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Ok, you having a reno done to your home..


Wilbur

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4 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

The builder quote comes in at $20,000.  He then offers you a cash deal of $15, 000.  You still get all the product and labor warranties.  

Which one do you take? 

Cash.  We offered all of our contractors a cash quote on our reno and saved a bunch. 

Edit: I said that wrong… After we got the quote we asked for a cash quote and got a much lower price.

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1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

Am I likely to be participating in a crime if I take the cash offer?

No.  You paid for a service, etc...  and if you follow TK's advice you have the paperwork to prove your are in the clear.

The contractor...   if they 'forget' to declare some income, and they fail to pay all applicable taxes....  they are the ones on the hook for their forgetfulness. 

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1 hour ago, Bikeguy said:

No.  You paid for a service, etc...  and if you follow TK's advice you have the paperwork to prove your are in the clear.

The contractor...   if they 'forget' to declare some income, and they fail to pay all applicable taxes....  they are the ones on the hook for their forgetfulness. 

Yep.  It's like any other transaction.  There actually should be no difference in price but we all know why there is.

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10 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Cash, with everything in writing and signed, and proof of insurance with you named as additional insured.  Nothing up front, pay as the materials arrive on site and/or the work is completed.

Show me on the sawzall where the contractor hurt you...

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10 hours ago, Wilbur said:

The builder quote comes in at $20,000.  He then offers you a cash deal of $15, 000.  You still get all the product and labor warranties.  

Which one do you take? 

I'm confused. Is the 20k billed in increments v. 15k up front?  His cost doesn't change.

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22 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

I'm confused. Is the 20k billed in increments v. 15k up front?  His cost doesn't change.

Basically I think it is implied that the "cash" deal does not require him to report it to the IRS and he just pockets the money.  Like a weekend side job or something to that effect.  Like I said, fuck the IRS.

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10 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Am I likely to be participating in a crime if I take the cash offer?

Good question.  Criminals probably make good money, though.  Besides, what TK and BG say, your are simply making a choice of given alternatives.  Any potential crime is on the contractor.

 

Go the cash route, save a buck.

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Always cash.  I think the savings comes from avoiding working with a lending company.  It is my opinion that our contractor gave us a deal on this house, cause we were writing the checks.  Lending companies are a pain with the fund release thing, stages, etc. 

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20 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Always cash.  I think the savings comes from avoiding working with a lending company.  It is my opinion that our contractor gave us a deal on this house, cause we were writing the checks.  Lending companies are a pain with the fund release thing, stages, etc. 

True enough, but maybe the contractor doesn't want taxable income divulged to pay less child support, or some red-tape accounting trick that useful only if income falls below x dollars, or they they have reached a threshold where costs need to be increased vs. income to pay less taxes.

 

Remember, though, this is only shady when the little guy does it, not public companies.  :nodhead:

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1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

Remember, though, this is only shady when the little guy does it, not public companies.  :nodhead:

True, but another way to look at is why do only the wealthy avoid paying their share of taxes?  Why can't taxes pay for my medical coverage?   Clearly, most people will avoid taxes where they can and as Zephyr pointed out, services from taxes require taxes be paid.  Interesting dialogue.  :) 

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1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

Always cash.  I think the savings comes from avoiding working with a lending company.  It is my opinion that our contractor gave us a deal on this house, cause we were writing the checks.  Lending companies are a pain with the fund release thing, stages, etc. 

It's done because some cash can be pocketed without claiming it as income.  Were all your checks written to his company (income) or were some written as cash?

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1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

It's done because some cash can be pocketed without claiming it as income.  Were all your checks written to his company (income) or were some written as cash?

All my checks were written to the contracting company.  It is a pain to deal with lenders.  It stalls progress compared to a self finded project.  

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42 minutes ago, MoseySusan said:

Also, it’s easier to hire workers when paid in cash. 

My experiences when paying for construction with cash involved hiring a relative.  He had done some good work for my in the past so I didn't hesitate giving him some cash to purchase materials to redo the siding on my house.  He was later found in Florida where he had spent my cash pushing needles into his arms.  Cash is a two edged sword in the backmarket contractor business.

Now 10 years later it turns out that the long life shingles he roofed my house with are crap materials.  I should have turned him over to my Italian relatives back then instead of just blacklisting him.

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28 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

My experiences when paying for construction with cash involved hiring a relative.  He had done some good work for my in the past so I didn't hesitate giving him some cash to purchase materials to redo the siding on my house.  He was later found in Florida where he had spent my cash pushing needles into his arms.  Cash is a two edged sword in the backmarket contractor business.

Now 10 years later it turns out that the long life shingles he roofed my house with are crap materials.  I should have turned him over to my Italian relatives back then instead of just blacklisting him.

I use the term cash, but I really mean a check.  Mostly all my payments are initiated from my bank using bill pay option.  Our investment account has an excellent bill pay feature. 

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4 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

Basically I think it is implied that the "cash" deal does not require him to report it to the IRS and he just pockets the money.  Like a weekend side job or something to that effect.  Like I said, fuck the IRS.

If I pay with a card I will sometimes tip with cash. 

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58 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

All assfault shingles are crap. Metal, ceramic, or slate are the only long life materials.

Yup.  It would be wise to check the seals around the holes in your metal roof on a regular basis.  It is more dofficult to seal a hole in metal vs, the way you can mold those asphault shingles around a gap.  

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