As I was mentioned in this thread I did have long conversation with Robert and he sent me a mountain of back up on his research and cost analysis which to me at first blush look in line with what I am used to seeing in less expensive markets..When I was building infill in Charleston SC I would wonder out to suburbs where DR was building and I could not even build the homes for what they were retailing them for..

In my experience, having done 3 live-in lips with most of the work being done ourselves and a few things hired out, no contractor asked for any portion of payment up front, and for the most part, I had good experiences with just about everyone.

I usually tell people now a days to be a bit discreet about letting everyone know where the markets are at (loose lips).

After getting into the rehab, we found that our partnering property owner had purchased a "pig with lip stick". 

I have agents who throw me business if they know it's something I do.You need to get on the phone with people and have that 20 min conversation that covers some business, some personal, some chit-chat and by the end of that if you've dealt with enough people you should have a decent feel for whom you're dealing with.I can say as a loan officer, I treat every loan like my life depends on it because I know if something goes wrong it is going to be on me whether it's my fault or not because I am the face to face with the borrower so any bad news is delivered through my lips. 

About a year after the flood, we moved and we took up 2000 sq ft of flooring and piled it up in an unheated detached garage for storage and then about 6 months later relaid it on a cement slab in an apartment; other than some minor chipping on the lips that made the install a little harder, the stuff was like new.