October 21, 2023 • 12 mins
Ever wondered why the daunting process of home renovation is often a double-edged sword, exciting yet overwhelming? That's what we tackle head-on in this enlightening episode with host Jeff Trapanese. We kick off by discussing the initial hurdles you may encounter when initiating window and door installation projects. We dissect the intricate aspects of budgeting and style selection that are crucial to your project's success. But that's not all. Jeff also delves into the escalating costs of materials in recent times, emphasizing the importance of having knowledge in your corner to prevent the uncomfortable surprise of unforeseen expenses.
As we journey further, we explore the labyrinth of financing options available to you and how they relate to your unique circumstances. Whether it's cash, credit cards, Keylock loans, or other lending options, we've got you covered. We highlight the importance of considering the duration of your stay in the property and the type of property in question. We also expose the long-term implications of neglecting window installations on rental properties - from increased air conditioning workload to potential mold infestations. Towards the end of our engaging chat, Jeff provides a rough estimate of project costs, offering you a realistic expectation for your budgeting needs. Brace yourself for an episode loaded with valuable insights into your looming renovation project.
For more information call us: (954)667-3JTM or
Email us: jeff@JTMwindowsanddoors.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the JTM Windows podcast.
Designed to impress, engineeredto endure.
Here's your host, jeffTrappanyese.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Oh, hello everyone, and welcome to episode number
two of the JTM Windows podcast,under co-host Jeremy Wolfe, and
I'm joined by none other thanyour host.
We have Jeff Trappanyese.
Jeff, good to see you again,brother.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Good to see you as well.
Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So let's let's get into this.
I know when considering to do amajor home renovation project,
that process can be overwhelming, so I thought it would be
useful if you talked a littlebit about customer preparation
when considering a window doorproject, specifically the budget
(00:51):
prep side and styleconsiderations.
So please enlighten us.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
One of the major things that kind of occurs as
we're doing meetings withcustomers on the initial visit,
or you know, they're just noteducated enough and what the
process is or how much theproject can actually cost.
And I think what tends tohappen is, once they do get
estimates from their vendorsthat they're working with, they
get a little sticker shock andthey kind of make them shy away.
(01:18):
But the situation is really,you know, the material costs
have gone up tremendously overthe past few years and not what
they were five or six years ago.
So and that goes all the waythrough with, you know, not only
the windows and doorsthemselves but also the
materials involved screws,caulking, that type of stuff is
all kind of quite a bit.
So I felt it was going to be agood service to start having
(01:42):
some conversations about whatcustomers need to do to educate
themselves on the whole projectprocess so that going in they
can talk, you know, with sometype of confidence and know what
they're, you know, ready tospend or how they want to handle
the project.
So you know again, the firstbiggest thing is really
determining what their budget is.
You know what money you knowthey can put into that project.
(02:05):
Now you know again, when wehave different things going on
in our home whether it be a roof, a garage door, windows, those
types of things we're helping tofortify the home and add a lot
of curb appeal to it as well.
So which one do we do first,which one's going to have the
biggest impact on the home?
Windows and doors are one ofthe main things that I do see
that once from beginning to end,and I always tell the customers
(02:28):
hey, make sure you take yourbefore and after pictures
because you're not going tobelieve it's your house after
you're done.
So I think coming up with thatbudget of what's available for
you to spend on that project isa major importance.
So one of the first determiningfactors is obviously your cash
on hand.
You have saved up for thatproject and what access do you
(02:50):
have and liquid assets or thingslike that, versus credit cards.
Credit cards are obviously.
You know you tend to pay onaverage about a 3% markup fee to
your vendor, plus whatever thatinterest rate is going on.
So cash on hand is actually amuch better way of doing it
because, again, you're notadding more to the cost of the
(03:10):
project.
The second part of it is youknow, what financing do you have
available to you?
There's things like Keylockloans, blue acorn or lending
tree, which are differentlending companies out there.
There's also another programout there called my Green.
Again, I've said in the pastI'm not a big fan of that
program, but those are differentoptions for you to look into
(03:33):
different financing options forthat way, although I think in
the market that we have rightnow, the rates are super high.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So what would you suggest for someone, just the
average person, right as you gothrough all these different
options and I know there arequite a few grants available and
assistance programs for folksdepending on income levels
there's a lot of information outthere.
It can be very overwhelming forjust a regular person that's
doing this project.
