When you have a home improvement project, how do you go about finding a contractor?
Question: When you have a home improvement project, how do you go about finding a contractor?
Deward Knapp's post on LinkedIn.com •
From the consumer's point of view, not being in the industry, they are simply looking for somebody they can trust. This is based on the premise that the consumer is doing homework or research rather than looking for the cheapest or fastest 'con'tractor.
In my experience with interviewing over 400 homeowners personally, they appreciate the time we take to speak with them about there experience. Generally, the answer to the question, "How did you meet the contractor?" will be based on pure word of mouth. The problem I have is the probability that the quality contractor I am calling on behalf of -- oftentimes was not the first person the homeowner hired. Over 30% would say that they had hired a friend or a family member or another word of mouth contractor who did not turn out to be qualified or trustworthy. That is alarming. Sure, that is the 'impression' the public has about fly-by-night contractors, but then why do they hire them and why would anybody refer them to their friends or family?
I see a fundamental flaw in the word of mouth system. Even if I trust my friend to be my friend, I do not trust his understanding of contractors (unless she is one -- and a professional). Let's face it, we all go out every day to educate the consumer on what to watch out for when deciding on a new relationship... yet many people feel perfectly fine setting their friends up on blind dates, too.
Be careful, and open your eyes!
Do not go into any contract, blind.
My big three criteria before hiring any contractor would be:
Properly licensed
Properly insured
Properly screened references (both customers and General Contractors or Subs)
Do your homework or have a professional do most of it for you.
From my architecture days, the answer to this question generally came down to an interview period that coincided with the reviewed bid proposals. It was worth a full day to interview 3-5 contractors who would spend the next 8-18 months working on a custom new build. What is one day worth to make sure that you are not walking into a 2 year relationship with somebody you cannot stand to be around for an hour. Get to know them as a person rather than what their bid pack says. Then relate that to their experience.
It is a process; as are all relationships.