Have you actually called them after your initial communication to ask why they are not interested, don't wait for them to come running to you if they are busy you need to do the running.

I don't know your specific area, but if 4 reputable remodelers have come on site and have not responded something is out of kilter.

Everyone is absolutely buried right now and can't keep up. No one can find good labor to build staff back up - there is far more work than there are people to do it.

What we see on a very regular basis are wonderful plans drawn up by an architect and there is no way that the project can be built/remodeled for anywhere near the homeowner's budget. We throw out a potential starting budget (not quote) in the first meeting and if the homeowners act like it's high, there is no further follow up.

If a homeowner tells us they are getting 4-6 bids, then we politely bow out and don't provide even an initial estimate as we feel we would be wasting our time.

Sometimes a contractor has good intentions of following back up, but other things come up and they don't get around to it. It can be problems on an existing project, a past client calls and wants something done (and that's a bird in the hand they don't have to chase), a great project comes up as a referral from an existing client and they feel obligated to respond quickly - it can be anything. After some time elapses, you've forgotten the details of the project and it just gets buried in the stack. At that point, one assumes you have found someone else.

There are two sources you can use to locate reputable remodelers. You can go above and select FIND PROS on the Houzz site. You can also go to NAHB.org and click on find a remodeler. I think you may have to put in your zip code.

Good luck on your project. Assuming the issue is that everyone is busy (and not a mismatch between cost to build and budget) then continue to follow up with folks and let them know that you are still interested.

I'm a bit confused here about why you are having both architect and builders work on plans when you have not yet hired a builder for the job. In my area of the US, architects draw up the plans after you tell them your budget. General contractors do not draw up plans if there is a licensed architect already working on the plans that will be used. (There are design/build firms, too, but that's not what you are using, AFAICT). General contractors spend considerable time working up a proper bid. If you are trying to get four reputable contractors to bid on the same plans, that is probably a red flag to them that they are wasting their time - after all, they have a 75% chance of losing out to another contractor. Your budget may also be insufficient for the work you have had the architect plan. Architects who don't usually work in your budget range may think they are producing buildable plans that fit your budget, but they may be far, far off the mark.

Thank you for all of your feedback.

I think this leads to my related dilemma, how do you craft a budget if you don't know what things cost? I know how much my cabinets retail for and I know how much my tile costs, but its tough to figure out the cost of pouring a foundation and framing an addition. What I was hoping to get, in initial meetings, was feedback on adjustments I can make to the architect's plans to reduce costs - yet still keep the look and feel of his design. Things like making some windows fixed panel vs awning - how much will that change effect pricing? Do I really need 3 operational windows in a 10x10 guest room? Or reducing the extension by a couple of feet - how much will that save me? And what changes can we make in order to include some things (a waterfall counter in the kitchen may be something we do if we nix the barn door in the bedroom closet - or we might do both if there are cost savings elsewhere) And, what can I do myself? But of course, we can't finish the plans if we don't know how much things really are in order to include them. And when I get a ballpark - I of course have the question as to where that is at least "coming from" - is that because I am on a slab foundation and plumbing is a nightmare or is it the material I chose for finishing? What part of their number is the construction, or the products? Or is it 50/50? And how do they know what that number is if they don't know what products we have chosen? Its an 1600sqft ranch on a slab foundation with a master suite addition and a lot of new everywhere else. I'm not expecting to get out of this for less than 150K (that is on the low end of our budget and the area our architect is supposed to be staying within). But our neighborhood can't support this type of home selling for $600K (there are several homes around us for much more, and we got our home for a value price, but...it will only ever be a 3 bedroom ranch.) So how do we tone it down - I need a builder to quote and move backwards I guess. And from the sound of it, I guess their time isn't worth it. :(

So to a non-pro, first time remodeler its just a cycle of frustration. And that darn HGTV has given me a false sense of remodel pricing (I'm no dummy-that's TV, I know it)

Once again, thank you for the initial feedback - you are the most responsive folks I've come across in this whole endeavor to date

My husband was a builder for quite a while. Some people want to hire their own subs and go for the lowest bidder in every area and complain when the work is shoddy. Some people want the builder to do everything champagne when they will only pay for beer. Most builders have a crew that does the wire, plumbing, framing, roofing, etc and he pays everyone a living wage so they can make their house payments. But many people remodelling for the first time cannot figure out why they cannot just hire the cheapest sub and save tons of money, but sadly, everyone has to pay bills and a living wage does just that.

If you had a architect draw up plans you should build them as specified what ever the cost is' he/she must have designed with your budget in mind?.....he is an architect and if he is acting as the general he will know what things cost and be entitled to a profit above your costs. That is his JOB.

So call your builders and see if they will talk to you for $200,000.00. Houses in seattle where I am living now are half a million and they aren't even fancy!

