Are construction costs right?

Yesterday was the end of a long road. We just finalized our choice for a general contractor and were about to begin construction later in the week. Selecting an architect was comparatively easy, but in the end, I felt good about that long vetting process.

The bids varied enormously and it's only when I called my insurance agent to give us an insurance quote that all cleared up. Their estimate of the total cost of the house were almost right in line with the bid offered by the contractor we had just selected. The two other bids, however, stood between 30 and 36 percent higher.

Our long and arduous selection process had paid off and showed that some contractors were either padding their bids to make more money, were not as organized or simply had no clue. I would never have thought of using insurance as a benchmark, though!