contractors - another one bites the dust

[George P.]

so i just lost another contractor. as someone on here stated a few weeks ago, they are like a loaf of bread. they all have a shelf life. 

i tend to work with lots of insured, unlicensed contractors that of course can not comprehend that sticking with me would prevent them from having to bid future jobs.

is being too nice a bad thing? i am easy going and work with their schedule. i always pay and the checks always clear. i am compassionate and often times i get them lunches and coffees. sometimes i dont even ask them to come back and fix what they missed cause i dont want to piss them off.

i had a guy for the last 3 months that was making $15/hr and would do anything. he was late on his child support a few times and i always came through. today for the first time i told him "the tenant can not be bothered so many times (multiple items on a punch list). we need to go in there and get it done in one day". 

so he told another guy that i put "too much pressure on him and he can not work with me anymore". i was stepping on eggshells around this guy not wanting to upset him and always played by his rules even when i didn't agree...

am i crazy for being nice to guys that i'd suppose (speculating) are used to being treated like child's diaper? 

what do contractors want? seriously? feedback would be appreciated.

[James Hamling]

Originally posted by @George P.:

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

$15 hour is very low pay unless you are sweeping the sidewalk. Pay the guy, a fair wage and he will be loyal.

Joe Gore

 joe,

that's funny. i think it's fair since he was getting $10 before he met me.

 You asked for the feedback, wanted to know what your doing wrong, well above highlights the problem; you "feel" a wage that is less than half the prevailing wage is correct. Your not looking to work with contractors, you highlighted at the beginning you hire unlicensed persons, those are NOT contractors than, they are subs and you are trying to side step what you should be doing because thats probably where most or all your profit lies, not in the deal of the property but in finagling to get done what should be say 50K done for 30K by side stepping regulations and hiring overqualified desperate persons. 

Think what you want of what I'm saying but fact is I am your best friend right now because following that road inevitably ends in disaster. To have a business that can last one must have sustainable practices. That persons pay, as a contract hire, does not earn the wage, they have expenses to pay out of that wage such as insurances and taxes, registration, licensing and so on. So that $15.00 in all fact is less than $10.00 and it is just a matter of time before a installer wisens up and says "wow, id make more flipping burgers at burger king". How about compare what the construction companies are paying for that same skill level position, are they paying $15.00? Doubt it, so why wouldn't they go work there. 

If you want a quality person who will stick around, respect them, its just that simple, and that includes financial respect.