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Ask Gena Answers Homeowner Question

January 20th, 2008 categories: Ask Gena, Real Estate Tips, Realtor

Ask Gena Button Its Ask Gena, the Realtor a question time!

As always, names are never given nor specific addresses or areas.

You can rest assured that this is a place where your question can be posed with anonymity.

Now, lets get to our home owner question for this week.

Dear Gena,

After the recent weather that we had tree limbs fell on my roof and part of the fence is on the ground. I have had several people come and to look at the damage and give me bids. I have a couple of questions. How many bids should I get and is it really important to have a licensed person do the job?

Dear Unfortunate Homeowner,

Technically, you should get 3 bids and that way you will have a good idea as to how much it will cost plus the people giving bids should definitely be licensed. Remember, that when you hire someone to fix anything they can tell you they know how but if they have a license, then there is a better chance that they REALLY know how to fix what you need done.

More importantly, they need to be insured. What happens if they get hurt on the job at your house? Hiring a licensed contractor is in your best interest and will save you money in the long run.

Remember, that you should NEVER give more than 10% as a down payment. There should be a schedule of payments and no payments made until each portion of the work is completed.

Some of the things you need to be very careful about are liens. Liens can be placed on your home by people that were not paid by the contractor and by the supplier of the materials if they were not paid for. The contractor should be giving you, Notice to Owner. Remember that all changes or additions to your contract must be in writing. The contractor is required to let you know if they are insured and provide you with that information.

Things to Know When Hiring a Contractor:

Check out the License with the State License Board
Get 3 Bids
Building Permits
Read and understand the contract
Do you have a 3 day right to cancel
Contract should give start date and end date
Contract should give detailed description of work and materials used
If asked for down payment it should never be more than 10% or $1000 whichever is less
There should be a schedule of payments upon work completed
Notice to Owner should be given informing you about liens
All changes or additions should be in writing

Here is a website where you can check to see if the license is valid at the California Contractors State License Board

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Ask Gena, Real Estate Tips, Realtor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

eddy said at May 23rd, 2008 at 5:27 am
HAVE 100 ACRES OF PLANTED PINE AG EXEMPT LAND IN JEFFERSON COUNTY FLORIDA I DID A SIMPLE LOT SPLIT OF 20 ACRES(MIM. BUILDING LOT) AND A SURVEY BECAUSE OF THE BANK AND BUILDING DEPT. I PUT A HOUSE ON THE 20 ACRES. THE TAX APRASIER SAID THEY TAKE OUT 1 ACRE OF THE 20 ACRES AND MAKE IT RESIDENTIAL.SHOULD I QUICK DEED THE 20 ACRES WITH HOUSE TO MYSELF AND HAVE TWO TAX ID’S ONE ON THE 20 ACRES AND HOUSE AND ONE ON THE 80 ACRES JUST PINE TREES. MY TITLE COMPANY AND TAX APRASIER SAID IT DOES NOT MATTER AND IF I COULD NOT PAY THE BANK WOULD ONLY GET HOUSE AND 20 ACRES AS DESCRIBED IN THE TITLE also what would be the best tax benifit THANKS EDDY
Gena Riede said at June 12th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Eddy,
I am a Real Estate Broker in California and Florida real estate law is different.

This is a question you need to ask of a professional Realtor and possibly a lawyer in Florida.

Real Estate is local and each State is different.

You may also want to talk to your tax consultant as well.

Good luck.

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