What would be a recommendationon how to kind of parcel this
(04:05):
information and not getoverwhelmed to the point where
you're just like you know whatI'll put it on a credit card
because I can't, I can't, investany more time researching this?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Right, I think that I think the biggest, the biggest
thing to determine and again, ifyou, if you don't have cash on
hand, I would look at what thoseinterest rates are going to be
and that's whatever you, you canact.
I mean, obviously, with the,the housing market being where
it is, you use a lot more equityin the house, so he luck loans
are a great opportunity for you.
I think that's kind of whatI've been finding is the he luck
(04:36):
loans do give you betterinterest rates, probably
somewhere in the eights Withregards to, as compared to, like
blue acorn or lending tree,which gonna start in the eights
and can go all the way up to 14,and then you know why.
Green is another one, but again, that's that's.
That can be in the eights totens and that, but but if you
ever do sell the house, you haveto repay that whole value.
(04:57):
All that, that one shot.
So I Think again, just kind ofcomparing you, what your, what
your credit card rate is versusa he lock loan rate, so talking
to a bank or things like thatnature, or again those those
bigger Lending options out there, like blue acorn lending tree.
So if I any of those types ofthings.
They probably have more shortterm loans and sometimes a
(05:19):
better interest rate again,depending on your, your credit
rating With.
With regards to those grants,the my safe Florida home We've
talked about in the past is agreat program, although they
have put a pause on any new newApplications right now until
they kind of get through.
They've kind of maxed out thefunding that they've got for the
pool now.
But the Florida statelegislature is supposed to be
(05:41):
looking at re-upping it againand so Well, if your
application's in, you know, butif not, keep checking back in
the next couple weeks.
So so that's, that's part of itis figuring out again what cash
on hand do I have or what, whatfinancing do I have available
to me?
So, let's say, starbitorynumber I've got, I've looked for
(06:03):
some applications for what Ican finance for and I can do up
to a $25,000 project, just for around number.
What we want to look at at thatpoint is is this going to be a
short-term investment or along-term investment?
Are you gonna be staying in thehome for a long period of time
or are you going to be moving infive years?
Also, is this a rental propertyfor you?
(06:25):
To me that's a major questionwhy people don't feel it's
necessary to put money intowindows on a rental property.
But it's just the opposite.
I think what we find is onolder windows you get, number
one, a lot of air going out ofthe house through old caulking
seals.
So the air condition is workingmuch harder than it is.
But more importantly is, astime persists, that caulking on
(06:49):
the outside of the house driesout and stucco cracks and then
you start getting waterpenetration into the house which
leads to mold and those typesof things.
So between the roof and thewindows, I think those are two
major, important things to makesure you're upkeeping on your
rental property so as to preventmore significant damage and
costs later down the road.
Absolutely.
(07:10):
And then again, how do wecalculate?
So, now that we've kind offigured out what money we have
available to me, how much is theproject going to cost?
That's the big question.
And going into it, people haveno idea and it can be a poker
game.
It really really can be a pokergame.
I'm one, for when I ask acustomer what your budget is, I
(07:31):
want to make sure I'm kind ofdirecting them the right path of
the right product that's goingto work for that budget?
What scope of work is going towork for that budget, whereas
other guys out there may be, ohwow, if they tell me they can do
it for $60,000, then I'm goingto make sure I get my quote to
$60,000 when I can really do itfor $40,000.
That type of nonsense.
I don't think that's true.
That's fair or a good way oftalking to the customer about
(07:54):
those types of things.
But again, at the end of theday it's a poker game.
So educating the customer sothat they've got some cards in
their hand that they can workwith is more important to me.
On average, the window and doormaterial itself again the
windows with the glass and theframes and all that stuff tends
to be about 70% of the totalcost of the project.
(08:16):
On average, if you're doingcalculations in your home, an
average window opening isprobably going to run you about
$1,500 for material and labor.
So when you're startingcounting how many openings you
have and then you're about$4,500 for an average two panel
siding glass door and againthat's material and labor to
(08:38):
install it.
So those are some goodentry-level numbers to get a
rough idea of what budget youcan work up for your own home
and then how to figure out.
Ok, well, I have.
This is what the amount of thetotal project is.
Can I do it in phases, can Ibreak it up or do I want to do
it all at one time?
Doing it all at one time ismuch nicer because again you're
(09:00):
protecting the whole house.
You're only having to make sureyou do a cleaning after all the
structural work is done once,versus having to do it twice.
But again, a good contractorshould take some steps to
minimize dust going throughoutthe house.
So that's minimal.
