suggestions on estmating software

[Northern timber]

Hello I am new to the forum and I am moving from just suppling timber frame to general contracting. It has been 10 years since I did a turn key home. There are so many software programs to chose from and such a variation in price. The Bid4build looks good as dose the tutle creek. Any comments would be much appreciated. thanks

[Rich]

I'm currently using EasyEst with a couple of their add-on modules. It only does estimating and takes quite a bit a time to set it up the way you want it. After that's done I can literally do a whole house bid in about 40 minutes.
The Bid4Build and Goldenseal (Turtle Creek) software is more than just for estimates. I've heard good things about them in the past and looked at them when I was getting setup - IMO if the software has the features you want go for it. As far as the estimating system or methods - that's where I had difficulty fitting with most programs and where I though EasyEst was the simplest to modify to my way of estimating.

[Northern timber]

Hello Rich.
Thanks for the info . Years ago my plumber would say ,base the estimate on $50 per hole, or drain. Today it is a whole new ball game, so much choice and newer systems to chose from. Our clients have almost always extended their budgets by not setteling for standard systems or materials to go with our product. At the end they think our homes are very exspensive. They all seem to make money selling them though. In our area the market was down for almost ten years and now we have a real shortage of sub trades:D :D . It can take weeks for a quote and if you want to use stucco instead of vinyl siding you need to take a number for a spot on the quotation backlog. Some of the programs offered nationally based rates on estimates of labor and materials. How much would you rely on these figures? I have clients who need an quote on a plan for their bank on a time table that will not start for six months. I will not give them a quote which dose not help anyone. I gave a client a verbal guestimate on an install ten months prior to the job. Which he turned into a quote and it took us one year and two and a half days in court to get our money which was only 25% more due to drastic site issues. I have rambled and I am new to this forum , thanks for anyone listening.

[Rich]

I personally think the production rates and costs from a national index are unreliable. Only you know what your costs are. For some areas they might be spot on - but highly unlikely that they would fit all places or all companies.

[MCC]

I Agree With 'rich' No Matter What You Use You Need To Build Your Our Cost Data Base. We Use The Same System In Different Parts Of The Country And If We Were To Use The National Data Base With The Location Multipliers They Provide We Would Be Hurting Ourselves. We Have A Database For Each Area We Work In Complied By Our Costs.