Pimp Your Finances

I actually disagree with Joe B. on the down payment. What I specifically recommend doing is never giving more than a 10 percent down payment on a job, even if it's big. Even if I know the contractor I want to 1. motivate the contractor to do a good job and work hard (there's not incentive if the contractor has a huge chunk of cash) and 2. I don't wan to turn over a large sum of money and get nothing in return especially if I can earn interest on the cash.

Vince

In response to #13. As a former landscape contractor, there are a lot of shenanigans that people on both sides try to pull.

1. Use a credit card so you can dispute the charges, if things go bad.
It's much easier to dispute a charge than it is to file a claim in small claims court for unfinished work.

2. Get it in writing.
Contracts are used by reasonable business people to ensure clarity and protection during business transactions. Why would you want to use a contractor who isn't willing to put things on paper?

3. Don't give deposits to bad contractors, expect to give deposits to good contractors.
Bad contractors want your deposit to pay for the material on the last job they did. Good contractors want your deposit to make sure you are serious about your home improvement project. Unless the contractor has done work with you in the past or has run a credit check on you, they have no way to know your payment history. It would be like you walking door to door and giving personal loans, kinda risky.

There are a lot of bad contractors out there. Get references and actually contact them. Check the contractors with the BBB and the state licensing authority. If they have complaints for non completion of work, or charging more than they quoted, keep looking.

It can be hard to get a contractor out, but keep calling.

Smaller contractors don't always mean lower prices and vice versa.

Well I think that is enough on contractors for one day.

Great tips! I should have thought about the fact that credit cards offer better protection.

Thanks for the inside information. I re-posted your comments ont he guest post itself.

Solid tips! There is nothing like the rush of a job well done by you and you alone!

Thanks! I've been learning a lot - both from my failures and successes.

It's a great feeling to sit down and look at a completed project that you've been working on all day.