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114. Key Things You Should Look For When Interviewing Contractors
In this episode of The Real Build, I answer a very important question that was messaged by a listener of the show. What should you look for when interviewing builders? This one came from Meredith who listens to the show. Meredith and her husband are in the process of renovating a home. I wanted to share my thoughts on this topic because not a lot of people know how to go about selecting a contractor.
It’s a big investment and people worry about being screwed. So here are some key things to focus on while selecting a contractor:
1. Experience - how many years have they been in business.
2. How many projects have they done?
3. TRUST – do you feel you can trust that person. You get to know your contractor in the beginning stages. We as humans learn whether we can trust people usually after a couple of meetings
4. Can you see some completed projects and also projects they are currently working on?
5. Ask for referrals. Not a small list of 1. Try and see how many they will give. I usually give 10.
6. Look at Google reviews.
7. Do you click with the builder and his team? It's not just the builder you will be dealing with.
8. How do they handle payments? Is it month to month? How will they confirm the work is done before payment is requested?
9. Cost plus or fixed price – What are the markups on overages for fixed costs?
10. How many walkthroughs will there be with the builder so you can stay updated? We currently do one every couple of months or sooner depending on the client.
It's important to do the walkthroughs to stay on the same page when things are so custom. Keeps our team in line.
11. Does he give you a list of featured items included in their estimated cost?
12. Warranty? How long? What's covered and what's not? What if something happens that shouldn't after warranty?
13. A clean job site is a must.
14. Project time frame? We are in a tough time with material issues. –
15. What's their expectation for completion time?
16. What does there Selections and schedule of selections to be made. The more you have picked out upfront always helps with the process. But use the builder's suppliers.
17. Do they offer in-house design help with selections?
If you have a question reach out and get it answered on a future episode!
CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
▶︎ YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxAdSxHN0dIXZPhA-6p1HYA
▶︎ INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/imbillreiman
▶︎FACEBOOK| https://www.facebook.com/billy.reiman
▶︎ LINKEDIN | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-reim...
▶︎ TWITTER | https://twitter.com/ImBillReiman
▶︎ WEBSITE | https://www.rkreiman.com
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By Bill Reiman | @ImBillReiman
4.9
6969 ratings
In this episode of The Real Build, I answer a very important question that was messaged by a listener of the show. What should you look for when interviewing builders? This one came from Meredith who listens to the show. Meredith and her husband are in the process of renovating a home. I wanted to share my thoughts on this topic because not a lot of people know how to go about selecting a contractor.
It’s a big investment and people worry about being screwed. So here are some key things to focus on while selecting a contractor:
1. Experience - how many years have they been in business.
2. How many projects have they done?
3. TRUST – do you feel you can trust that person. You get to know your contractor in the beginning stages. We as humans learn whether we can trust people usually after a couple of meetings
4. Can you see some completed projects and also projects they are currently working on?
5. Ask for referrals. Not a small list of 1. Try and see how many they will give. I usually give 10.
6. Look at Google reviews.
7. Do you click with the builder and his team? It's not just the builder you will be dealing with.
8. How do they handle payments? Is it month to month? How will they confirm the work is done before payment is requested?
9. Cost plus or fixed price – What are the markups on overages for fixed costs?
10. How many walkthroughs will there be with the builder so you can stay updated? We currently do one every couple of months or sooner depending on the client.
It's important to do the walkthroughs to stay on the same page when things are so custom. Keeps our team in line.
11. Does he give you a list of featured items included in their estimated cost?
12. Warranty? How long? What's covered and what's not? What if something happens that shouldn't after warranty?
13. A clean job site is a must.
14. Project time frame? We are in a tough time with material issues. –
15. What's their expectation for completion time?
16. What does there Selections and schedule of selections to be made. The more you have picked out upfront always helps with the process. But use the builder's suppliers.
17. Do they offer in-house design help with selections?
If you have a question reach out and get it answered on a future episode!
CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
▶︎ YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxAdSxHN0dIXZPhA-6p1HYA
▶︎ INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/imbillreiman
▶︎FACEBOOK| https://www.facebook.com/billy.reiman
▶︎ LINKEDIN | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-reim...
▶︎ TWITTER | https://twitter.com/ImBillReiman
▶︎ WEBSITE | https://www.rkreiman.com
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