When hiring a contractor, you should always get multiple
bids and work with someone who has a proven track record; preferably someone
who comes with good references.
Not if you are me though.
If you are me, you will do the exact opposite of that.
Here is How It Begins….
I, of course, did not listen to my real estate investing
mentor (just like he said I wouldn’t). Instead of listening to what I had been
told, I went off the beaten path and hired a “friend” to do the work to fix up
my very first ever real estate investment property.
In the beginning, everything was both hunky and dorey. He
seemed professional enough, and as he outlined his scope of work, he assured me
that his work (and his prices) could not be beat.
We will chalk that up to lie number one.
But of course, it wasn’t enough that I had to go down thanks
to the contractor from hell. That wasn’t good enough for me. I had to take Ms.
Lowball with me.
Within a short period of time, Ms. Lowball also hired our
good buddy to finish construction on her half burned down house – a fire that
was started by one of her dogs a few months back. True
story. I shit you not!
We also hired the same “friend” to work on my personal home
as Ms. Lowball was moving in, because (while I was away for work), Ms. Lowball had
somehow managed to flood my house.
The woman is like a human wrecking ball.
Before signing the contract with my good ol’ buddy, he
assured me that he had plenty of workers to finish the jobs on time. (Lie #2)
and that I would receive itemized invoices for each service provided (And #3).
So, naturally, I penned a check for half of the work….upfront.
I should have seen trouble brewing on the horizon when Ms.
Lowball and I were leaving for work one morning, only to find a very surly
subcontractor at our front door. Irate, the sub approached me and threated to
go in the house and tear up the $750 worth of drywall and paint he had done due
to non-payment. (I am pretty sure that brings us up to lie #4)
Wait.
What?
I was perplexed, to say the least, since I had written a
check for $2,700 the week prior, to cover 50 percent of the work on my personal
home. Why weren’t people getting paid on time?
Well, that’s what Ms. Lowball and I were about to find out….
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment