There are numerous stories of unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of unsuspecting people in the construction industry. Fortunately, there are some ways to discern which ones are scammers and which are legitimate. When interviewing contractors, pay attention to the following red flags.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: If you receive a quote that is significantly lower than other bids or just seems too good to be true, it probably is.
TOO FEW REFERENCES: If you are only provided with one or two references, you may want to question why or ask for more. Too few references may mean too few happy customers or too little experience.
TOO RUSHED: If your contractor is rushing you to sign a contract, proceed with caution. You should fully understand and be comfortable with any contract before you sign it.
TOO LITTLE ONLINE PRESENCE: This doesn’t mean just a nice webpage or Facebook posts. In Georgia, you can go to the Secretary of State website to verify licensing, both as a business and perhaps more importantly, as a licensed contractor. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. You can also see how long the company has been in business, search for liens, check insurance coverage, Better Business Bureau rating, etc. If a company is legitimate, their credentials can be relatively easily verified online.
TOO FEW SPECIFICATIONS: This is very important if comparing pricing and important to note and question with any contractor. If you are receiving a price, what is included in that price? If the specifications or vague or incomplete, ask for more detail. You want to leave as little room for interpretation as possible that a scammer could argue in their favor later.
TOO LOW OF ALLOWANCES: If the contractor is giving allowances, make sure they are adequate for what you expect. It is a common tactic to give low allowances to keep the contract price low to make a sale, then bombard the customer with up-charges later. Be wary of low allowances, either the contractor is doing so intentionally to get a sale (dishonest), doesn’t understand what you expect (do they listen?), or isn’t used to working with the level of the expected finish.
Any of these signs can be explained away satisfactorily and I’m not suggesting you should necessarily rule out a contractor based on any one of them, but they should all raise a red flag for further discussion before making a decision. Before signing that contract, make sure the contractor has earned your trust and respect. If not, keep on looking or you may regret it later.
At Custom Dwellings, we provide a fair price, but not the lowest price. We’ll be happy to provide several references, and as much as possible have them be relatable to your project. Relationships are important to us and we won’t rush you to sign a contract until you are comfortable with us. Feel free to check out our website, Facebook and Instagram pages as well as dig a little deeper into our credentials. While we do use allowances as needed, we prefer to have actual products selected for every allowance to maintain project budget accuracy. If this all sounds good to you, please give us a call or fill out our contact us page and we’ll reach out to you.