Talk to your friends, neighbors and coworkers about potential contractor candidates. But don t stop there. Expand your circle of influence to include just about everyone you come in contact with. I have been referred to clients in the past by accountants, real estate agents, a children s softball coach, restaurant owners and flight attendants, just to name a few. Once you have been fortunate enough to track down one of the good ones, the next challenge is getting them to work within your budget and schedule.
Good contractors are in short supply and high demand.
Therefore they are typically compensated well for their effort, and you may have to adjust your schedule to work within theirs. If you happen to come up empty with the word of mouth referral, you might try your luck digging up some names from the more obvious resources, such as advertising in your community newspaper, the yellow pages, fliers left in your mailbox, etc. The word of caution here is that you spend some extra effort researching the background and project history of these types of candidates. When it comes to checking references I recommend that you try to evaluate their most recent work. This would include actually visiting completed projects so that you can see their work first hand and possibly chat with the homeowners.