Quote:
Originally Posted by Kensei
Thanks for the suggestions, all! I'll let you know what I decide. My instinct is always DIY, but having a day job rather slows the whole process down.
Eh, everything is working out, but buying an older home is always going to have its pitfalls. Just glad we were able to force the seller to close without having to actually file suit. Against them, anyway. The selling agent told the contractor who prepped the property for sale to file an illegitimate lien on the house to halt our closing, so that's something to pursue separately.
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When I need odd jobs done that I don't have time for I run an ad on Craigslist. Let me be upfront and tell you Craigslist is filled with stupid people that want to do that work on your home. You have been warned. After doing this hundreds of times I can offer some tips to weed out the stupid people.
Run your ad title to say something specific "Need basement demoed, sheetrock, carpet, framing (whatever else you need)
In the body of the ad put in very specific demands and questions. Be very detailed about what you need.
Ask very specific questions. "If you are interested please reply to this ad with your name, number, when you are available to quote the work, and the experience you have with doing demo work." Ask more questions than this, and have them respond to more questions as well. Do NOT put your number in the ad. Use Craigslist email to hide who you are.
You will get 50 replies easily. 80% of them wont answer your questions so just delete them. Some will give you a copy/paste response. Delete those. For the people that actually respond correctly call them and see if they answer. If not, leave a voicemail and see how long they take to call back. If it takes too long don't let them quote it.
It can be a little bit of work but you can save quite a bit of money. Hiring a GC means you are paying him and his crew, and he's using the same people responding to your ad. Using this on Craigslist has allowed me to meet some very good skilled workers. There has been a couple times (in several years) I got some bad eggs still but they can be fired and you do it again. I can weed people out via email and then in person easily now.
Be warned most of these people are not insured. Pick your jobs accordingly. Meaning don't hire a roofer that doesn't have insurance. Demo isn't a big deal but still some risk. If you don't want that risk then this is not for you. Hire a GC and pay double. The benefit is if you find a good skilled worker you are putting money directly in his pocket which will help them out greatly. Then you have someone you can refer out to other people which helps them out more. Many of the people on Craigslist I have hired work for a company in that field and they are doing side work (for much cheaper)
Demo is an easy diy but extremely labor intensive. If you dont have the right tools it might be cheaper just to hire it out. Recip saw, sledge hammer, pry bar, blades, trash bags, masks, clothes are just some of the things you need. Good luck.
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