How Do YOU Find Good Contractors?
Brandon TurnerPro Member
Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votesHey folks,
I'm working on a blog post for BiggerPockets called "How to Find a Great Contractor" and I'd love some community input!
So... how do YOU find good contractors? What's your best tip?
(answers may be used in an upcoming post and/or possibly in an upcoming book...)
***UPDATE: The post is LIVE that I've been researching for! http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/03/14/how-to-find-a-contractor/ ) Thanks everyone for your input! Look for the book also that this will be part of sometime this summer :) ***
I think one of the best advice ever given (and I'm sure I heard it here on BP) was to ask another contractor who they like to follow. So if I was looking for a good person to put up drywall I would ask a painter who always sets him up to make his job easier to finish. Anywhere along the supply chain you should be able to locate the best person to do the job based upon the work being done.
Also another great way that I've done is to visit supply houses and ask the guys who work there who they'd have work on their houses. That gives incredible insight as to who really understands what they do for a living based upon the people who service them.
many people have a different idea about what a good contractor is, some may feel a good contractors is one who has good prices another might feel that a good contractor is one who does quality workmanship, while another may feel it's all about reliability. Find out what you want in your contractor, maybe all of the above? Do your due diligence read reviews talk to referrals, interview contractors, years in business, do they live nearby? How long have they lived nearby. Look at pictures of their work, what do they specialize in and why? Do they have employees or do they use subcontractors? Are they licensed and insured? Or other subcontractors licensed and insured? I hope this helps!
I'm a contractor and I know contractors have a bad name. References are good but making sure you are both on the same page is better. A true contractor is always going to give good quality in his work if he loves the job. When it comes to time, staying in communication with them is great but sometimes you find out extra problems while on the project that holds up work and you can't control mother nature. I don't know if I give the cheapest price but I charge my clients as if I were the consumer of course without making my company bankrupt!!! Lol. Now as far as dress code, I'm usually doing the work myself so I'm not always the cleanest. I love my job so I like to get down with the crew and my crew love me for it. (Sorry I'm not a pencil pusher) I let my wife handle that and even she likes to get down and dirty. Until I am too old to work or hit the lotto or even become a million dollar investor, I'm trying to build my company's name. James Cook Construction where our company's motto is We build our company with integrity.
I am a plumber by trade and I would definitely agree that you "get what you pay for".
Good contractors feel it's hard to find a good investor to work with as well. Don't be demanding when you find a good contractor. Be realistic. You pay them to be the "subject matter experts". So we need to make sure that as investors we are listening, not just trying to stick to our timetables.
I have worked on numerous remodels in the past and I would say the biggest problems I run into with investors in my area is the " know it all mentality".
You want a contractor with a great rep and work ethic? Make sure your reputation shows the same.
Just my two bits.
GOOD, CHEAP AND FAST, You can only pick two!!
If a contractor is good and fast he wont be cheap.
If hes cheap and fast he wont be good.
If hes good and cheap, he wont be fast.
I was a contractor for 22 years. I dealt with a lot of subs contractor. The most important thing in hiring a contractor is the ability to control him. But that is only part of it. This may sound funny but, I look at his marital status, financial status, his health, his momentum in business and I call his supplier to see if he pays his bills on time. Of course a good contract. I use an AIA form.
I was consider a premium contractor in certain areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan for many years. Than, in 2010, I was sick for 6 months, the doctor couldn't figure out what the problem was. It turn out to be Lyme Disease. I was sick for many years after that. I was not the same contractor I was before I got sick.
At the end of the day you need to look at the fore mentioned item regularly.
I think you should help Brandon work this blog. Right on!
Contractors, also talk about investors the same way investors talk about contractors. It is very difficult to get good investors as clients. Investors that pay on time, give good direction, know what they want, don't change their mind in the middle of the project, etc.
Exactly, beating up a contractor on the price will only get you "change orders" after "change orders".
i have tried every approach in the book and every approach I have come accross to motivate contractors. I have been at HD at 6-7am multiple times. I have stopped and talked to guys working on the job site. I have tried everything and it simply does not work.
I always pay on time and checks are NEVER bad. I have even paid before the job is 100% done and gotten burned because of it.
I do "know it all" because i have done it myself many times before and know how it needs to get done.
