Hard lesson in choosing contractor

Q: I recently bought a bank-owned home. It was in a great neighborhood, good school district, and seemed perfect for my kids and me. It did need some work, but it was mostly cosmetics I wanted to upgrade before we moved in, such as changing the kitchen tile floors, the kitchen counters, and the bathroom sink and fixtures.

My Realtor gave me some referrals to contractors to get bids from during escrow, but after closing, a friend of mine referred another guy who offered to do much more for the same price. I checked his license, called his past clients and even went to see work he had done before -- everything checked out.

Now, it's four months after closing and I still haven't been able to move in! My contractor does maybe one project a week, and everything takes way longer than it should, although all that's left is for the bathroom sink to be installed. I called him on the carpet and he reacted very angrily, so much so that now I'm concerned about him having the key to my house. At this point, I wish I'd chosen another house.

A: I don't actually think your problem arose during your transaction, nor do I think it has anything to do with the house you chose, per se. It sounds like you did the right things there: you were willing to buy a fixer; you found one where the repairs needed were largely cosmetic; and you even went the (smart) extra mile of obtaining bids during escrow. Presumably, you did this last step with the intention to make sure you were aware of what it would cost to put the place in your desired condition before you made your final decision whether to move forward with the sale; it follows that you must have been comfortable with the amounts bid during escrow or you would not have closed the deal.

No problems there.

The problem arose after closing, when you decided to get more aggressive about what you got for your money. This happens all day, every day to some poor unsuspecting homeowner -- you get two or three bids all around one price point, but then some seemingly wonderful contractor falls from the heavens offering either (a) to do the same work for a much lower price, or (b) to match the other guys' (or gals') pricing but throw in those extra projects you didn't think you'd be able to afford for a few more years.

A bunch of those quaint old sayings apply. "You get what you pay for" and "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" come immediately to mind. Oh and my personal favorite: "There are two types of professionals you don't want to hire at a discount: your plastic surgeon and your contractor." ...CONTINUED

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