Tag: hiring a contractor

Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring a Contractor. Part 2

Posted on by Julia Robertson

Decision making on design: 101. Learning from my personal success and failures working with contractors.

Decisions decisions. Being well prepared with plans, a plan B, and your vision for a project will keep the flow going. Often your contractor will bring up questions during a project that only you can decide and you’ll need to be quick on your feet to respond. For example:

Do you want flat or semi-gloss on your walls, trim, and ceilings?

What size and style trim do you want around your window?

What shape do you want on your handrail?

Do you want silicon or grout around the base of your free standing tub?

Where do you want your light switches?

Often a question will catch you off guard and you’ll make a decision that you wish you could take back! Having a plan keeps you on track. Here’s what happened to me for example- the light switch to the closet. There wasn’t a light switch on our plans. The electrician suggested it go on the right side. But after we were all settled in, we realized this light switch should have been inside the closet or on the left side of door. Its an eyesore(for me) having a white light switch on the black accent wall! At the time the electrical was roughed in, I didn’t even think about it. Now, every time I open the door I feel for a light switch on the left- but its not there. If you are in Australia and is looking for a trusted North Brisbane electrical contractors then JTC Electric is a trusted electrician that can provide you such electrician services in and around Brisbane.

It’s hard to imagine knowing everything in advance. We do our best! Living in the space makes it so much easier to visualize how you want everything to be. Here are some tips on preparing your decision making:

  1. Do have a plan. Either blueprints or hand draw a room layout.
  2. Do have a Pinterest board. Pin all your ideas, including color, furniture, light fixtures, and finishes. This may take a while, but when you have all your ideas in one place you can slowly edit your favorites and it will help you stick to your “vision” for the space.
  3. Sometimes you have to say no. You have a lot of ideas on your vision board. You don’t have to do all of them. When it comes to a budget, you may have to say no to the more expensive windows and the skylight.
  4. If you’re making decisions with a partner and disagree- get a third or fourth tie-breaker. Then you can at least blame it on someone else when it doesn’t work out. Ha! No, actually it’s great to have another opinion. They may see something you haven’t considered. Do get a third or fourth opinion.
  5. Not all contractors have “an eye” for design. I always ask my contractors opinion, but refer back to my design inspo on my Pinterest board to remind me of the direction. Do show your contractor your design inspiration. Several of the ideas we had for our master bedroom, the contractor had not done before. He conceptualized it well, but it was because we stuck to our guns about the style we were going for. Both our GC and the flooring guy didn’t like the idea of transitioning the wood floor to hexagon tile. We literally cut out pieces of hexagon on paper and played with them like a puzzle until we found a good pattern. It was a group effort. It turned out great in the end! Sometimes you can’t compromise with style 🙂

When it comes to design, it’s hard making decisions. Especially when its for your own space. I really think experience is key! If the decision making gets overwhelming, hire a design consultant. When you’re in a pinch call them and they’ll help you figure out a situation. It may seem simple, but if I had called our designer about the light switch, I bet she would’ve said “put it on the left!”

I’ve said this before, but its worth saying again– Don’t make a final payment to a contractor until you are completely satisfied. I’ve made this mistake twice! Trust me, they’ll never come back to fix those final things if you’ve already paid them.

If you have real estate questions, call me! 

Julia Robertson | Broker Licensed in Oregon & Washington

Living Room Realty

541-505-1111 | julia@rebyjulia.com

Do’s and Don’ts of hiring a contractor Part 1

Posted on by Julia Robertson

Hiring a contractor: 101. Learning from my personal success and failures working with contractors.

First I’d like to say, when you hire the right contractor- your project will be so much easier to deal with. When you hire the wrong contractor- get ready for a long, stressful, expensive process. When we started our renovation in 2015, many of the bids we received were from contractors referred to me within our broker network(other real estate agents that I know). Other contractors I hired were from “Thumbtack” or personally referred. If you have a large project, having the right mindset is #1! You can’t be passive, you must be deliberate. Here are some basic do’s & don’ts. I’m happy to share my experience with you, to guide you in the right direction. Feel free to reach out if you’re curious about the process.

  1. Do include a design plan in your budget. Having a plan is worth the extra couple hundred/thousand dollars.
  2. Do have a design plan before getting a bid with your general contractor.
  3. Do get multiple bids. Second phase of our attic/master bedroom renovation, we got 6 bids.
  4. Do ask for past client references. We are very happy with our contractor that we had a personal referral from. When I say personal, I mean- a past client that personally shared their experience with you. Hiring a contractor for a job because you like their work, “hear good things”, or another REALTOR® used them to fix something on a repair addendum- is NOT the same.
  5.  Do plan for your project to take longer than expected.
  6. Do read your contract thoroughly and look at how the contractor expects to be paid.. Biggest mistake we made with one of our contractors is not reading this fine print. We were so eager to negotiate price, that we missed our contract stated- “50% payment due 30 days after project begins…” This landscaper only worked 5 days in the first month because his crew quit and weather delays. This was a stupid oversight on our part. So many decisions are being made, it’s easy to miss something. Best situation for us was paying our contractor by cost plus. He pays all the sub-contractors directly, emails us all the invoices, then we pay him about 30 days after the work is complete. Then he takes an overall percentage for managing/cleaning/communicating the jobs.
  7. Do pop in and check on your project and ask questions. I can’t even count how many times our landscaping contractor had to re-do parts of our project. If we had brought up our questions sooner, the project would have been finished 3 months sooner and cost several thousand less $$.
  8. Do tell your contractor that you want weekly updates.
  9. Do make sure EVERYTHING you discuss is in writing. Ask to update your contract if there is a change order to remove or add a part to your project.
  10. Don’t make your final payment until you are completely satisfied. I’ve made this mistake twice! Trust me, they’ll never come back to fix those final things if you’ve already paid them.

If you’re having thoughts about buying, selling, or renovating- give me a call! I’d love to be your guide through the process. Watch for part II of hiring a contractor!

Julia Robertson

Broker licensed in Oregon & Washington | Living Room Realty

541-505-1111 | julia@rebyjulia.com

The “Money Pit”