Anyone use online sites to find contractors?
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I've been estimating remodeling work now for about 7 years and have been in the industry for over 25 years. There is nothing more valuable then being onsite to generate an estimate.
There is much more that needs to be seen that can't be seen in a picture. The tangables are endless. But for a "Ballpark" estimate, I'd say this option is fine but not set-in-stone.
You'll still need to have a contractor on site to make a final estimate. Otherwise....you can expect some extra's with this service. Or you may hear things like: "Well... we didn't take this into account"...or "it was never in the picture!"
Great idea though, just never heard of this type of service. I guess us New Englander's are just old fashion folks. Especially up here in Maine.:wink:
There is much more that needs to be seen that can't be seen in a picture. The tangables are endless. But for a "Ballpark" estimate, I'd say this option is fine but not set-in-stone.
You'll still need to have a contractor on site to make a final estimate. Otherwise....you can expect some extra's with this service. Or you may hear things like: "Well... we didn't take this into account"...or "it was never in the picture!"
Great idea though, just never heard of this type of service. I guess us New Englander's are just old fashion folks. Especially up here in Maine.:wink:
That is the dumbest site i have ever seen.
first of all all those contractors on there have to pay to give you a bid,so its the same as them buying leads but there actually only bidding on a picture. so what if they win the bid and then they show up and every one of them will say hey upon further reveiw this job will cost more!(i didnt see that in the pic)
so now you got a guy pissed off because he just spent money to bid,now he wants more $ for everything thats out of the ordinary,your mad because that 200 patch in the wall is now 400.most contractors who buy leads are usually the ones that are just starting out in buisness,
if it were me i would go to a reputable search engine like yellow pages.com or google get 2-3 local contractors who pay to advertise(not pay to buy leads)
have them give you a real estimate and look you in the eye shake your hand and then make an educated decision.
all those other guys buying leads are just competing against one another and there work suffers because at the end of the day they get upset that they dont make any money and use the cheapest material and unskilled labor to show any kind of a profit!
first of all all those contractors on there have to pay to give you a bid,so its the same as them buying leads but there actually only bidding on a picture. so what if they win the bid and then they show up and every one of them will say hey upon further reveiw this job will cost more!(i didnt see that in the pic)
so now you got a guy pissed off because he just spent money to bid,now he wants more $ for everything thats out of the ordinary,your mad because that 200 patch in the wall is now 400.most contractors who buy leads are usually the ones that are just starting out in buisness,
if it were me i would go to a reputable search engine like yellow pages.com or google get 2-3 local contractors who pay to advertise(not pay to buy leads)
have them give you a real estimate and look you in the eye shake your hand and then make an educated decision.
all those other guys buying leads are just competing against one another and there work suffers because at the end of the day they get upset that they dont make any money and use the cheapest material and unskilled labor to show any kind of a profit!
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Wyatt, Would you buy a house based on who had the best looking Ad?. My Contractor pick decision would be based on.
1) Experience on the project that I need.
2) Has all the required licensees (call the State lic dept & verify names)
3) Has insurance (verify details)
4) At least three recent, local references. (contact each personally)
5) Ask where he buys material
Then play Detective
1) Check Website. If no website I wouldn't deduct points.
2) Google Contractors name and/or DBA, Address, & phone #
3) Verify how long in business
4) Get delivery time on long lead items
5) Any permit glitches? any Engineering sign off?
6) Written contract
7) Warranty
1) Experience on the project that I need.
2) Has all the required licensees (call the State lic dept & verify names)
3) Has insurance (verify details)
4) At least three recent, local references. (contact each personally)
5) Ask where he buys material
Then play Detective
1) Check Website. If no website I wouldn't deduct points.
2) Google Contractors name and/or DBA, Address, & phone #
3) Verify how long in business
4) Get delivery time on long lead items
5) Any permit glitches? any Engineering sign off?
6) Written contract
7) Warranty
I used it to get a price range for my flooring job. I would not be mad at the contractor if my range was a bit off because the picture or video did not tell the whole story. The contractor paid a bid fee to get a lead yes... but in this economy I think most will be doing anything they can to find decent work. At least here they can see a pic or video of what they are bidding on. As far as me I went on to find the best price range and then I did do my investigating on the companies that bid. They were rated positively on the site, had a website, and had good pictures of past work posted in their portfolio section on the *********** site. I disagree that only new companies use these type of lead sites. Anyone who is updating their business to be on par with technology will have to eventually do things different. I am 50 and I used it.