I have met them with excel spreadsheets of the scope of work. I have marked items that need to be completed. I have given clear directions. I have used the same guys so that we "do what we always do"!
I tell them i do not want to keep going through contractors and hate interviewing new contractors if i am happy with the current one. I don't keep them busy 100% of the time, but i call them often. I truly have done all the suggestions that ANYONE has come up on BP threads. it does not work! it might work for 1-2 times, then they see you as a walking wallet.
it's all the well known problems with these guys:
- when they get comfortable, they start increasing prices.
- they promise they will be there and don't show up.
- they come and waste my and their time and never get a quote
- they complain that the job is too small
- complain the job is too big
- when they get a portion of the payment they don't come back because another job showed up
- they quote $12 for laying down tiles that are $.85. Yes, i know how long it takes to prep it!
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
@Seth Sherman
Honest Investor = oxymoron. No such thing.
It works both ways. I could tell you all sorts of sob stories about dishonest investors. Like the developer that decided it was cheaper to pay his lawyer than pay me, and actually had the balls to look me in the eye and say it. Or the other developer that had an outstanding invoice of 50k that he decided he didn't want to pay right now because his property hasn't produced any income, but how happy he would be to loan me a $1000 at 15% if that would help. Or the multiple investors that needed me to eat a change order because they didn't budget for it and it would take away from their profits. It works both ways.
If you had a bad experience with contractors, well it was probably your own fault by not being upfront with scope of work, payment terms, how change orders are handled, or trying to use the absolute cheapest price you could to maximize your profit.
i have tried every approach in the book and every approach I have come accross to motivate contractors. I have been at HD at 6-7am multiple times. I have stopped and talked to guys working on the job site. I have tried everything and it simply does not work.
I always pay on time and checks are NEVER bad. I have even paid before the job is 100% done and gotten burned because of it.
I do "know it all" because i have done it myself many times before and know how it needs to get done.
I have met them with excel spreadsheets of the scope of work. I have marked items that need to be completed. I have given clear directions. I have used the same guys so that we "do what we always do"!
I tell them i do not want to keep going through contractors and hate interviewing new contractors if i am happy with the current one. I don't keep them busy 100% of the time, but i call them often. I truly have done all the suggestions that ANYONE has come up on BP threads. it does not work! it might work for 1-2 times, then they see you as a walking wallet.
it's all the well known problems with these guys:
- when they get comfortable, they start increasing prices.
- they promise they will be there and don't show up.
- they come and waste my and their time and never get a quote
- they complain that the job is too small
- complain the job is too big
- when they get a portion of the payment they don't come back because another job showed up
- they quote $12 for laying down tiles that are $.85. Yes, i know how long it takes to prep it!
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
Next time choose the highest bid and everything you said will be the opposite.
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
Next time choose the highest bid and everything you said will be the opposite.
oh, you mean the guy that measured the rooms of 1k square foot house with a lazer, which took him 30 mins, and gave me $3k quote?
Or the guy that wanted to charge $6500 for changing the subfloor of a 900 sq. ft house?
Or the guy that had a "special application" that told him he should charge $48 for changing a 3 prong outlet to a 2 prong outlet (per outlet)?
Oh, those guys... I get it now.
Contracting is just such a tough business. I work with contractors every day, and I honestly don't know why anyone would even want to be a contractor. The ups and downs can be unbelievably extreme, and the game for them can change drastically from day to day. Consequently, I've always found it very interesting how differently contractor "A" might perform from one job to the next. "Vetting", as mentioned above, to the extent that you can do it, is all you can do, so do it. However, your "vetted" contractor might not perform as expected.
The other general problem is that few professions contain more intentional misinformation that general contracting, and, of course, real estate... ;-)
@Seth Sherman
Honest Investor = oxymoron. No such thing.
It works both ways. I could tell you all sorts of sob stories about dishonest investors. Like the developer that decided it was cheaper to pay his lawyer than pay me, and actually had the balls to look me in the eye and say it. Or the other developer that had an outstanding invoice of 50k that he decided he didn't want to pay right now because his property hasn't produced any income, but how happy he would be to loan me a $1000 at 15% if that would help. Or the multiple investors that needed me to eat a change order because they didn't budget for it and it would take away from their profits. It works both ways.
