All Forum Posts by: Matthew Paul

Tent the house , its expensive but if they move out it works 

 Idiots arent in season this time of year 

 The ones that go door to door looking for leads are the worst , and some of the stupidest people I have met .  How so ?  I have a utility body truck sitting in my driveway with my construction company name , with a ladder on the rack .  I am in the driveway with the aluminum brake , bending some trim for my house , and a young guy with his company shirt tries to sell me home improvements .   

I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face and asked him " Are you for real ? He asked why ?    Well maybe because what that truck says on the side , and I am here bending aluminum trim , so just maybe I am a contractor .    But no he didnt get the hint , he started back on his speech .   Finally told him to get his dumb a$$ off my drive and hit the road . 

I have seen quite a few times where the agent , the GC , and the lender all make money and the flipper loses his pants . 

And I have seen where the flipper makes a killing . 

EVERYBODY hates being bothered by cold calls . 

What " great value " do you bring ?  What is " great value  " ?

If you had a great deal , all you have to do is put it on the MLS and its gone that day .

The easiest way to never have me as a customer is to cold call me . 

Try power washing the house

If the AC works , as a seller I would say no .  Sane with an old electrical panel , as long as its safe its fine . 

Its not a new house 

Yes , investors and homeowners have been burned by contractors , BUT contractors get burned by investors and homeowners also , but that never makes the news . Thats why as a contractor we provide the customer with a detailed contract stating the payment terms and the scope of work . 

I rarely have failed inspections , but if the failure is our fault , we correct the problem at our expense . But if the inspector finds something outside our scope of work and says it must be corrected before we will pass an inspection , that is a change order and the customer pays for this .

@Tyrone Marson I hold a Md Home Improvement license . It sounds like you dont trust the contractor , if so find another one . We ALWAYS get 30% when we sign a contract . This doesnt just cover materials , it covers permits and fees , monies to cover dumpsters , portable bathroom , drawings ,ordering materials  and administrative costs, etc  in preparing for your job .                                 

    Professional contractors DO NOT use any of their funds to buy materials or cover ANY cost of YOUR job . If the money stops , so does the work .

      We get the next draw of 30% once the demo is complete and the framing materials are on site .

     Additional payment are  based on inspections , when we pass framing inspection we get another draw , sane with plumbing rough in , electrical , and HVAC . 

     Again when we get finals on those inspections we collect money again                      

             If there are any change orders and or extras they are paid right away 

        Your final payment is generally about 10% of the contract price .

Do your research , check your contractor on Md judical case search , go to Dept of license and regulations and check their home improvement license and complaints , if any .    

Read the rules and regulations about what a home improvement contractor can and cant do on the state web site . 

Here in Maryland its 1/3 down when you sign the contract . then 1/3 when the job starts , and the final upon completion .