To hire or not to hire a General Contractor? That is the question
To hire or not to hire a General Contractor. That is the question.
Does hiring a General Contractor (GC) cost you money? The short of it is yes. But the return on investment, both in the cost and value categories, makes hiring one the ultimate win for your home build or renovation.
Consider these wins a good GC brings to the table …
Expertise
When it comes to building or renovating homes, this is what a GC does every day. As it’s their core competency, hiring a GC gains you access to vetted professionals who are subject matter experts with skilled, craftsman-level techniques. This takes trial-and-error out of your homebuilding equation. Likewise, their trades are licensed and insured, and as a team, they understand the bureaucratic red tape affecting your project and have connections with industry experts for any specialty needs your project may demand. The bottom line, if you hire the right build partner, your GC will know, plan for, and address elements of your project which likely never even crossed your mind. Moreover, a good GC will be your advocate for all matters related to your project. For what’s necessary to logic-check design elements, pass code, understand cause-and-effect relationships and how decisions impact cost, and more, a GC is a friend worth having. You’ll find no better friend than SCH in this respect.
Efficiency
Time. Gain it on your project, and it equates to both cost savings and pure convenience. As home building is your GC’s day job, they will have both the knowledge and muscle to pull together a team approach for your construction process. This is especially important if you are considering a renovation project. Understanding the logistical complexities for smart sequencing, and therein, how to stack and layer your project to gain a compressed schedule, together with having the horsepower of long-term trade and vendor relationships, all this translates into leverage for a huge time win for you, even if the schedule needs to be reshuffled due to new ideas or discovered surprises along the way. Time is money. The investment you make into having a GC is your gain. We believe SCH is simply the best in the business at this.
Risk Mitigation
A good GC will not only protect their workers with proper job site safety and methods, but also protect you and what’s yours in the process. Whether it’s protecting the sanctity of your finished home areas from dust and debris to smart material and equipment staging, perpetual cleanup, or by just doing the job right, that’s peace of mind. This is a SCH specialty. Plus, working with a GC gains you a workmanship warranty for work accomplished under their umbrella, and in some cases, even additional product warranty.
Trade & Vendor Discounts
Most GC’s get vendor discounts. The history of the GC’s purchasing and workload volumes leverage this in their favor. SCH willingly passes those discounts along to you and we are happy to do so. Likewise, for the long-term relationships and volume of work a GC has with and provides for their trades, not only does that gain them incredible loyalty and priority, but discount pricing. From here, the winning only continues.
Resale Value
Having a licensed team of professionals on record for the work accomplished on your home, particularly a tier 1 builder, is simply a bonus as a great sell-point to a discerning buyer. SCH as builder is resale gold.
The Fun Factor of Freedom
Hiring a GC allows you to stand back and watch the magic happen. Moreover, it allows you to be engaged, but at a high level, rather than you having to be the boots-on-the-ground problem-solver while fighting your way through a steep learning curve. Having a GC gives you one point of contact – streamlining your communications, the financial management, etc. – allowing you to maintain your personal life without the stress of two full-time jobs. SCH brings you that fun-factor of freedom.
So in a world with HGTV, Pinterest and YouTube, is hiring a General Contractor really worth the cost? A resounding yes. It will be one of the best investments you can make into your home.
). Our talented crew is excited to once again be part of representing the Faces of West Michigan in the category of Residential Building. To read the full article, click 
