Find a Contractor and Avoid These Red Flags

The quest to find a contractor is as much about realizing what to avoid as it is about knowing what you want. A homeowner new to the concept of hiring people to work in their house is unlikely to know what seemingly innocuous traits are in fact red flags. You can learn by experience—which can be expensive—or you can learn from the experience of others. Laws in many states have been enacted with the desire of cracking down on scam artists, but they remain out in force. Here are some of the things you should know to avoid.

Pressuring Tactics

If you want to find a contractor who will make you proud, it's going to take some time. You'll need to do your homework. It's hard to do that homework when you have a salesman calling you every afternoon at your office and at home, wanting to know if you've made your decision yet. If the pressure gets to be too much, dismiss the company in question. A company of this nature knows that deciding who to hire is a choice that can't be made easily. High pressure tactics don't make it any easier. If they are so desperate for your business, you have to wonder why they don't have customers lining up outside the door.

Cash Payments

Do not even think of doing business with a company or individual who insists on being paid in cash. Furthermore, do not pay a company in cash, period. Having a paper trail, whether it be through check or credit, is a powerful tool should you need to make a dispute down the road. It also provides you with the proof necessary should they come back later and claim they weren't paid enough. Don't worry about missing out on a great deal by turning down a company that insists on being paid under the table. It's better to spend a bit more and have everything done in a professional manner and it's certainly not hard to find a contractor who can do that for you.

Door to Door Sales

There may have been a time when hiring someone who showed up at your door was a relevant and accepted way to find a contractor. Those days are long over. While not every company that uses this method to solicit customers is a scam, almost every scam will use this method. Therefore, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by dismissing them out of hand. A good company will focus their advertising efforts through more conventional avenues.