When it was time to sell our beloved vacation home, my husband and I thought long and hard on ways to increase the resale value. The first thing that we did is beautify our home. We hired a landscaping company to make our front lawn immaculate; we even added additional plants and shrubs in our yard. Next, we added a fresh coat of paint to the exterior and interior of our vacation home. I thought it would be nice to add a fireplace to the living room. My husband was hesitant about the idea at first, until I convinced him that it would add more value to the home. The company that I contacted charged way beyond what we had expected to spend. We would have to take out a second mortgage on our home just to pay for what they were asking for.

So, we decided to hire a contractor that we found on a classified ad web forum. The price that the new contractor quoted was much lower than what we were planning to spend. Plus, he didn’t require a deposit upfront—this worked out quite well for us.

On the day that the contractor was suppose to arrive at our home, he never showed up. When I called his cell number, I kept getting a message …The prepaid subscriber that you are trying to reach can not be reached.

The next day, he finally called us and apologized for not making it. Apparently, he had a family emergency. At this point, we should have told him not to worry about coming …but of course, we didn’t. The gigantic hole he left in our living room wall cost us dearly.

After he knocked the hole in the wall, he said that he was going to take a quick lunch break. Well, he’s still on his lunch break because he never came back! We were better off hiring the company that I thought was beyond our budget.

The best advice that I can offer today is this:
When selecting a home improvement contractor, hire a legitimate one. Make sure that you ask for proper references and make sure that you verify their references. Before choosing a home improvement contractor, get at least 2 to 3 quotes from contractors. And make sure that you have a contract that shows the price that you agreed to and the extent of the home remodeling project.