![\"find-contractor\"](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/find-contractor.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nOftentimes, I\u2019ll hear of horror stories about relationships between contractors and real estate investors. The funny thing is, I hear it from both sides.<\/p>\n
For 23 years, I personally worked in construction, and for 10 of those years, I had my own contracting company until I got\u00a0hurt at the age of 42. Today, my oldest son has his own contracting business, so I have plenty of stories and viewpoints from the contractor side.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also seen the other side, as the real estate rehabber or homeowner. Although I typically work with contractors that I have known for many, many years and I usually don\u2019t run into any problems, sometimes issues still arise.<\/p>\n
For example, there was an emergency call from one of my tenants last winter, and my property manager brought in an HVAC contractor whom I had never used previously. Next Monday, I\u2019m going to court with this HVAC contractor, who was trying to take advantage of me by charging me outlandish fees when he never actually fixed the unit.<\/p>\n
I also have a hard money deal going on right now, where the rehabber is unhappy with his general contractor, as he wasn\u2019t showing up consistently and was trying to grab the last draw and split from the job.<\/p>\n
So, sometimes you still run into these types of problems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You probably know the old saying that\u00a0\u201cthe contractors are worse than the tenants.\u201d Well, oftentimes, it\u2019s true. Many of them are pretty much cavemen, and I know this because I was one.<\/p>\n
When I had my painting company, it was a balancing act working for large builders, apartment complexes, general contractors, real estate agents, and occasionally a real estate investor with a smaller deal. As I think back, I remember that this season was the busiest time of the year. Some days, I would wake up thinking about which customer I was going to have to let down that day.<\/p>\n
It was really hard to worry about the cheapo real estate investor and his little rehab when the builder who brought us 200 houses a year to work on was on the phone.<\/p>\n
But if you\u2019re in the market for a contractor, how do you find a stand-up person who will do good work for you?<\/p>\n
Related:<\/strong> The Investor\u2019s Complete Guide for Hiring a Trustworthy Out-Of-State Contractor<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Well, there are many ways to try to protect yourself from the unscrupulous contractor. You can check with the Better Business Bureau and see if he\/she is licensed and insured. You can check reviews and try to get referrals. You can also have tight contracts with deadlines and draw schedules that enable you to inspect the work for completion and quality. But regardless of what you put in place, if you do enough volume, at some point, you\u2019re just bound to run into problems.<\/p>\n So, what else can you do to make sure the contractor makes your job a priority?<\/p>\n Sometimes, it makes sense for the little real estate guy to provide more value to the contractor besides just giving him or her a job. Maybe we can pay quicker, have the house ready, and stick to our schedules as promised. Or maybe we can be more professional and stay in communication, especially if the schedule falls behind.<\/p>\nWays to Protect Yourself<\/h2>\n
![\"contractor-commandments\"](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/contractor-commandments.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nProviding Value<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/blog_ads-01.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n