Are you planning a home project that requires you to hire a contractor? Do you know what to ask before you begin?
Five questions you must ask a contractor:
- How long have you been doing this kind of work?
- Are you Insured?
- Will you provide a written estimate and warranty?
- Are you a licensed and registered contractor with the state?
- Can you provide references I can contact?
Many honest, long time contractors won’t hesitate when you ask them these questions. They probably expect them and would be more than happy to answer them. A long history in the community doing the job you are hiring them to do speaks volumes and build trust between the parties. If the company you are trying to hire has a long history in your community doing great work, the references request you are supposed to ask won’t be a problem for them.
Now, if you call the references they provided, what are some of the questions you may ask?
- Are you satisfied with the work they did?
- How long ago was the job completed? Is the job holding up?
- Was the price agreed upon the final price, or were there other expenses not specified in the contract?
- Were they clean and orderly? Did they arrive on time?
- Would you work again with this contractor or company?
The secret to finding a great home contractor
Right now, renovating a home is much, much easier than it was during the real estate bubble. So how do you pick a contractor?
I recall back during the bubble how often I’d get calls from homeowners complaining they couldn’t get a call back from contractors. The frenzy around housing values going up and up and up drummed up plenty of business for contractors at that time.
During the bubble, I even heard of contractors who were so successful that they wouldn’t even give price quotes. The price would just be whatever it would be and you’d have to be in a position to pay it when the bill came due.