And it also has to do with anytouch up painting.
If you're not comfortable indoing the painting, touch up
(09:21):
painting yourself and you haveto hire a painting contractor.
Sometimes you don't want to paythat twice after the fact as
well.
So those are all things takeninto consideration.
And then the last part of it isobviously the permit cost.
Depending on the municipality,a permit cost can be as much as
3% of the total project.
So if you're dealing with abigger project, a $60,000
(09:43):
project, the permit's probablygoing to be somewhere around
that $1,000 to $1,250 permitcost Interesting.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I didn't realize the permit was a percentage of the
project.
I thought it was just a flatfee.
Is that very per municipality?
No, it's a percentage.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
No, it's a very spy municipality.
So some of them are in CooperCity, cooper City runs about
like one there's certain feesand it's a total percentage of
the cost of the construction.
So they have some arbitrarynumbers $10 here or $5 there but
on average, yeah, it's apercentage of the total cost of
construction of the contract.
So that's the way it usuallyworks.
(10:18):
So again, I think, davies,solid 3%.
Sunrise can be higher, certainareas can get higher, but that's
all things that.
You can look on the city'swebsite and kind of see what
those permit costs are going tobe.
But it's always fair for budget, just to say the straight 3%,
and if it's lower than that thenthat's a bonus.
(10:41):
At that point, exactly, exactly.
So, like I said, so once you'vekind of gone around and said, ok
, well, this is what this, thisopens, going to cost me, this is
what's going to cost me.
Is that going to fit into what,what I have available?
And then we start talking about, well, if it's not, what's the
most important part to get donefirst?
Do I want to do the slidingglass doors first?
(11:01):
Do I want to get all thewindows done first?
Do I want to do the upstairsversus the downstairs or the
east wing versus the west wingof the house?
And those types of things startto come into play, and that's
kind of, I think, the mainimportant topics for figuring
out that budgetary part.
Before you even sort to thinkabout reaching out to
contractors to start finding outwhat their pricing is going to
(11:21):
be, no one you're in your mind.
Ok, this is what the projectshould cost me.
This is what I have available.
This is what I want to start totackle.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, very useful stuff makes a lot of sense.
Let's, let's do this.
Let's get into some styleconsiderations in another
segment.
I think that was good for forthis.
That was a lot of usefulinformation and a lot of people
don't realize they should bedoing all of that.
They just jump, jump the gunand call a contractor and start
start that conversation beforeanalyzing what they're even
doing.
So very, very good stuff, man.
Yeah, we'll get into the styleconsiderations, the next segment
(11:54):
.
Like I said, everyone, thankyou for tuning in and we will
catch you next time, take care,thank you, bye.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Thank you for listening to the JTM Windows
podcast.
For more information, contact954-667-3JTM that's 954-667-3586
or email us at Jeff atJTMwindowsAndDoorscom.
Welcome to the JTM Windows podcast.
Designed to impress, engineeredto endure.
Here's your host, jeffTrappanyese.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Oh, hello everyone, and welcome to episode number
two of the JTM Windows podcast,under co-host Jeremy Wolfe, and
I'm joined by none other thanyour host.
We have Jeff Trappanyese.
Jeff, good to see you again,brother.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Good to see you as well.
Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So let's let's get into this.
I know when considering to do amajor home renovation project,
that process can be overwhelming, so I thought it would be
useful if you talked a littlebit about customer preparation
when considering a window doorproject, specifically the budget
(00:51):
prep side and styleconsiderations.
So please enlighten us.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
One of the major things that kind of occurs as
we're doing meetings withcustomers on the initial visit,
or you know, they're just noteducated enough and what the
process is or how much theproject can actually cost.
And I think what tends tohappen is, once they do get
estimates from their vendorsthat they're working with, they
get a little sticker shock andthey kind of make them shy away.
(01:18):
But the situation is really,you know, the material costs
have gone up tremendously overthe past few years and not what
they were five or six years ago.
So and that goes all the waythrough with, you know, not only
the windows and doorsthemselves but also the
materials involved screws,caulking, that type of stuff is
all kind of quite a bit.
So I felt it was going to be agood service to start having
(01:42):
some conversations about whatcustomers need to do to educate
themselves on the whole projectprocess so that going in they
can talk, you know, with sometype of confidence and know what
they're, you know, ready tospend or how they want to handle
the project.
So you know again, the firstbiggest thing is really
determining what their budget is.
You know what money you knowthey can put into that project.
