Unresponsive Contractors and Trades
Introduction:
A lot of homeowners are frustrated and unmotivated to complete their renovation projects due to unresponsiveness from their favorite, referred, or new contractors they have reached out to receive an estimate or even start a project after a deposit has been made.
What to Look out for when hiring a contractor:
Homeowners are always nervous on hiring any contractor due to the horror stories they hear from their coworkers, family, or friends. But why is the industry the way that it is? Is it that contractor are not hungry? not enough time in the day to care? or simply not professional enough to communicate efficiently?
A few things to look for before hiring a contractor:
Response times: When a you as the homeowner reaches out via email, facebook, or any other platform, it is important to see how consistent their response time is, not only when they answer within seconds the first time you contact them, because most of the time it is automated. But also monitor the first few time you are in touch with them and how they answer to your questions. We also need to make sure we are giving the contractor sufficient time to answer due to contractors always being on site managing projects, on the road serving other customers, or at the store buying and receiving materials.
Interview: Before you hire a contractor, a homeowner should interview the contractor with any questions they may have and monitor how they respond to the questions and see if their demeanor stays positive.
Budget: As you receive your estimate, how confident are you in the numbers you have received, are they preliminary budget that may end up being 30-40% higher when its all said and done? or is 5-10% which is normal due to unforeseen condition and changes of designs.
Schedule: Once you are at the final stages of the budget and interview process, make sure you work a schedule that is part of the contract prior to starting the work, so both parties are on the same page. Start and finish dates, when different contractors will be entering and completing their scope of work. That will give you a better way of knowing when each progress invoices will be coming due.
Lastly, we all have a budget to stay within, and we want to make sure you get the best out of your money, but if you receive multiple bids and you find the lowest price very attractive, you need to make sure that everything was covered and clarified, estimates should be very close in and not all across the board, a 5-10% is normal and you can make a final decision based on the result from the above tips and tricks.