First Housing Development Corporation of Florida

We live in a social world and we not only ask our peers about experiences we also look up reviews online.  First Housing is a company that takes pride in working with amazing General Contractors and building a rapport with them.  While asking many of our clients how they choose a General Contractor, here is a short list of what they told us.  

1.    Ask People you know
Let friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors know the project that you are looking into doing.  Ask them for referrals.  If your neighbor had their roof re-done a year ago, they would be the perfect candidate to ask on who they would recommend.  Majority of People like to receive on average 3 quotes before selecting the General Contractor.  Also, these friends and relatives will also be honest to you about who not to use.  Why they did not choose the other 2 General Contractor Candidates.  You do not want re-doing your home to be a night mare.  There are many problems that arise when re-doing a home, so ask the General Contractor about issues and how they would handle them.  You are re-doing your roof and they find there is a hole in some trusses, what do they do and how would they handle it?  Make up some different scenarios and ask because the more you know about them, the better it will be for both parties. 

2.    Test out those Referrals
Look closely at the credentials of the General Contractor list you received from the people you know.  How does their website look? Are they local? What is their cost of doing business?  Do they have a landline or just a mobile number? Are they a national company?  Are the contractors and sub-contractors state-certified?  These are all important questions to find out about each of your candidates.  You may have to do your research to find out these questions, but trust us, it will pay off in the end to do research in the beginning.   Each type of work does require different certifications.  If they are installing your new roof and certified in electrical work, this does not qualify them as being state certified in your current job.  Yes, they have a state certification, but not on the job you need them for. 

3.    Interview them
If they are worth doing the job, they would love to sit down and talk to you and discuss your upcoming project.  Remember to have at least 3 candidates in mind, so when you talk to the first one, if you do not like something you can move on quickly.   While interviewing them- do they seem interested in your project? Do they seem to care about what you are asking to be done? Did they ask you questions on what your expectations, budget and overall outcome is?  Ask for pictures of previous projects- does it look like quality work?  Don’t be fooled by one picture of a beautiful remodel, ask to see several and in the job you are requesting to be completed.  Ask if the project was completed on-time and on-budget? If the answer is no, ask why?  Read reviews of the company online after the interview. 
 

This is your project - make sure the contractors you are selecting have the experience with completing on time, they are efficient and stay within your budget constraints before signing on the doted line.