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The week I started charging a fee for every single change request from a real estate client
I used to eat small tweaks like moving a wall 2 feet or swapping fixtures on a house plan for free because I thought it kept the relationship smooth. Then last August one client asked for 11 changes across 4 weeks and I spent 20 extra hours with zero pay. How do you decide which changes are small enough to cover and which ones need a new invoice?
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vera_green692mo ago
The real question is why we treat our time like it's free until it becomes a problem. Here's something nobody talks about - charging per change actually makes clients more decisive and you end up with fewer revisions overall. When they know each click costs something, they suddenly figure out what they actually want before calling you. The trick isn't figuring out which changes are small enough to cover, it's teaching them that every change has a cost even if you don't always collect it.
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perry.jesse2mo ago
Realtors are basically the only people who charge by the hour but act like construction is a buffet, and @vera_green69 nailed it.
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ryan_hart382mo ago
I had a client once who called me about changing the backsplash tile three times before we even poured a single bag of concrete. She was sure about it until she saw the invoice for the first change order, then she suddenly knew exactly what she wanted and never called back about it again. I think vera_green69 is onto something about decisiveness - I've noticed the same thing with homeowners who want to move walls once they see the framing go up. It's like the checkbook makes them stop and think real hard about whether they actually need that extra 2 feet of kitchen space or if they're just bored.
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