As part of any home sale or real estate investment property upkeep, repairs will almost certainly be necessary. Those repairs can range from small jobs that you can handle yourself to larger jobs such as roof or foundation repairs that most likely only a contractor can fix for you. In that eventuality, there is a lot of time and energy required to pick the right contractor for the job.

There are many contractors out there and picking the right one can be the difference between a great experience and one that puts you off of investment properties or off of real estate transactions all together. These are some tips to keep in mind when you are researching a contractor to give you the best possible experience…[more Right Contractor]

Additional Contractor Hiring Resources & General Home Improvement Information: Cut The Contractor Loose | The Perfect Roof | Inspect Your Inspector | Home Inspection Expectations | Do The Fixer Upper Math | Home Inspection Zen | Five Home Improvements | Home Repair Projects | Fix Your Fixer Upper

If you have dealt with contractors, you have probably heard the same lies I have. They erupt from their mouths as rationale for their questionable behavior and unreasonable demands. They are often accompanied by "righteous indignation" that anyone would question this contractor’s forthrightness.

Here, in no particular order of deceitfulness, are four of them.

It’s a standard agreement

Sure it is.  It’s your standard agreement that requires the property owner to give away the store and that doesn’t require the contractor to complete the job in a workmanlike manner or, for that matter, even complete it at all.  The "standard agreement" does require you to pay, though.

One electrician who did work on a property of a landlord I know had a "standard agreement" that didn’t even require him to clean up his mess or repair the wall he put holes in for the wiring.

Everybody does it that way

I certainly hope they don’t, because if everybody did it that way, buildings would be falling down all over the country.  Those are the words you hear when you ask about the corners the contractor cut to get the job done cheaper. Because contractors always "did it that way" we have building codes.  Those building codes were not instituted because every contractor was meticulous in his work.  They were instituted because of the work that goes along with "everybody does it that way."

I need the money up front

Then you don’t need to work on my property.  You get paid when you are finished and the work is done properly.  Not getting paid should not be a problem for a contractor because of contractors’ lien laws, which can result in a lien on the property they worked on if the owner doesn’t pay.  If the contractor doesn’t have the money or credit to buy the necessary equipment to do the job, that should raise a crimson flag.