When to pull the plug on current contractor

[Mohammed Washim]

After listening to the BP podcasts, I finally jumped in to purchase my first property with a partner from another state. I found a contractor through a friend's reference and went straight with him. That was mistake number #1, so ALWAYS GET MULTIPLE BIDS.

We wrote up a contract and scope of work and began and for the first few weeks, things were going smoothly then he hits me with a change order 3 weeks in, which I hear is very typical, so I didn't think much of it and gave him the money for the pertinent items on the change order. And that's when work started showing down and mind you that were agreed to a month for renovation with 50% upfront and remainder at the end. HOWEVER, as we were getting towards the end of the month, he ran out of funds and because I am an dummy, I paid him an additional payment towards the ladder half of the contract so we can stick to the timeline of a month for turnover. MISTAKE #2, STICK TO THE CONTRACT AGREEMENT, it's in place to protect you from the situation I will mention in the next paragraph.

Now, we're in mid December and im still sitting on exposed exterior and no kitchen, and a downstairs bathroom. MISTAKE #3, DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET GO OF CONTRACTOR ON FIRST SIGN OF RED FLAG, i.e. they coming to you for more money, or work showing down. So, BP family, should I continue to work with him to finish out the inside stuff or cut my losses and get a new contractor and go onto taking the current guy to court to sue him to recoup my money?