You haven't even started your renovation and you're already making your first mistake.

The very first question almost every homeowner asks a contractor is "what's the price?" And according to Jonathan and Chris, that question arrives about six months too early.

Not because the price doesn't matter. It does. But because asking it first is like walking into a car dealership and saying "what does a car cost?" You haven't told us what you're building, what's inside your walls, what your home needs, or what you actually want. And without those answers, any number a contractor gives you is a fiction. A fiction that will cost you later.

In the very first episode of BuildCast, Jonathan and his brother Chris have the conversation the renovation industry doesn't want you to hear. Why contractors who give you a price on the first visit are either guessing or setting you up for change orders. Why the average contractor margin is in the single digits and what that means for what happens when the budget gets tight. And why the fight you need to have with your contractor should happen before a single hammer swings, not after your kitchen is in pieces.

This is not a polished renovation show. This is two brothers who have been in construction and real estate long enough to stop pretending the industry has clean answers.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 The cold open that sets the tone for everything 2:20 The debate: is "what's the price?" already the wrong question? 5:47 Why renovation has no sticker price (and what to ask instead) 9:03 Is the construction industry broken by design? 13:41 The hidden cost of acting as your own general contractor 22:11 Frontier runs 28 steps before a single hammer swings 24:12 Why ballpark prices always turn into promises (Jonathan's own story) 37:12 Industry insider: the profit margin number contractors never tell you 38:46 "If we're going to fight, let's fight up front" 44:34 The takeaway: start with feasibility, not fantasy

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