dealing with contractors

[Mike M.]

Looking for advice on how to deal with my handyman/contractor. He is good at bringing me inside info on deals in my market. He is doing this in hopes that I will have him do the rehabs. Problem has been the quality of the work has been below par and he doesn't seem to want to be bound by any timeframes on completion of work, especially smaller jobs. He's always prioritizing his other workload. What is an effective way to straighten out this relationship without blowing it up?

[Todd Brittingham]

You need to be clear with him on your expecations. Let him know that you are running a business here, and if the expectations of quality work and timliness cannot be achieved then he will not get your work.

Furthermore, since you are running a business, another thing you should definitely consider is to put everything in writing in the form of a contract. This is standard operating procedure I have with all my contractors whether it's the first job they're doing for me or the 100th. In this contract I clearly state the scope of work, and that they will not be paid until work is completed to satisfaction. Furthermore, I always have a deadline listed in the contract with penalties if the work is not completed on time. For instance, if a job is going to take 1 week to complete, I normally will give the contractor 2 weeks...this will allow for any small delays. However, after the 2 week period is up, I will charge the contractor a penalty of $50-100 per day (depending on the size of the job) for every day they are late.

I have never had to enforce this clause, but it is very effective in getting jobs completed on time.

Good luck...hope this helps!