The price a contractor quotes you isn’t just for your project. It also includes a buffer to cover the time they waste on all the jobs they don’t get.
Most homeowners don’t see this, but it’s the central inefficiency of the home service industry. And it’s why getting a fair price can feel like a black box.
I recently talked with Nick Giulioni of Off Leash Construction, one of the pros in our network, and his numbers confirm the model.
I’m going to break down the simple economics of how this works, why it inflates costs, and how the Neighbor Club model fixes it.
The hidden cost baked into most quotes
A homeowner and a contractor’s most valuable asset is their time.
The traditional search model often forces both to do the following:
- For Homeowners: Spending time calling, emailing, filling out forms, and asking for quotes from contractors
- For Contractors: Quoting and spending time on unpaid work that has a low probability of converting.
The numbers are pretty rough. According to Nick, the failure rate on the initial meeting can be massive.
“As many as 70% of those clients either don’t have the budget, they haven’t actually analyzed it, or they’re not actually qualified to do whatever the project is.”
– Nick Giulioni, Off Leash Construction
Think about the math. When seven out of ten of those efforts lead nowhere, the cost of that unbilled time has to go somewhere.
Contractors bake it into their overhead. The final price on the three jobs they do win has to cover the cost of the seven they lost.
So, if you’re a serious homeowner, you’re paying a “Tire-Kicker Tax” to subsidize the people who waste contractors’ time.
How joining the Neighbor Club removes that cost
Our members don’t pay that tax.
The mechanism is a simple financial filter: our members pay to join. This fee acts as a powerful signal to the contractor that the homeowner is a qualified, serious buyer.
It de-risks the engagement for the contractor before they even spend a minute on a walkthrough. They know they are dealing with someone from a pre-vetted pool.
“When we’re dealing with a NeighborServe customer, we know they’re serious because they’ve put some dollars to it… We waste a whole lot less time with tire kickers.”
– Nick Giulioni
With a 51% close rate on referrals, a warm introduction from us is a high-probability business opportunity, not a speculative lead. Contractors can engage with confidence.
The result is better pricing for you, the homeowner
Better pricing for the homeowner doesn’t come from squeezing the contractor’s profits. It comes from eliminating operational waste.
Because our model dramatically lowers a contractor’s cost of customer acquisition, they can offer you a better price.
It’s that simple!
TLDR
If you’re just skimming, here’s the summary.
Is the Neighbor Club worth $96/year to get the best pricing for any kind of home service?
✅ 100% yes, if you’re a homeowner who wants to work with high-quality pros at a fair price. You skip the “Tire-Kicker Tax” that’s baked into most standard quotes.
Hiring just one of our pros will pay for
What makes the pricing unique?
It’s not a discount. The better pricing comes from creating efficiency for the contractor. Our paid membership model pre-qualifies homeowners, which eliminates the contractor’s need to inflate their prices to cover the cost of time wasted on unqualified leads. They pass the savings from that efficiency on to you.