Dealing with contractors

[James Dainard]

One of the most common questions I get from my clients is, "What do I do when my contractor doesn't call me back, and doesn't show up to finish the job."  I did an entire webinar series on how to deal with contractors.  Just wondering from the BP community, what questions do you have about contractors? How do you deal with contractors when they don't show up for the job? 

[JD Martin]

Generally referrals. Once you have a good sub, you start asking for names. Good people are usually reluctant to give out names of people that they're either unfamiliar with or think they do shoddy work. All of my best people came as referrals, except the first guy (HVAC) who was new in the market and I decided to give him a shot. He worked out well, became my HVAC guy for all my properties, and his referrals have generally worked out well. 

Guys usually know other guys (guys is gender-neutral where I'm from NYC area ;)  ) that do a good job because they're working along side them or behind them, and get to hear the scuttlebutt regarding how they were as workers.