If you had a bad experience with contractors, well it was probably your own fault by not being upfront with scope of work, payment terms, how change orders are handled, or trying to use the absolute cheapest price you could to maximize your profit.
agree to disagree. i have dealt with contractors of all varieties (big companies, small individuals, licensed, not licensed, expensive, cheap, know it alls, wants me teach them how to do things) and only a couple universal truths have emerged in that time. 1. the construction materials are identical between all of them 2. they all need constant babysitting or something will be done in an inappropriate manner.
Angies list has worked well for us. In our area there are a significant number of choices in every field.
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
Next time choose the highest bid and everything you said will be the opposite.
oh, you mean the guy that measured the rooms of 1k square foot house with a lazer, which took him 30 mins, and gave me $3k quote?
Or the guy that wanted to charge $6500 for changing the subfloor of a 900 sq. ft house?
Or the guy that had a "special application" that told him he should charge $48 for changing a 3 prong outlet to a 2 prong outlet (per outlet)?
Oh, those guys... I get it now.
Yep. Guaranteed your experience will be the opposite of all the chaos you choose to set yourself up with instead. Bust open the wallet, hire qualified professionals, they are out there. However, the problem for investors is really that the truly best contractors even if you wanted to work with them, simply won't work for investors, they know the drill, they know what a waste of time it is to spend the time it takes to meet them, put bids together, only for the investor to hire Hose A and Hose B because they promise you a "Berry, berry good prize!" You won't get to hire the best, but you can definitely hire very good professional contractors if you're willing to pay what it takes to get a professional.
And of course Hose A and Hose B end up being a total cluster F***, and if gives the investor another whoa is me story to tell, but they will leave out the part of how they brought it on themselves, that they had better qualified contractors to choose from but they eliminated them because their prices were higher.
There is no secret to finding good vendors, good vendors don't hide. They are easily found, they have websites, lettered company vehicles, employees with company shirts, know how to use computers and email, have phones that they answer in the company name, not "Yez, diz is Hose A", they have reviews online.
They DON'T hang out at Home Depot at 6:00AM. Professionals order supplies from supply houses not Home Depot.
I did not read through all the responses, so forgive if I repeat.
BECOME THE CONTRACTOR BY GETTING YOUR LICENSE.
On paper. In reality, what this allows you to do is control the flow of your "subs" because you handle the job in its entirety.
This is great to take a % on all work completed to put back into your pocket or "save" - however you look at it. We are able to save a ton by purchasing materials for a job and buying down multiple quotes on labor.
Example: 14 Square roof on a rancher in NJ.
Contractor average quotes (full job) - $5000
Us as Contractor: $2000 Materials. $900 Labor. - $2900
$2100 saved on the roof. Multiply this over an entire job.
I am a contractor, and know first hand how not only good work, workers & subs are hard to find. I will say this, i don't like surprises on site, i've seen more bad deals with referral from friends (who got a better deal,etc.) My kids won't do my soliciting, they shouldn't wrk till they're ready. And church is for your day off and not working. The deal should speak volumes.
I can see why so many think we're like lawyers. Its tough, self employed, i spend a lot of time finding the best deals, putting together estimates, meeting people, completing the leg work for the potential to be working 9-5. While still completing jobs, fighting over inspection percentages, the people can't imagine that its a 110% investment for our company, many nights working upwards of 16-18 hrs a day, still maintaining a life outside of work.
But truly just by talking with your contractors and knowing what subs they use or need, if you're investing - you know that contractors who talk the talk, actually might be able to handle the walk.
My investors don't micromanage our work, cause that's why they hire us. I don't charge what i should, but i work a lot. So get to know your contractors, listen to them, we want to show up for work and be happy and yes we're human, not everday is blue skys and rainbows.
Hi, As a Realtor and as a Home Owner, I can tell you it is almost impossible to find a reliable, skilled, honest Contractor to complete a job on schedule and with excellent work. I suggest you consider signing up at Home Advisor.. this is a great place for Contractors to connect with Home Owners and you should get a lot of business. Good Luck,
Referrals, referrals, referrals. I've found the best employees and contractors come from referrals, so I look for them whenever I can. A good way is to ask investors at your local REIA who they use and if they would offer a referral. Of course, Craigslist, Angie's List, yellow pages and things like that can work too, but it's more of a crap shoot.
i have tried every approach in the book and every approach I have come accross to motivate contractors. I have been at HD at 6-7am multiple times. I have stopped and talked to guys working on the job site. I have tried everything and it simply does not work.
