Your house is too small for your growing family but you like your neighborhood. It is close to your shul, your children’s school and your friends. Should you move or improve? Either scenario involves a lot of planning and decision making — from drawing up plans with an architect, choosing a contractor, and getting permits if you are remodeling; to choosing a neighborhood, and finding a real estate agent if you are moving. There are many decisions that need to be made, and with them comes the potential for many difficulties.
One of the main ways to avoid aggravation is to hire people that you trust. There are so many tradespeople to choose from. How can a consumer know who is responsible, honest, and capable?
Mrs. Cohen* relates what happened to her when she invited an unknown contractor to her home to give her an estimate on replacing her furnace. “I knew it was important to get two estimates before deciding to hire a contractor,” she explains. “I called up a contractor from the yellow pages and asked him to come give me an estimate. He went downstairs and a few minutes later came back up and told me that my pilot light was out. ‘I can relight it for you for $75,’ he said. I thanked him but said I had a warranty with BG&E, so I would call them to fix it. A little while later BG&E came. ‘Oh, that’s an old trick. He blew out the pilot light so that he could charge you to relight it,’ the repairman told me.” Obviously, we all want to avoid contractors like this!
Mrs. Lanfeld* also had a bad experience with a contractor who put up leaf guards on her gutters. “The leaf guards we installed had a life-time warranty, but we learned the hard way that a life-time warranty doesn’t have much value if the business’s phone number is disconnected when you have a problem!”
In order to help our readers avoid these mishaps, I spoke to tradesmen of various professions to find out their thoughts on getting estimates, hiring the best person for the job, and advance planning to avoid problems.
Estimates
When planning a job, the first thing a homeowner must do is get estimates. Although it is not hard to get tradesmen to come and see the project that you want to work on, it’s not always so easy to get a written estimate.
Tzvi Zelcer, a project manager with Greenspring Services, Inc., explains the problem. “An estimate doesn’t have to be an exact dollar amount. In fact, giving a price range is often more honest than giving an exact amount. However, homeowners need to be sensitive to a contractor’s time. It can be very time consuming for a contractor to come out to your house, spend close to an hour taking measurements, and write out an estimate for a potential job that involves itemizing dozens of details. A homeowner may want to express his seriousness of intent so the contractor knows he is not just window shopping.”
Joe, a plumber, adds, “Sometimes it’s not necessary to get the tradesman to come down to your house to give an estimate. If it’s a small job, you can often get a general idea of the cost over the phone. This is much easier on the tradesman and the potential consumer. It’s also not always possible to give an exact estimate, especially with plumbing jobs. Sometimes a plumber may not know the extent of the problem without breaking the ceiling or unearthing the pipes.”
Second Opinions
“Often, I’m asked to give a second opinion,” says Joe. As Hindy, Joe’s customer explained, “I had a small leak in my kitchen. My plumber explained that I needed to replace all my pipes in order to really fix the problem permanently. I was reluctant to spend that much, to fix a problem that hadn’t occurred yet. I called Joe for a 2nd opinion. He said, “My opinion is really dependent on what you want. How does your appetite for risk compare to your desire not to spend the money? Not every problem has a black and white solution. Sometimes deciding whether to do a particular big job is a gray area.”
Checking References
“Trustworthiness is obviously a key factor to hiring a contractor. For this you will need references,” says Tzvi Zelcer. “Beyond trustworthiness, you will want to get a sense as to the contractor’s ability to deliver. Does he deliver quality? Does he do it in a timely manner? You will need references of past performance and you should request to see actual work, to get a sense of what he does.”
“Reputation and word of mouth are very important,” says Elgy of Park Heights Roofing. “Anybody can make a mistake, but does the contractor stand behind his work and take care of any problems after the job is finished?” He points out too that decisions should not be made based on price alone. “Most roofers pay about the same amount for labor and materials, so if a price is too low, the customer should be wary.”
One might think that all banks are the same or that all mortgage brokers are the same and it is not so important to trust the integrity of your mortgage broker. But, says Gabriel Bensimon of Mortgage Masters, that is not really true. “When putting out quotes for rates and closing costs there is a tremendous amount of leeway in what a mortgage broker can do and a lot of ‘gray area’ (i.e., numbers) that can be played around with,” he says. An uneducated consumer may not understand why one quote is much lower than the other quote and may choose to go with the lower quote. At settlement they may find out that the fees for their loan are really higher than they should have been.
It is best to get references from people you know. Online references should be taken with a grain of salt, as my friend Peggy, a professional writer, learned. She has a job writing positive reviews for a contractor. Her job is to make each review sound like it is genuine and written by a different person! “Don’t believe everything you read,” she says.
Use a Licensed Contractor
All of the professionals I spoke to emphasized the importance of using a licensed contractor. A consumer who uses a licensed professional has the back-up of the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. If the contractor does something wrong, he can be reported to the MHIC and can lose his license or be fined. The consumer may not directly benefit from reporting the problem, but the threat of being reported can help to insure that the contractor does a good job. The MHIC does not actually resolve the problem for the homeowner, but, as it says on their Web site, “In some cases, MHIC will work with the homeowner and the contractor to settle a complaint whereby MHIC agrees to not pursue regulatory charges against the contractor if the contractor agrees to reimburse the homeowner for some or all the contract price.”
Although a handyman who is not licensed may be less expensive than one who is licensed, his work can involve greater risk. He probably does not carry insurance, as licensed tradesman are required to, and he may not follow all the codes to make sure that his work is done safely and properly. The homeowner thinks he’s getting a bargain, but he may end up paying more to fix things that weren’t done correctly the first time. In addition, a homeowner cannot get a permit to have work done on his house unless he is using a licensed contractor. According to Jim, an electrician, if a person uses a non-licensed electrician and the work is defective, causing a fire, the homeowner’s insurance may not cover the cost of the damage.
Moving Instead of Improving
If you choose to move rather than to improve, you may need to find a real estate agent. Hiring an agent is different from hiring a contractor, but it is equally important to have a real estate agent that you know is competent and will serve you well. The agent should also be familiar with the neighborhood in which you wish to buy a home, since he or she helps the buyer negotiate a fair price on the house.
“The real estate agent acts as a buffer between the buyer and the seller, as emotions can run high when purchasing or selling a home,” says Sharon Zuckerbrod, a local agent. “If the home inspection reveals problems with the house, the buyer’s agent can help the buyer decide if the house is still worth buying, analyze how to fix the problem, or negotiate with the seller to fix it.”
“It is worthwhile to make sure that the real estate agent you are using has a good reputation and a lot of experience,” says Debbie Finkelstein, another local agent. “She can help the buyer get a loan from the bank and help with the appraisal by explaining why the price being paid for the house is reasonable. For example, the house may have a higher value because it is in good location, near shuls, schools, etc.”
As we all know, working with a professional whom you trust can take a lot of stress out of moving or improving. In this issue of the WWW, we feature real estate agents, mortgage lenders, contractors, plumbers, roofers, and many other professionals who have chosen to advertise with us because they are familiar with our community and are interested in our business. Many of them have written articles about their professions to share useful information with our readers. It is worthwhile to consider using them for your next project!
