How to Find the Best Trades People in Your Neighborhood
When you are looking to find a trades person, there are a lot of horror stories out there of workers who have used or caused problems for former clients. Reality is, while this does happen, it is few and far between. However, these stories often overshadow positive stories of other professionals.
To avoid potentially having a negative experience, here are a few tips to assist you in finding the best tradespeople in your neighborhood.
Conduct Face-to-Face Interviews when Possible
Try using Craigslist and professional trade magazines, along with Internet searches for a specific type of practice. Most are happy to take a little time and meet with potential clients, explain their practice and how their fees work. If they’re too busy to do this, move on to your next choice.
You’re also able to explain your situation in detail and set the right expectations, along with discussing any projected projects.
One thing that is not important when looking for a professional service vendor is a personality match. Do you want to seek out an accountant who is known to perform practical jokes, simply because you enjoy them? Probably not, odds are you want an accountant that takes their work seriously and who will focus on their task.
Gather Referrals from Existing Contacts
Once you have established a good relationship with a trades person, the odds are that they are going to know others that can assist you. It’s surprising how many trade referrals you can get from one or two vendors that work well for you.
The first time you engage a trades person, you’ll want to meet them, and have a face-to-face talk about what you are looking for, the possibility of future work, and what their areas of expertise are so that everyone starts off on the right foot. If you have a rental property, you’ll also want to gauge what impression the trades person is going to make on the tenants.
Listen to Your Instincts
If for some reason you do not feel comfortable or confident in a trades worker do not push yourself or feel as though you have to hire them simply out of convenience or not to want to waste anyone’s time.
Take note of your gut instincts and trust yourself. Odds are something would be off if you go through and hire them, against your instincts.
Take a Look at the Prospects in Your Neighborhood
This works well for finding landscapers, plumbers, and handymen, who tend to only work in one part of town or another. Take some time and drive around the immediate area where your property is situated and look for tradespeople in the middle of a project, then see if they don’t mind being interrupted to talk about your property just down the street.
With this method, it is also easier to contact the neighbor they were doing the work for to check for customer satisfaction. This is an especially good way to find excellent carpet cleaners and landscape.