First meet with them at the job site so that you can look over the job and see what they would do. 

Ask “What would YOU do?” questions about the houses.  Ask them what they would take out or put in. Base off of bathroom, kitchen, flooring and would they put new windows in. Each place will be different, what you are looking for is are they going to be on the same page as you. So you can feel comfortable with them making decisions without you there.

Ask to see pictures of past jobs.  You’re going to need at least three references.  When you call the references find out what kind of work they did, how long it took them and if they are clean workers. Do they pick up after them selves or is the job site always a mess. What hours did they work i.e. came to the job site early or were they coming at different hours. This will tell you how dependable they are.

How many people are in there crew and how many do they have. This will let you know if you have more than one job going on they can handle it.  Do they have their own equipment.  This is an important one, do they have the money to buy the materials. You do not want to give them money up front to go buy the materials, I repeat DO NOT give any one money up front to do a job. What you’re looking for is a contractor to buy all materials and labor for the first week. So they will give you the bill for the work they have done and you pay it then.  Ask them what kind of work they do i.e. paint, dry wall, windows, bath rooms, you get the picture. For the things they don’t do, will they contract them out for you?  Find out what their time frame is on an average job i.e. can they be in and out in a month on a normal job.

You want a contractor that’s going to bid the whole job not just labor.

This should get you headed in the right direction when it comes to hiring a contractor.

Sean Marmoy

MOKSRealEstate.com