I have been getting prices from $250.00 to $ 1200.00 not including hosting
If someone offers you a web site for $250, I would say that is a stretch to call him a professional.
That's like saying if you don't charge $50.00 a shirt like Ed Hardy then your not a professional printer.
Does this mean if I start charging more today, then I am more of a professional then I was a week ago?
That is not what I said!
Yes, you can get someone in China to do it for $250 or some guy in college that uses templates from ebay.
What I meant, is that you can not get a custom built site for that much. I never messed with the templates and I would not do templates, but if you already go that route get the template and do it you self.
I thing that the saying "you get what you pay for" works every time, on shirts and on web sites.
And, be careful of "professional" web designers on Craigslist with sites for cheap.
I do not care who you will hire, just saying to be careful when hiring someone like that.