Boston is probalbly 300 dollars a square foot easy. There is no such thing as a free lunch and people who think there is are very insulting to those who know that you get what you pay for. Sorry but that is how I see it from experience.

I think apple pie nailed it on several counts. be up front with your architect on budget. Tell them what your total budget for the project is. They know from experience what their different design details average in cost to complete. a builder isn't going to want to look at a nice set of plans and then have to go through and value engineer everything the architect spent so much time putting together, then pass it back off to the architect for approval. it sounds like your dabbling a bit as your own general contractor with both the architect and builder, which is likely to frustrate and scare off both. Further, if a builder thinks your unsure of what you want, or that you want line item pricing for every detail as proposed by the plans and those proposed after the plans... That will be a red flag headache that a builder won't want any part of. As others have said, the bid process on a well documented job is daunting, the process on one where a large number of items could potentially be changed after the fact could be viewed as endless and far too time consuming to be profitable, by impeding the construction process. Hammer out the details with the architect first, then have a builder bid on the design. minor details will always get changed here and there, but the scope of changes you want pricing on is essentially a total rework of the design, priced several different ways.

Thanks for info. A few more questions to scope out the project:

1-How big is the master suite addition?

2-What other rooms will get a major redo such as gutting kitchen and existing bathrooms?

3-Will you need a new roof over the whole house or just the addition plus repairs to tie into the existing roof?

Try the homewyse site for budgetary estimates.

Cost vs Value Report from Hanley Wood is the most comprehensive cost predictor information available for consumers. It is done on a national level, by region and by city. 2016 information was published in January and can be found on the internet by googling Cost vs Value.

boston is a hot market. we've had a high end addition and a kitchen redone in the past 5 years but we were 'priced out' of a master bath redo this past fall. ($42K for a small bath, moving nothing) so we've decided to wait for the market to turn down again and everyone is a little hungrier. with a big list of waiting clients, contractors can just say a number and you'll snap it up, or not.

i'm sorry in this game of musical chairs you've been left standing. its a problem with low unemployment. a lot of times its easier to move into what you want rather than fix up something, but its a hot market for buying right now, too.

one more suggestion: RI is not a hot market, and not far away. try to find a GC from the providence area, they will drive up.

200K would be pretty low for your wish list. I think that there is a big disconnect here about budget, and that is why you are getting zero responses. Not that that is the right way to do business, but that is what you'll get from very busy professionals who get calls from those who aren't really realistic about building costs. Your described work would be in the 300K range in most hot urban markets. For a not very upper end result either.

Its been a few months since I last checked into Houzz. The design was just too grand and we couldn't justify the spend in the neighborhood. Our solution: move! Thanks for all the advice. Its been an eye opening endeavor and I have a wealth of experience to take with to the new place. Thanks again :-)

Also in Boston area. We closed on our 2400 sf condo in November, kicking off the design process around the same time with an interior designer (no architect involved). We interviewed several ID's and were told that our budget ($250) was reasonable (includes moving a kitchen, remodeling 3 baths, removing/moving walls, new marble fireplace, refinishing the hardwood, etc etc -- virtually every inch of the place is getting renovated -- as well as all new furnishings). Not included in that budget: new appliances, a couple of new windows, new HVAC as these were things we had to do, regardless.

From our assessment and in consultation with multiple real estate agents, as well as our financial advisor, that $ amount would not be over-improving for the neighborhood, but ultimately our choice was not driven by resale value as we intend to stay for at least 10 years, if not retire there. I tend to be a "stay-putter" and as such, have never made a real estate decision based solely on resale value. I have never regretted that, and somehow along the way, we've made money on our real estate investments despite not planning to. When I buy a house, I ask myself if I'd be okay if I only ever broke even on the deal. A yes answer indicates to me that I like the neighborhood and the home quite a bit and can see myself staying there for the long haul.

Back in the Fall we were told by everyone (IDs, realtors, contractors) that there was a long long long line to wait for contractors. The renovation started in early July, so yes there was a wait, but not quite as bad as what we'd been told it would be, as we were told way back in November that contractors were booked solid through the summer.

One of the major benefits of using an interior designer is that they have existing relationships: our ID found the GC for us and negotiated the bid. We then had to wait a bit for the GC to finish up another job. We then chose the option to pay 20% to the ID to execute the design, rather than us working directly with the GC to oversee execution. To us it was worth it since we are first-timers and don't know what we're doing, and seeing here on Houzz what could go wrong has been truly eye-opening.

Also it would just drive me mad having to over-analyze every single line item in the budget! That's what I pay the ID to do for me. I have a busy job and have no time for that. We know what the overall budget is and I expect the ID to keep within it, and to have the expertise to know and recommend where to economize and where to splurge. My job is to stay focused on my career, pay the bills, have faith and trust in the professionals I was smart enough to hire. :-)

what architect did you work with?