I will provide verbal estimates for my clients. They are always "ballpark" type range estimates and sometimes they are "coliseum" (aah, very big ballpark) type range estimates. My clients understand that they are not hard numbers, and they are really looking for an idea of how much these things will cost because they are going to go back to the sellers and ask for some money.

As hard as it may be for us HI's to believe, most layman don't really know if we are talking about a 100's or 1,000's to repair things in the home. But then again I am not required to provide these numbers. I do it when I am comfortable (85% +/- of the time) and it does help that I spent 20+ years in construction prior to becoming a HI.

Nobody has ever come back to me and gotten upset because my numbers were off and that is not to say that they were or weren't, it's just that when people ask for estimates they are really just asking for accurate numbers they can use to negotiate with the seller.