Do Your Homework!

A few months ago I read a story of several upset homeowners who had just discovered a lien had been put against their house for work done by a roofing company. The puzzling thing to them was that they had paid the roofer so where was this lien coming from? The supplier of the roofing materials had not been paid by the contractor so they put a lien on the property. Some of the troubled homeowners were fortunate to have a receipt of payment from the Contractor which saved them from having to pay for the materials used on their job twice.

Remodeling or building your home can be stressful on you, your family and your way of life. Adding to that stress would be hiring a contractor that you didn’t spend time researching their background and reputation-to only end up finding out the hard way. It cost you very little to make a few phone calls and ask around the local lumber yards to find out who pays their bills and who doesn’t, but it can save you a lot of heartache and money. We always encourage people to ask for references (of not only past customers but suppliers too!) and please, check them out. You might want to go a step further and call the Better Business Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce. Even services such as angieslist.com can be helpful as well. They have reviews about service companies posted by actual customers that can also help you in the decision making process

Unfortunately the days of a handshake being good enough are gone. Protect yourself and get a signed contract, keep records and keep all receipts of payments.

So do yourself a favor and get your homework done, so you can ace this test and avoid the stress!