Planning on Home Improvements?

For those of you who own or are planning to buy a house and are planning to hire a contractor to do some home improvements to your house in the near future, here are some tips from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

· Work only with licensed and insured contractors.

· Ask for references, and check them out.

· Get more than one estimate.

· Don't be pushed into signing a contract right away.

· Get everything in writing:

o Total cost

o Detailed list of what the project includes

o Time schedule, guarantees, and/or warranties provided

o Payment schedule

o Never, ever sign a contract that includes blanks

Here are some additional suggestions from Technihouse Inspections, Inc. (www.technihouse.com).

· Do not pay the contractor until the work has been completed to your satisfaction.

· Have the work inspected by a certified home inspector.

· If it “sounds too good to be true”, or the price quoted is much lower than the other estimates you received, there is a reason for that.

Remember the contractors that are hired will be in your house and you will be living with them for a while.

Our personal tip to you is to always trust your instinct. Your instinct has probably never failed you, if anything; you have failed your instinct.