A Contractor Experience

I recently had the need to hire a contractor to repair a fence on one of my rental properties. The repair was not particularly difficult, but it was going to take more time than I cared to spend on it.

Several of the posts had rotted and the fence was beginning to lean. Since this is rental property, I did not care to spend the money for a brand new fence. Besides, the pickets and rails are in fine shape. I just wanted someone to add some new posts to stabilize the fence.

The first contractor I contacted didn't want to do that. He wanted to basically rebuild the fence, and his price reflected this. The second contractor suggested adding posts before I could mention that idea. His price also reflected that level of work.

Some of the pickets had to be removed in the process, but the intention was to re-use those pickets. The contractor later called and said that they had damaged quite a few pickets and he would have to charge me a little more. When I met with him to inspect the work, he informed me that he had spent $50 on materials but would only charge me $25 extra.

As a consumer, I welcomed this news. As a consultant to contractors, I cringed. He was paying me to repair my fence.

My suspicion is that he is looking for more business in the future. He knows that I am a member of a real estate group and probably figures that I will be buying more homes in the future. But that kind of thinking will get him into trouble. If he is leaving money on the table now with the hope of future work, why won't he do the same in the future? And more importantly, he may not have a future if this is a standard procedure.