"Get three bids per trade on every project The spread between contractor quotes for the same job is far larger than most people expect — Dave Meyer received one asbestos-removal quote for $4,500 and another for $23,000 for the same 809 square feet. Henry Washington explains the reason: "Contractors don't always bid a job as if they want to win the job. Sometimes they bid the job because they don't want it." He also notes that a busy contractor may price a job $3,000 higher simply to compensate for pulling crews off other work, while a company between projects will cut costs to fill their schedule. Getting a minimum of three bids per trade — and sending a high-level written scope of work in advance to filter out uninterested contractors — can save tens of thousands of dollars on a single renovation. Source: Henry Washington & Dave Meyer, BiggerPockets Podcast, 7 Ways to Save Money When Buying Real Estate in 2025"