How do you vet a new contractor before hiring them?

Question

Hey everyone, curious how experienced investors decide whether to trust a new contractor.

Do you rely on referrals, reviews, licenses, a small test job, or something else? And what’s the biggest red flag that makes you walk away?

Would love to hear what’s worked for you. Thanks!

Matthew Morrow · Answer

@Matteo Scali small test job. References and a license check are the baseline, but you learn the most watching how someone handles a little job before you hand them a big one. My biggest red flag is how they act before they have the job: slow to call back, no clear written scope and price, late to the walkthrough. If it's like that now, it won't get better once they have your deposit. Good luck building the list.

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Matteo Scali this is a super important question and it doesn't just apply to contractors. How do you know that a lender is any good? An electrician? A title company? Anything? Even if they do have 20 years experience...how do you know really? And while nothing is foolproof the most consistent method of finding good vendors is relying on OTHER real estate investors that have worked with those vendors. This is why we network with other real estate investors - kind of like what you are doing here!

So, let's try some local real estate meetup groups. Meetup.com is a good resource for those but some of the groups will also post here on Bigger Pockets Marketplace too. Even facebook might have some good local groups for you. Some of those facebook groups have thousands of members. The priority is consistent recommendations from active investors. Oh, eventbrite too. But post locally for this. That’s the best bet.

Jared W Smith · Answer

These are all good points.

Having been working with contractors for close to 20 years, I can generally see a bad Contractor a mile away. I want to see what their current projects look like. I will vet contractors on behalf of my clients, so it cuts out the learning curve and jargon miscommunications with laypersons. Cut right to the point of the project and their qualifications. So I want to speak to their past clients but also the architects and/or engineers whom have worked with them too. Usually gets to the bottomline quickly.

Matthew Morrow · Answer

@Bruce Woodruff good point on references. Nobody hands you the name of the client who was unhappy. The unsolicited ones from other investors have been worth a lot more to us than any list a contractor gives out. Appreciate hearing it from the contractor side.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

@Matthew Morrow has it right, pay close attention to how they conduct their business before they get the job. That is a huge clue! Of course, check their license/insurance/bond status, any black marks, suspensions, etc...?

And, as a Contractor and Investor, I can tell you that the referrals that the Contr gives you are pretty worthless. No Contr is going to give you a bad reference. Of course, if you get an unsolicited referral from a friend or fellow investor, then you're probably good-to-go.

And what @James Jones says is all good. I'll add this - if you get a Contr that asks for NO money up front, then you are golden. Any decent Contr should have enough money and enough confidence to take on ANY size job without seeing any money upfront. I used to insist on that just to make the customer fell comfortable...it always blew their minds when they'd ask 'how much up-front'? and I'd say 'nothing'....

Jeremy White · Answer

Matteo, ask for references and a license and insurance number, and look up the contractor's license with your state board. Then check the city permit record on your own property before the scope is final, since open permits or past unpermitted work change what a contractor can legally do and how long it takes. Do you look at the permit history on the property before you get bids?

Willson Dinayen · Answer

Matteo, the part of vetting most people skip is the boring paperwork round, and it is where the real red flags hide. Before I ever schedule a test job, I ask for three things: a current COI (with me listed as the certificate holder), a W-9, and their license number. Not references — documents. How they handle that request tells me almost everything. A contractor who sends all three within a day or two runs a tight operation. One who stalls, sends an expired COI, or pushes back on the W-9 is showing me exactly how they will handle invoices, change orders, and warranty issues later. I treat it as part of the vetting, not admin after the decision. Biggest red flag that makes me walk away: paperwork excuses. ‘My insurance guy will send it next week,’ ‘I only have the old one, it is basically the same,’ or a COI that lapsed two months ago. If a contractor cannot keep their own documents current, they will not keep your project organized either. The test job matters, but I do not even get to the test job until the paperwork checks out.

Ametria Chaney · Answer

Matteo, great question — contractors make or break more deals than the numbers do. My checklist: verify license and insurance yourself through the state board, don't take their word for it. Ask for references, but specifically from other investors or agents, not just homeowners — an investor will tell you how they handle draw schedules and delays. Get every bid line-itemed so you can compare apples to apples, and never pay a large deposit up front; draws should follow completed, inspected work. And start every new contractor with a small paid test job before handing them a full rehab. How they communicate and show up on the small job is exactly how they'll act on the big one. What kind of projects are you lining up in Westchester?

Alberto Labrada · Answer

I pay close attention to negative Google Maps reviews and recommendations on Nextdoor when considering someone new through our brokerage. With recommendations, I check whether the person actually hired the contractor and whether they have any connection to the company.

One unhappy customer doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story, but repeated complaints about poor workmanship, unfinished work, or poor follow-through would make me hesitant to refer that contractor to a landlord, especially if those complaints are recent.

Vladimirs Veiss · Answer

What worked for us: split the job into milestones with an agreed photo list for each, so the first milestone becomes the test. Did they show up when they said, are the photos complete without chasing, does the work match the scope sheet line by line? If stage one goes sideways, you've lost one stage, not the whole job.

Before that, check license and insurance (in Florida that's the DBPR lookup) and ask for a reference from a job that ran into a surprise behind a wall. Anyone can give you a happy client; how they handled the surprise tells you more.

Red flags I'd walk away on: a large upfront payment not tied to materials you can see on site, or pushback on having their work photographed.

How do you vet a new contractor before hiring them?

How do you vet a new contractor before hiring them?

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