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.
- Do include a design plan in your budget. Having a plan is worth the extra couple hundred/thousand dollars.
- Do have a design plan before getting a bid with your general contractor.
- Do get multiple bids. Second phase of our attic/master bedroom renovation, we got 6 bids.
- 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.
- Do plan for your project to take longer than expected.
- 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.
- 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 $$.
- Do tell your contractor that you want weekly updates.
- 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.
- 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
