Finding a contractor can be confusing and intimidating as fraudulent contractors who prey on homeowners wanting to renovate, as well as those who need to rebuild the following disaster. Yeah, most contractors are honest people, but some crooked people are willing to take advantage of others in their time of need.
Below are a few tips that can help you avoid being ripped off during the rebuilding process:


Use a State-Licensed Contractor and Verify Contractors’ Licenses
All licensed contractors should list their license number on their business cards and any written proposals. Separate the legitimate contractors from the phonies by checking their contractors’ licenses and local operating permits. You should also check with authorities to make sure they’ve complied with local laws.

Get References
Not one, not two, not three but four and above. Do not be afraid to ask from the contractors for a list of recent customers and contact those customers to ask about their experience. Ask them to provide someone who had to call them back to fix a problem to know if the problem was fixed to his or her satisfaction.

Obtain Multiple Bids
Ensuring you get multiple bids helps you confirm you are getting a fair price. Do not only compare the prices but what is included in those prices to be sure you are comparing apples to apples.
However, you should watch out for bid that is so much lower than competitors that it doesn’t “feel right”. This is because some unprincipled contractors intentionally “underbid” the work to get a contract, and once construction begins, they look for “add-on” costs to bump up what you pay.

Get Your Price, Get Your Scope of Work In Writing and Proofread your agreement
Do not for any reason let a contractor start work without a signed or written proposal that details both the price and the list of work to be performed. Also included what stage of the work will advance payments be due. Have a contract with a start and end date and make sure you have an advocate check it out. “Never sign a contract without all of the blanks filled in,” says Howard.

Don’t Pay Upfront for the Entire Project
We read and hear stories of how people got scammed after paying for an entire project upfront. So in other not to be a victim, it is advisable you make reasonable down payments. Never pay for a whole job up front even if it goes for a discount price neither should you pay a progress payment ahead of the payment schedule agreed upon in the contract.
It is usually not a good idea to pay with cash, paying with credit cards or checks will give you a paper trail to verify your payments. If you do pay with cash, be sure to get a receipt for each payment.

Hire an inspector
Hire a building inspector before and after the project to help you determine what needs to be done and whether it’s been done properly. This way you can be sure you know your contractor is telling you the truth about the work that’s needed or if he’s doing a good job.

With these few tips kept in mind, you are sure you don’t become a victim or get scammed by contractors when hiring one.

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