23 Jan Why Hire a Hill Country Contractor?
As a homeowner in the Texas Hill Country, you’ve got a lot of options on whom you choose to be your general contractor. Many contractors in the area service the wide-reaching area that covers the Hill Country and offer a variety of contracting services. You’ve got contractors who specialize exclusively in luxury home building, home renovations and remodels, metal building erection, masonry, fence building and more. And that’s just if you could the number of contractors who are actually based in the Hill Country. If you include those with offices in San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels and Boerne, you’ve literally got hundreds to choose from. With so many options, there’s a temptation to hire a big-city firm instead of a local, Hill Country contractor.
When it comes to choosing the right team for your project, there are a few things to consider. Luckily for you, there are several reasons to consider hiring a genuine Hill Country general contractor – like the team here at CMW General Contracting – for your next project instead of hiring one of those big city firms.
Price
One of the biggest and most important reasons you should consider a Hill Country-based builder for your next project is the simple fact that most of the contractors in the Hill Country are cheaper than those in town. While the quality is just as high (if not higher), the price can be hundreds or thousands lower, depending on the type of home remodeling or building project you’re undertaking. There can be several reasons for this.
First, a vast majority of the contractors in the Hill Country are smaller, family-owned businesses with lower overhead and smaller profit margin than those in town. That lower overhead and higher focus on community-relations leads to Hill Country contractors being more willing to take on a job with less markup than a company with 100+ employees to pay. That helps save you money in the short and long-run, and also gives you a more “craftsman” type of experience.
Additionally, many times a locally-based contractor will be cheaper than a big-city firm because of the travel expense. Hauling a crew and equipment out to Blanco from San Antonio takes time and money, and many metropolitan firms will add on additional expense to your project to cover that. When your contractor is coming from fifteen miles down the road, though, the cost is significantly lower and helps you save more money on your bottom line.
Experience
Let’s face it. Life out in the Hill Country isn’t quite the same as it is inside Loop 1604 or hanging out on 6th Street. Will all due respect to the builders from San Antonio and Austin, the landscape, building requirements, architecture and lifestyle are all radically different when you’re living in Fredericksburg, Bandera, or Dripping Springs. We just do things a little differently out here, and we like it that way.
With all those things considered, why would you ever want to let someone who specializes and practices in serving those large, metropolitan areas handle your rural, Hill Country project? Do you think they really understand the unique perspective that goes into completing a project out here? Chances are, this just simply isn’t their forte. They don’t handle as many out-of-town jobs and don’t have the day-in and day-out pulse of the community.
When you choose a locally owned and operated Hill Country contractor, you’re getting someone whose entire livelihood depends on serving the needs of the unique Texans who live out here. Not only are they more in-touch with what’s going on in styles, trends, land topography and more, they’re also significantly more experienced and specialized to handle these types of jobs. They literally handle them all the time.
Community Support
Piggy-backing off that previous point, Hill Country contractors are also great choices for your project for the simple fact that they are part of your community. The money you spend on your home renovation, kitchen remodel, swimming pool, new construction or metal building goes back into the community when you hire a Hill Country contractor. When you go with the large, big-city options, you’re really only helping some big-name CEO buy another yacht or vacation house in the Cayman Islands. However, hiring a local contractor gives piano lessons to the kid who goes to school with your kid, helps a local couple go out on a date to the local, family-owned restaurant, and allows the company to buy a new work truck from the dealership down the street.
Investing in the local economy is always a good idea, especially for larger purchases, like most construction projects. Overall, the ebb and flow of money stays in your town, supporting your friends and neighbors. Plus, because most of the contractors in the Hill Country are your friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens, they’re much more likely to take an interest in doing the work correctly and with a higher level of quality. Customers and contractors in small, rural communities tend to run into one another (and common connections) with a high frequency, so doing shoddy work or ripping a customer off is the quickest way to not only kill their reputation, but also to kill their referral business and ability to earn a living.
A contractor who’s coming from a city with millions of potential customers isn’t going to care nearly as much.
Conclusion
In short, hiring a local, Hill Country contractor is a great way to not only ensure that you get the best service and results, but also the best pricing. The quality of your job will be much higher, you’ll be giving back to the economy of the area, and you’ll likely save a lot more money than going with a bigger-name, city-based firm.
If you’re looking for help with any type of home or ranch construction, consider CMW General Contractors to be your go-to team to get the job done, done right, and done at a price that your budget can work with.