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Lol....Five Star. Your direct and to the point my friend:thumbup:
PaliBob....with all that grey hair brother, I'd take your advice anyday!! My problem is I'm balding with grey hair...lol
All kidding and sarcasim aside cywatt22, these guys just added very, very valid points.
Stick with what works....and eye to eye handshake!! I tried ServiceMagic for about 2 weeks before I knew I was wasting my time and money. I'm not a bidding service!!:furious:
PaliBob....with all that grey hair brother, I'd take your advice anyday!! My problem is I'm balding with grey hair...lol
All kidding and sarcasim aside cywatt22, these guys just added very, very valid points.
Stick with what works....and eye to eye handshake!! I tried ServiceMagic for about 2 weeks before I knew I was wasting my time and money. I'm not a bidding service!!:furious:
I think you're a shill and these posts are spam.
Ron
I've put maybe 10 requests in on ServiceMagic.com, I'd get a few calls, yadda yadda, but things always fell through. I think the only guy I used that followed through was the gutter guy. The site is only as good as the local contractor's I guess, other cities might be better.
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Just an FYI:
shill /ʃɪl/
Show Spelled Pronunciation [shil] Show IPA Slang.
–noun 1.a person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others into participating, as at a gambling house, auction, confidence game, etc.2.a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.
You may be onto something Ron. As I tell my kids....you learn something new every day! No matter what age.
shill /ʃɪl/
Show Spelled Pronunciation [shil] Show IPA Slang. –noun 1.a person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others into participating, as at a gambling house, auction, confidence game, etc.2.a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.
You may be onto something Ron. As I tell my kids....you learn something new every day! No matter what age.
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Here's the glaring issue with sites like this. Contractors are paying that site for the leads, plain and simple. It's a lead service. It is what it is. Where is the qualifying process? What gets checked, and how often? Does the web site check their license status and insurance status each week and state "yes these folks are licensed and insured, and they do good work", or is it "community policing"?
Also, you should be honest and tell everyone you created the web site. So in reality you're trying to advertise here in the threads. Tres gauche.:no:
Also, you should be honest and tell everyone you created the web site. So in reality you're trying to advertise here in the threads. Tres gauche.:no:
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From the website:
"***********.com was created by Cory Wyatt who recognized the need for a quicker way to give and receive estimates for..."
cwyatt22? If it's your website, just come clean and say so.
The problem with grassroots marketing and viral marketing is that when it backfires, it's not pretty.
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Hey Five Star, you're in my neck of the woods. I'm in my shop in Piscataway at the moment, trying to get a job on a truck and shipped out to Philly Children's Hospital. Unfortunately I can't say you're the closest neighbor I've ever met on the boards here. I ran into a guy here that was from right in my neighborhood (Branchburg), around the corner from a friend of mine.
Good luck. And how is Farrington Lake for fishing? I heard they're stocking it with 3000 fish this year. Trout season T-minus 4 days.
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Aggie, Great detective work. You deserve some kind of Award
Also Accolades to Five Star
aggie, yes i see alot of guys out already on the lake its right down the street from me.and im 10 min from piscataway. if this guy would have come clean i would have given his site some thought.
but he came on like a homeowner asking about a particular site,and when the truth came out he got quiet real quick.
but he came on like a homeowner asking about a particular site,and when the truth came out he got quiet real quick.
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Well I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt
But I HATE spammers & liers :furious:
Kinda stupid to come on here when your web-site tells us YOU created it. And trying to get business by LYING is just shooting yourself in the foot. As almost guaranteed no-one here will use your site now. If you have to lie to get business then what else will you do?
But I HATE spammers & liers :furious:
Kinda stupid to come on here when your web-site tells us YOU created it. And trying to get business by LYING is just shooting yourself in the foot. As almost guaranteed no-one here will use your site now. If you have to lie to get business then what else will you do?
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thou shalt not Lie
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Great work on that one Dave and Ron.
Seems like it could be costly for a co. to even work with a site like that... $10 per bid, and you have no guarantee that the posts are even legitimate... It could be Cory coming on there with a phoney name, requesting new windows just to gain the money from the bidding process. Or a disgruntled customer trying to get someone to waste money on bids.
Seems like it could be costly for a co. to even work with a site like that... $10 per bid, and you have no guarantee that the posts are even legitimate... It could be Cory coming on there with a phoney name, requesting new windows just to gain the money from the bidding process. Or a disgruntled customer trying to get someone to waste money on bids.
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