It's kind of like a mechanic...sure, lots of other places can change your oil but if one gets done quickly, provides good service, and doesn't overcharge you, then stick with them. 

The site Wht'sWht helps you find local consultants which build out the scope of your projects making sure you know the In's and Out's so you don't get overcharged.

Over finishing, undiscovered issues, over charging contractors is exactly where much of the profit goes on bad or low equity investments. 

Also, they have over charged on legal fees to do evictions, they have "forgot" to collect the additional rent when it increased, supposedly for 3-4 months, then suddenly found the additional rent they had collected when I was ready to file a complaint.

You need to check with your state laws concerning the matter as over charging can create hefty liabilities for you. :)

well I think Bill Gulley just might agree that charging MARKET RENT and an extra OPTION PAYMENT monthly of $200 instead of over charging rent might be the way to go.Brian

I want to be able to reach my manager within at least 24-48 hours (obviously weekends excluded unless emergency), be able to rent out my place in a decent timeframe, knows the market, experienced, sends me monthly statements in a timely manner, has a good business history/references and does not try to overcharge for repairs or nickle and dime me (administrative fees, filing fee, rent deposit fee) and so on.

I figure that if there's a dispute over charges to the tenant's deposit later on, the certified letter as well as earlier emails on the subject would satisfy a judge that the tenant had delayed submitting the checklist long enough to undermine its validity.The tenant's delay then actually would seem to work to the advantage of the landlord.

And of course, there are the high bids that are predatory in nature, overdoing things or just overcharging for whatever they propose to do.

Unfortunately I have little to no experience in this field and I would really like to become a little more knowledgeable and gain some experience before I start a rehab project.From all the stories I've heard of contractors overcharging for exorbitant amounts of money/stalling projects and draining money I feel as if the one thing I'm really lacking is knowledge in construction.