Questions to Ask When you Interview Handyman

I'd love to hear what anyone else had to add. But I'm curious, what do you mean when you ask if they "mark up" their supplies/materials? Thanks - your friend, Steven.

make sure they are insured. They may burn the house down.

Steve skinner: contractors get discounts on materials/supplies and mark the price up for added profits and charge for the time to p/u.

some contractors will purchase the materials, and instead of just charging you the cost that they paid for them, they will add 5%, etc.

Thank you Mike; yes, that's true, even though one will (should) have the house insured, we want to use contractor's insurance instead of our own.

How about bonded?

Will he do the work himself or sub it out?

How about getting a copy of his driver's license or some sort of ID? Especially if most of this is all done by phone and email, etc?

Karen

Although most of this string is related to first interview questions, before completing a contractor's agreement with an intended contractor you will want to see the documents on their license, insurance, and bonding. I would also recommend that you check consumer review websites and focus on finding the superstars who always receive very high ratings. Angieslist.com is such a site, and costs about $20/year for a subscription.

this is exactly what this site is all about! sharing knowledge and ideas is priceless!

Karen, I especially like the tip to get a copy of his D.L. because even if we ask all the questions, some handymen will LIE!!!!!

Dallin, great tip; I had a handyman give me his license #... it didn't exist!!!

Valerie: Always happy to assist, I think it is great that you posted the list for people to add to. I'm going to post a similar list of questions for wholesale cash buyers either today or tomorrow, inspired by you. I got into the lists that we have already in the program and found that they just don't include everything that is needed to effectively go shopping for these cash buyers. If we are going to provide a service in the marketplace, we need to gather the information necessary to do so.
I'd like to issue a challenge to anyone else who wants to accept it to create lists of questions and steps that are comprehensive for people to use. Also, if anyone has a particular way that they explain something to sellers, agents, attorneys, etc., let's list those items as well. I constantly find that people feel lacking in verbiage to express what they need to other people.
Once again, thanks for an inspiring post.