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New Answer to Age Old Problem of How to Find a Contractor
The solution might be to have someone else
do it for you.
We have all been there before. It is time to get the house painted
and you are not sure who to call.
What do you do?
You ask the neighbors if they know a good painter. This is a good
idea because referrals are often the best way to make sure you are
getting a quality contractor. But what if they weren’t real happy
with their painter? What if you call the recommended company but
they never call you back? What if this company’s estimate is way
more then you are able to pay? Who’s to say your neighbor wasn’t
overcharged?
Ok, what’s next?
Well, maybe you turn to your handy-dandy phone book and lookup
‘paint contractors’. One look in this book and your head will spin.
There are literally hundreds of different names in there. How do you
choose? Usually people just start calling paint companies. In doing
that you soon find out that most don’t answer their phones and many
don’t even call you back if you leave a message. This is not a good
sign…would you hire a painter you can’t easily get a hold of?
If you’re lucky after this excruciating exercise you may have 2 or 3
companies able to come out and give you an estimate. Of course they
are all coming on different days and different times, so you are
going to be running back and forth from work to meet the painters.
Let’s say that you eventually get your estimates. The estimate from
the paint company that was the most professional, with the nice van,
and the one that you liked the most is (of course) ridiculously
expensive. The painter with the lowest estimate didn’t even leave
you a written statement describing the work they would perform! Can
you trust them? Will they do quality work?
The ‘dog and pony show’ of trying to hire a contractor could go on
forever. It’s a hassle, it’s risky, it is time consuming, and it is
hard to figure out what price is fair and acceptable for a quality
job.
If you live in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area you may not have to do
any of the above, at least for house painting needs. There are some
new services available that work with homeowners to put together a
price and job description package for any painting job. Professional
painters then compete to accept the exact services listed in the
homeowner’s job description at the price that was also set by the
homeowner. Customers will meet the painters that have accepted their
job to talk about their needs. After this meeting the homeowner can
simply decide to hire the painter to begin work or have the service
locate a new painter at the same price.
This concept is very different from the nightmare described above.
It also seems to be helpful to both the homeowner and the paint
contractor. The homeowner can deal with just one service and still
reach lots of area professional painters. Homeowners can also set an
affordable price for a quality job and see what companies are
available to meet their demands. Contractors like the business
concept because they are able to accept jobs that they did not have
to spend time and money to find.
“We try to take the hassle out of finding quality painters,” says
Steve Frasher, the Manager of one such service called Name Your Own
Price Painting. “With one call to us we help set up your estimate
and then contact the pros in our network to see who is available to
perform the work at the specified price. The paint companies love it
because they can easily fill in some of the gaps they have in their
work schedules. We found that it also allows customers to get
quality work done at a reasonable price because of the competition
to accept these jobs. In other words the market is really helping to
dictate the price for the homeowner and they are not forced into a
take-it-or-leave-it estimate.
The concept of a contractor locating service that revolves around
setting your own price is something that is still new, but on the
surface it appears to be an innovative concept that is based on a
win-win business model. This usually is a great sign for success.
Only time will tell if the nightmare of locating contractors to do
work around your house could become a thing of the past.
About the Author: D. Benjamin is the owner of
iapsales.com LLC - a family business specializing in HVAC products. We
are distributors of
Qmark Heaters,
electric tankless water heaters,
bathroom heaters,
patio heaters, electric heaters,
portable air
conditioners & electric towel warmers. Shop on line at
www.heateroutlet.com for these great home improvement products.
Iapsales.com LLC was established in 2003 and is the sister company to
Innovative Air Products located in historical Exeter, NH. We are a 2nd
generation manufacturers’ rep firm dedicated to providing residential &
commercial heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment. We offer
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