All Forum Posts by: John Bodrozic

i have been using Pinterest for about 2 months. It's strengths are aggregating visual content, either uploaded by you or "Pinned" from other websites which could be your own, but predominately are others. You create boards with themes, and then pin pictures to those thematic boards. The social bit is like twitter, where you can follow other peoples pins, and others can follow your pins.

We did at HomeZada as a way of curating ideas for common home improvement projects. So for kitchen remodels, or bathrooms, or anything, we have pinned different styles to give people inspiration for different design styles.

I image as a real estate investor, it could be a visual way to show before and after pictures and have a different board for each of your properties, and then use the social bits to drive awareness of what you have done.

looks like a realy good mobile app for the residential real estate market. being the real estate software industry , I wonder about what the right strategy is when it comes to mobile only apps, or web only apps, or company's that web and mobile integrated together.

It seems to me with the domain of the homeowner, or home investor, a combination of mobile and web apps are appropriate. the use case for a mobile app is when visiting a home, or property, or shopping for home improvement products, mobile makes sense. But, managing a home or deciding to buy a home has multiple dimensions to it, and the screen size and the ability to see multiple things is limited with mobile apps. My sense is people want to sit down in front of a bigger laptop or desk monitor and assess in a web user interface their overall multi-dimensional research.

mobile user interfance, bigger browser user interface, or both?

@George P.
I have worked with residential and commerical contractors for over 20 years. My overarching advice is the more organized you are in planning out your project, and the more clear and upfront you are with expectations with your contractor, the better the relationship. Being a contractor is a challenging business, because you deal with material and supplier issues, tools and equipment issues, quality of labor, safety, inspectors, and even weather conditions. Here are some ideas to get you organized, so your downstream relationships with contractors is better.

1. Determine the scope of your project. Know what materials you want. Know what brands you may want. Develop your designs and rough specifications. Don't piece meal stuff and keep changing your mind. Develop a budget for yourself.

2. Screen through reference checks 3 to 5 contractors. Once they pass, share your design and specifications for them to bid on in terms of price and time to complete. It is easier to hold them accountable to their own schedule. Hold them to lump sum quotes, as opposed to hourly time. Hourly time makes sense when the scope is unclear, which is why step 1 is so important for you.

3. Develop your contract and payment terms. The payment terms may depend on the size and length of the project, but probably fall into two categories.
a. Progress payments. Agree to pay every two weeks or once month based on the value of what has been installed to date, unless what has been installed is wrong.
b. Take the total value of the project, and withhold 10% retention until the project is completed to the original design, specs, and your sign off. This gives the contractor a reason to complete the job to get the remaining 10%, and it protects you in the job is not completed completely, you can terminate the contract for non-performance, and you still have 10% of the original contract in your pocket to hire someone else to finish it.