(02:05):
Now you know again, when wehave different things going on
in our home whether it be a roof, a garage door, windows, those
types of things we're helping tofortify the home and add a lot
of curb appeal to it as well.
So which one do we do first,which one's going to have the
biggest impact on the home?
Windows and doors are one ofthe main things that I do see
that once from beginning to end,and I always tell the customers
(02:28):
hey, make sure you take yourbefore and after pictures
because you're not going tobelieve it's your house after
you're done.
So I think coming up with thatbudget of what's available for
you to spend on that project isa major importance.
So one of the first determiningfactors is obviously your cash
on hand.
You have saved up for thatproject and what access do you
(02:50):
have and liquid assets or thingslike that, versus credit cards.
Credit cards are obviously.
You know you tend to pay onaverage about a 3% markup fee to
your vendor, plus whatever thatinterest rate is going on.
So cash on hand is actually amuch better way of doing it
because, again, you're notadding more to the cost of the
(03:10):
project.
The second part of it is youknow, what financing do you have
available to you?
There's things like Keylockloans, blue acorn or lending
tree, which are differentlending companies out there.
There's also another programout there called my Green.
Again, I've said in the pastI'm not a big fan of that
program, but those are differentoptions for you to look into
(03:33):
different financing options forthat way, although I think in
the market that we have rightnow, the rates are super high.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So what would you suggest for someone, just the
average person, right as you gothrough all these different
options and I know there arequite a few grants available and
assistance programs for folksdepending on income levels
there's a lot of information outthere.
It can be very overwhelming forjust a regular person that's
doing this project.
What would be a recommendationon how to kind of parcel this
(04:05):
information and not getoverwhelmed to the point where
you're just like you know whatI'll put it on a credit card
because I can't, I can't, investany more time researching this?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Right, I think that I think the biggest, the biggest
thing to determine and again, ifyou, if you don't have cash on
hand, I would look at what thoseinterest rates are going to be
and that's whatever you, you canact.
I mean, obviously, with the,the housing market being where
it is, you use a lot more equityin the house, so he luck loans
are a great opportunity for you.
I think that's kind of whatI've been finding is the he luck
(04:36):
loans do give you betterinterest rates, probably
somewhere in the eights Withregards to, as compared to, like
blue acorn or lending tree,which gonna start in the eights
and can go all the way up to 14,and then you know why.
Green is another one, but again, that's that's.
That can be in the eights totens and that, but but if you
ever do sell the house, you haveto repay that whole value.
(04:57):
All that, that one shot.
So I Think again, just kind ofcomparing you, what your, what
your credit card rate is versusa he lock loan rate, so talking
to a bank or things like thatnature, or again those those
bigger Lending options out there, like blue acorn lending tree.
So if I any of those types ofthings.
They probably have more shortterm loans and sometimes a
(05:19):
better interest rate again,depending on your, your credit
rating With.
With regards to those grants,the my safe Florida home We've
talked about in the past is agreat program, although they
have put a pause on any new newApplications right now until
they kind of get through.
They've kind of maxed out thefunding that they've got for the
pool now.
But the Florida statelegislature is supposed to be
(05:41):
looking at re-upping it againand so Well, if your
application's in, you know, butif not, keep checking back in
the next couple weeks.
So so that's, that's part of itis figuring out again what cash
on hand do I have or what, whatfinancing do I have available
to me?
So, let's say, starbitorynumber I've got, I've looked for
(06:03):
some applications for what Ican finance for and I can do up
to a $25,000 project, just for around number.
What we want to look at at thatpoint is is this going to be a
short-term investment or along-term investment?
Are you gonna be staying in thehome for a long period of time
or are you going to be moving infive years?
Also, is this a rental propertyfor you?
(06:25):
To me that's a major questionwhy people don't feel it's
necessary to put money intowindows on a rental property.
But it's just the opposite.
I think what we find is onolder windows you get, number
one, a lot of air going out ofthe house through old caulking
seals.
So the air condition is workingmuch harder than it is.
But more importantly is, astime persists, that caulking on
(06:49):
the outside of the house driesout and stucco cracks and then
you start getting waterpenetration into the house which
leads to mold and those typesof things.
So between the roof and thewindows, I think those are two
major, important things to makesure you're upkeeping on your
rental property so as to preventmore significant damage and
costs later down the road.
Absolutely.
(07:10):
And then again, how do wecalculate?
So, now that we've kind offigured out what money we have
available to me, how much is theproject going to cost?
That's the big question.
