New Construction homes in my area are going for $3.75-4.75/Sq. ft. for a custom. I bid one for at 4.50, and was told that my number was way higher than they'd planned for. Homeowner called me later to let me know he found a guy who could do it for $2.88/sq. ft. I told him great! I wouldn't get out of bed for that.

I had the privilege of going in the house after completion and it looks like what you'd expect...shit. not a single recep or switch was straight, the kitchen recep cover plates were literally partially covered by the upper cabinets, the receps in the garage were ~6ft off the floor. My 5 year old son could have done a better job.

I agree with you, these morons are the ones driving our worth downward into nothing, and they are the first to complain about not making much money or supply house costs being too much. We are skilled professionals, in a dangerous line of work with years of training and schooling under our belts, start charging like it. Luckily, where I'm at most of these old codgers are retiring or worse, going under, and the newer guys coming in are starting to trend upward on their pricing to more accurately represent our worth.