I always pay on time and checks are NEVER bad. I have even paid before the job is 100% done and gotten burned because of it.
I do "know it all" because i have done it myself many times before and know how it needs to get done.
I have met them with excel spreadsheets of the scope of work. I have marked items that need to be completed. I have given clear directions. I have used the same guys so that we "do what we always do"!
I tell them i do not want to keep going through contractors and hate interviewing new contractors if i am happy with the current one. I don't keep them busy 100% of the time, but i call them often. I truly have done all the suggestions that ANYONE has come up on BP threads. it does not work! it might work for 1-2 times, then they see you as a walking wallet.
it's all the well known problems with these guys:
- when they get comfortable, they start increasing prices.
- they promise they will be there and don't show up.
- they come and waste my and their time and never get a quote
- they complain that the job is too small
- complain the job is too big
- when they get a portion of the payment they don't come back because another job showed up
- they quote $12 for laying down tiles that are $.85. Yes, i know how long it takes to prep it!
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
Great subject. Being a newbie I have been wondering about this for a while.
I think answers to this question are going to vary widely based on different geographic areas and markets. I'm in Leominster, MA a city of about 45K people about an hour west of Boston. In my area, contractor referrals are easy to get and any work I do is typically done with contractors I find through word of mouth referrals. I see a lot of people on FB asking for referrals and I see a lot of people suggesting Angies List but in my opinion, the best source is ask those you trust. I have great relationships with local contractors based on common connections we share. I don't think there is any substitute for picking up the phone and asking somebody for a referral.
i have tried every approach in the book and every approach I have come accross to motivate contractors. I have been at HD at 6-7am multiple times. I have stopped and talked to guys working on the job site. I have tried everything and it simply does not work.
I always pay on time and checks are NEVER bad. I have even paid before the job is 100% done and gotten burned because of it.
I do "know it all" because i have done it myself many times before and know how it needs to get done.
I have met them with excel spreadsheets of the scope of work. I have marked items that need to be completed. I have given clear directions. I have used the same guys so that we "do what we always do"!
I tell them i do not want to keep going through contractors and hate interviewing new contractors if i am happy with the current one. I don't keep them busy 100% of the time, but i call them often. I truly have done all the suggestions that ANYONE has come up on BP threads. it does not work! it might work for 1-2 times, then they see you as a walking wallet.
it's all the well known problems with these guys:
- when they get comfortable, they start increasing prices.
- they promise they will be there and don't show up.
- they come and waste my and their time and never get a quote
- they complain that the job is too small
- complain the job is too big
- when they get a portion of the payment they don't come back because another job showed up
- they quote $12 for laying down tiles that are $.85. Yes, i know how long it takes to prep it!
maybe it's just me since i am the common denominator. Maybe they are all great, hard working, craftsmen and are just misunderstood.
did i mention i can write a book on this topic?
i went to HD for a week in desperation of finding a contractor that wants to work. that was suggested by @j scott and it was one thing i had not tried.
Did i mention that i pick up the materials and everything is at the house and all they have to do is show up and do the work? so they have no overhead.
I really dont want to continue this conversation - it's pointless and it will not acomplish anything. as i have said, i have tried every approach that anyone can EVER suggest.
yes, the problem is with me and they are saints. let's just leave it at that.
I am unsubscribing from this topic. my blood pressure is up because of it.
Unsubscribe to the topic if you like @George P.. My comments were not aimed at you personally. I am simply saying if one finds the same issue coming up over and over than perhaps one needs to look at oneself as the problem. Not an insurmountable problem just a change in attitude or expectations. No personal attack intended.
A contractor is only as good as the direction he or she gets from the owner.
Beware of guys with too much flash. Trucks with fancy graphics and without a scratch or a ding inside the bed is a bad sign.
Study the signs of narcissism, and look out for those kinds of guys. So many of them in this business. They are the guys who come in, and after talking to them, you feel like they crapped in the yard, peed on all four corners of the house, and tried to "F" your old lady. They usually want to put a sign in your front yard too.
Skills are very important in a contractor, but so is the ability to control them.