How to find the right pro... when you don’t live there yet?
We’re planning on starting a project in January, and want to start looking for the right GC. But I don’t know where to look, what kinds of questions to ask, and how to tell if someone is competent or not. My FIL was a GC and knew all about this, but he passed away several years ago, and all of his buddies and subs have moved or passed away as well. So, we’re kind of feeling alone, here.
My aging MIL is selling us her house (built in the early 70s), and we are adding on a 3-car garage, an attached MIL suite, and adding on to the Master Suite to change the current 3/4 bath to a full-sized, “aging in place” appropriate bathroom with a walk-in closet. Not a small, uncomplicated job.
To make things more difficult, my MIL doesn’t want to be the one making decisions. She wants me or DH to be the contact point. However we currently live on the other side of the U.S., and we cannot move our family out there yet when there is not room for us. Therefore, this GC will have to be excellent in regards to communication and somewhat flexible... in addition to being knowledgeable, honest, etc. We could fly out for a long weekend to help her interview people and discuss plans/ideas, but it would be so much easier if we could narrow down the options before spending the time and money on the trip.
I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas on my own, like the master bath addition shown below, but we will need to pick someone before plans can really proceed any further. So, other than the Houzz Pros, are there any other websites that might have trustworthy reviews on GCs? And is there a good list of interview questions?
Comments (11)
deb s
4 years agorgrin2000
4 years agoRelated Discussions
And you don't have Julia Child yet because.....???????
Comments (24)I bought 3 this spring at a local nursery. I really wasn't intending to buy them, but the blooms and the fragrance won me over. The ones I bought are very fragrant. When healthy, they are prolific bloomers (as floribunda are) and the color varies from a pale to a butter yellow. I don't usually prefer yellow roses, but I was struck by these. I have had trouble with them since buying them due to bugs eating them (though not the aphids that I have trouble with in my backyard garden) and plagued with blackspot. I prefer not to spray, but am finding it difficult because of how badly they've been affected. I'm not sure what went wrong because I have a Don Juan climber very near them which has been unaffected by any of it. All my roses are so different! Does anyone have any suggestions to improve their condition? They are in a prized location, and I hate to have them looking the worst in the garden... JC is so beautiful when healthy. I would love some organic options....See MoreHow to price when comps don't tell the whole story
Comments (20)Weedyacres: selling a home isn't a problem, I'm looking to maximize value. Adell: this is in an especially hot market...I know those come and go, but this area of the country remained neutral during the crisis and took off like a rocket since then. In any case the remodeling we've done has been for ourselves, just so happened that we needed to move for career reasons. Kirkhall: last sold in 2012/bought in 2012...I haven't yet found a problem with appraisals on either side...we were also warned by a realtor who wanted to price our house 50K under that it would never appraise for what we wanted to sell...that realtor was wrong. We have sold/bought 4 homes..,its funny how the appraisal always comes out right at sale price..it looks to me as if appraisers are still playing with the banks around here. In anycase, the offers I've seen come in have been pretty strong with well qualified buyers bring a lot of equity, so even a bad appraisal wouldn't necessarily be a deal killer Luann...what you're saying is you agree with me that taste makes a difference (if yours differs from mine then your less likely to purchase home, no?). In anycase, people love our homes and the feedback we get both in sales and otherwise is pretty positive - better than the comps, which is my point....See MoreHow to find a buyers agent when you don't live nearby?
Comments (3)I like to test-drive realtors. I've emailed a number of them through realtor.com and only 2 responded quickly (others were a couple days later, a week later by someone who was in the office that didn't answer my specific question, or never). I asked each of those 2 to show me a house they had listed and one that was listed by someone else, and then I pumped them for info on pricing, comps, etc. while we were together. One answered my questions better, provided me data to back up his "gut feel", etc. You're remote, so you can't do this in person, but I would think you could do some of this by phone. I'd narrow down your choices by looking at their listings online, or getting the office to send you a list ranking buy-side agents and choosing a couple top ones. When you call, explain a bit about your situation, tell them you're shopping for a buyer's agent, and here are the 5 properties you're considering. Assuming they're in different neighborhoods, ask their opinion of value of the different neighbohoods, and if they know the specific properties. Ask them to send you the comps they'd use to value those properties. Then see who's the most open and helpful and responsive and knowledgeable. It helps that you know the area and can judge their answers based on that. Look at the comps they send you and, if they gave you different ones, evaluate who was more complete/accurate with picking comps. And see if the comps justify the pricing they were telling you. It should be no problem to see 5 houses in one day, as long as they've got a few days to line them up. When we were househunting we hit 15+ in a day....See MoreHow do you cope with the things you don't like about where you live?
Comments (46)Nope, we were in a coastal town and within a 5 minute drive to the beach. Lots of ocean breeze, but still its hot all year round. Yes, Michigan has humidity and heat too, and yes it can be miserable to be in but it’s not in the 90’s or 100’s year round and we do reap benefits from that humidity like lots of rain (as opposed to droughts). Lawns are lush and healthy, plants and trees alike thrive here. It also never gets so hot that you can fry an egg on the hood of your car. Then there are the thunderstorms. When the humidity peaks, they come in for a quick shower to cool things down. Open the windows and that breeze with it’s smell of the rain is heaven. Say what you will Elmer, but as far as I’m concerned there is really no comparison. I’ll take Michigan’s summer of months of humidity along with it’s snow and ice in the winter over that dry relentless heat any day. I don’t miss it at all. LOL Forgot to add, I’m in one of those suburbs too, about 45 miles north of Detroit. When it comes to snow, it’s the perfect spot because we’re too low for the northern squalls and far enough north to miss the Ohio Valley Blizzards. We usually don’t get more than 6 inches at a time during the season. We live on a hill and the AWD on our SUV’s has no problem driving threw it, but the views are beautiful....See More
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