And going into it, people haveno idea and it can be a poker
game.
It really really can be a pokergame.
I'm one, for when I ask acustomer what your budget is, I
(07:31):
want to make sure I'm kind ofdirecting them the right path of
the right product that's goingto work for that budget?
What scope of work is going towork for that budget, whereas
other guys out there may be, ohwow, if they tell me they can do
it for $60,000, then I'm goingto make sure I get my quote to
$60,000 when I can really do itfor $40,000.
That type of nonsense.
I don't think that's true.
That's fair or a good way oftalking to the customer about
(07:54):
those types of things.
But again, at the end of theday it's a poker game.
So educating the customer sothat they've got some cards in
their hand that they can workwith is more important to me.
On average, the window and doormaterial itself again the
windows with the glass and theframes and all that stuff tends
to be about 70% of the totalcost of the project.
(08:16):
On average, if you're doingcalculations in your home, an
average window opening isprobably going to run you about
$1,500 for material and labor.
So when you're startingcounting how many openings you
have and then you're about$4,500 for an average two panel
siding glass door and againthat's material and labor to
(08:38):
install it.
So those are some goodentry-level numbers to get a
rough idea of what budget youcan work up for your own home
and then how to figure out.
Ok, well, I have.
This is what the amount of thetotal project is.
Can I do it in phases, can Ibreak it up or do I want to do
it all at one time?
Doing it all at one time ismuch nicer because again you're
(09:00):
protecting the whole house.
You're only having to make sureyou do a cleaning after all the
structural work is done once,versus having to do it twice.
But again, a good contractorshould take some steps to
minimize dust going throughoutthe house.
So that's minimal.
And it also has to do with anytouch up painting.
If you're not comfortable indoing the painting, touch up
(09:21):
painting yourself and you haveto hire a painting contractor.
Sometimes you don't want to paythat twice after the fact as
well.
So those are all things takeninto consideration.
And then the last part of it isobviously the permit cost.
Depending on the municipality,a permit cost can be as much as
3% of the total project.
So if you're dealing with abigger project, a $60,000
(09:43):
project, the permit's probablygoing to be somewhere around
that $1,000 to $1,250 permitcost Interesting.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I didn't realize the permit was a percentage of the
project.
I thought it was just a flatfee.
Is that very per municipality?
No, it's a percentage.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
No, it's a very spy municipality.
So some of them are in CooperCity, cooper City runs about
like one there's certain feesand it's a total percentage of
the cost of the construction.
So they have some arbitrarynumbers $10 here or $5 there but
on average, yeah, it's apercentage of the total cost of
construction of the contract.
So that's the way it usuallyworks.
(10:18):
So again, I think, davies,solid 3%.
Sunrise can be higher, certainareas can get higher, but that's
all things that.
You can look on the city'swebsite and kind of see what
those permit costs are going tobe.
But it's always fair for budget, just to say the straight 3%,
and if it's lower than that thenthat's a bonus.
(10:41):
At that point, exactly, exactly.
So, like I said, so once you'vekind of gone around and said, ok
, well, this is what this, thisopens, going to cost me, this is
what's going to cost me.
Is that going to fit into what,what I have available?
And then we start talking about, well, if it's not, what's the
most important part to get donefirst?
Do I want to do the slidingglass doors first?
(11:01):
Do I want to get all thewindows done first?
Do I want to do the upstairsversus the downstairs or the
east wing versus the west wingof the house?
And those types of things startto come into play, and that's
kind of, I think, the mainimportant topics for figuring
out that budgetary part.
Before you even sort to thinkabout reaching out to
contractors to start finding outwhat their pricing is going to
(11:21):
be, no one you're in your mind.
Ok, this is what the projectshould cost me.
This is what I have available.
This is what I want to start totackle.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, very useful stuff makes a lot of sense.
Let's, let's do this.
Let's get into some styleconsiderations in another
segment.
I think that was good for forthis.
That was a lot of usefulinformation and a lot of people
don't realize they should bedoing all of that.
They just jump, jump the gunand call a contractor and start
start that conversation beforeanalyzing what they're even
doing.
So very, very good stuff, man.
Yeah, we'll get into the styleconsiderations, the next segment
(11:54):
.
Like I said, everyone, thankyou for tuning in and we will
catch you next time, take care,thank you, bye.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Thank you for listening to the JTM Windows
podcast.
For more information, contact954-667-3JTM that's 954-667-3586
or email us at Jeff atJTMwindowsAndDoorscom.
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