Vetting out a contractor for investment property rehab

[Mike MacDonald]

I am a new investor and seeking to network with fellow investors, realtors, lenders, as well as general contractors. I have a background in construction but definitely use contractors each time I get into purchase agreement on a property to obtain the surest data regarding rehab costs. Using multiple resources seems somewhat excessive. On the flip side, I get to ensure that money I am using (mostly HML) is used to the best use available. I have certain questions I ask every time I speak to a new contractor, and I appreciate taking time to get to know each one I speak with. Experience with investor type rehabs and SOW, timeframes, license and bonded, previous projects that had problems that they worked through and how, as well as workload are all subjects I bring up in each conversation. In vetting out contractors, it often takes working with them on a project to truly know how they work and the best you can do is trust your instinct. What do you do that works well to vet out (interview) contractors?