Looking for the Right Contractor? (3)

Date: 2011.09.23 | Category: Creative Ideas, Home Improvement, House & Home, Tips & Trick | Tags: budget,contractor,home improvement,money,neighbor,time,tips,trick

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Throughout the process, the contractor knows that you have four or five other contractors doing the same thing, and you will likely go for the lowest bid. Can you, as a consumer, even begin to understand the effect this has on the contractor?

I’m not saying that getting a couple of estimates on a job is wrong, especially when the project is a large and complicated one. I’m just saying that “calling five contractors out of the telephone book and asking for estimates” is not the best use of your time.

This is why I advocate word of mouth. You first talk to people you know who have had similar work done. You ask them to provide complete information on what the job entailed—from products, to labor, to time spent, to how the contract was written—including how well they and the contractor and his subcontractors got along and any problems that arose during the job and how they were solved.

Make sure you know the good and bad, and promise that all you are told will be held in the strictest confidence. Armed with that information, you make the telephone call to the contractor or contractors that have been recommended.

You tell the contractor up front who recommended them, you describe what you want done clearly and concisely, and you say when you want the work done. Be flexible on the time frame. If you really want this person, you have to cut the contractor some slack.