been a better approach so all three would have an exact written idea of the work I wanted done. I am learning lots on this flip. Thanks for the input.
Rental Property Investor · Chickasha, OK · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 33 votes
6y
@Victor S.
Hi Victor! It is the good old 2 wire from the 50’s I believe. It’s not knob and tube but does have the porcelain wall stub attachments. There wasn’t any wires running to the breaker box or a meter when I got the house due to the power being off several years. We got the wires attached back after pulling a permit and getting an electrician to get service up to date with the existing wiring. That company was the first quote. I’d love to get a reference for chickasha. Thanks!
Rental Property Investor · Chickasha, OK · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 33 votes
6y
@Kevin M Finley
Hi Kevin! I was thinking about 10k-12k on my estimates when I did my budget but I didn’t have any real experience so was just using some numbers from a book I read. Thanks!
Hi Will! The walls are opened up and the attic has plenty of roof as well as a large crawl space under the house.
That being the case, your 2 upper bids seem high for the wiring since the panel is already upgraded. I would expect this to be under $20k, but not too much under that. Of course your area may have different cost factors.
Rental Property Investor · Chickasha, OK · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 33 votes
6y
@Ned J.
Hi Ned! Thanks for the input all good tips. I have been trying to get residential electrician to help out but there isn’t a lot in that town and some of them are hard to reach or don’t call back unfortunately. I had to source a couple quotes from companies in OKC. Contractors have been my biggest struggle in this flip. I did end up working with an awesome plumber though!
Surveyor · Dothan, AL · Member since 2014 · 425 posts · 391 votes
6y
@Brock Hoffman
I would expect 13-15k. Maybe less if you find a company that needs a little something for one of their crews to do. Get more estimates. I'd avoid the lowballers.
Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2016 · 716 posts · 313 votes
6y
I have gutted wiring on 3 houses most were around 1200 Sq. ft, I hired a hand to pull the wire a licensed electrician to set the panel and wire the panel up. I get it done much cheaper, I am on the job checking everything out daily. This comes down how easy can the they access wire to pull.
Gutting a wire job on a house means cutting holes at rate top of the ceiling to access the old and pull new wire .and many other holes in drywall. So, is your quote fixing the drywall holes?
It is shockingly expensive, most charge by the hour to pull the wire because they are not sure how much work they may get into. That price is around $120 per for an electrician in my area to work.
If they work in the hot summer, they charge more to be in hot attic, do it during the winter time a tad cheaper possibly at least in attic work.
You need to ask questions, make them show they are licensed make them prove it some companies say they are licensed and have never been licensed. Insurance is a biggy too again make them prove it. I have seen bogus paper work I called the insurance company found out they let the policy expire.Making them get a permit !!
Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 102 posts · 181 votes
6y
@Brock Hoffman
There is no universe that a 2100 sq ft house should cost 27k to wire.
Electrical contracts look like this:
1. Service 25%
Panel install
2. Rough 50%
Switches
Outlets (outlets are any opening)
3. Trim 25%
Installation of lights/fixtures
In Chicago you can find licensed electricians owner operators working at 55 hour. Electrician plus helper now you're at 85/90 per hour but the helper usually pulls wire for the electrician cutting the time down by 30%. If you go to a contractor you'll pay 40% more than with an owner operator.
A house your size with no demolition should be 12-13k.
If you have any demo- he has to pull wire or open walls the price can accelerate quickly but a new install shouldn't be more than 12-13k.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 34 posts · 25 votes
6y
Hey @Brock Hoffman
My w-2 job is as a union electrician and most of the advise you are getting is mostly accurate.
A commercial contractor will generally be 30% more than a resident contractor. They generally have more overhead and their employees generally are trained to handle more. A residential electrician here is a 2yr apprenticeship vs a 5yr apprenticeship for someone who is doing commercial/industrial work. Hence the difference in cost.
Without having a detailed scope of work it's very hard to get an apples for apples quote. Even in the commercial world with detailed scopes quotes will be wildly different.
A small shop that only has a few guys and is busy may give a large quote on a job that they dont want. If they get it they will figure it out. On the other hand an owner operator who hasnt had a job for a few weeks may work on a tighter margin to get a job. That guy might also give you a low quote and hammer you with overages or extras half way through costing you more than the others anyway. A commercial estimator is also going to over estimate vs a guy who does residential quotes for a living.
Best thing you can do is get an exact scope of work and get re quoted. You should get quotes with a smaller spread.
Some difference in cost can come from one company expecting you to supply materials and another supplying their own.
Honestly unless you have some higher end fixtures, even 13k seems high without the service in the scope.