Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Commentory on"CONSUMER ALERT: Contractor took the money, and apparently ran."
The Sunday Globe (Boston) two weeks ago had an article that made me stop and look twice. It was entitled CONSUMER ALERT: Contractor took the money, and apparently ran.
AT first glance you see that headline and what do you say to yourself? “Oh no, those poor people!” That’s what I say too, but then again these people could have prevented this form happening to themselves.
One of the very first things we do is to try and educate our potential client about the pitfalls of committing their time, home, and money to the wrong people. As anyone who had ever talked to us knows we spend a lot of time going thru the steps every homeowner should address with potential partners for their project. From getting current copies of licenses and insurance, to reading the contract and checking the state website for any current information that might be available.
In this Q & A article the homeowner says that they hired a “friend” of two co-works, gave him and $9,000 upfront to purchase the materials “to get a discount”, but after the project never got started and he stop returning their calls, then found out that he was not registered with the state, and wants to know what to do.
Unfortunately we hear this all the time, and we loose jobs to these guys when homeowners get sucked into the thought of getting the cheapest price possible. Well, that thinking just cost them an additional $9,000.00 this is the thing that gives us all a bad name, but until homeowners stop buying into it will never change. Whoever they hired gave them a low-ball price because he didn’t know his costs, and or never intended on doing the project because he isn’t a real contractor.
The Globe writer does a good job of going on to explain just what we always tell clients upfront. You can’t really do anything if you hired an unlicensed person. The state does have $10,000 available thru a state fund in the event of a loss to a contractor (which is funded by fees paid into by all registered and licensed contractors each year), but you must have hired a registered contractor or be eligible for access to the fund. As rightly so, since we are the ones funding the money.
The article goes on to quote Barbara Anthony, the undersecretary of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation “Our mantra at the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations is to only deal with registered home-improvement contractors”
The article also did a good job of reminding homeowners that in Massachusetts a contractor cannot take more than a third of the project price upfront (unless there are special order items, and they can take enough to cover those costs). That’s one of the main reasons Almar clients have so many progress payments in our contract. You’re never too far ahead of us and we are never to far ahead of you.
The article didn’t address some other red flags that we always point out: Never let a contractor tell you to pull the permit. If they aren’t willing to do it, there is a reason, and if you pull the permit you will then become liable for them and their work.
Just remember a deal isn’t always the lowest price. The bottom line is almost never just about money. Who you are working with, where they come from, how long they’ve been in business, how professional they are, and their ability to be here for years to come often will save you way more money then by hiring the lowest price guy. There’s a reason he’s so much cheaper then people who know what they are doing.
And remember that for most people their house is their largest asset! Why hire the cheapest, unlicensed and unprofessional contractor to entrust that asset to? You wouldn’t put your money in an uninsured bank, or hire a lawyer who didn’t have a law degree, or a doctor without a medical license.
If you’d like more information and tips about how to protect yourself and save yourself thousands of dollars while planning your next remodeling project then request my FREE REPORT: The 6 "Secrets" to the Perfect Custom Remodel of Your Home.
AT first glance you see that headline and what do you say to yourself? “Oh no, those poor people!” That’s what I say too, but then again these people could have prevented this form happening to themselves.
One of the very first things we do is to try and educate our potential client about the pitfalls of committing their time, home, and money to the wrong people. As anyone who had ever talked to us knows we spend a lot of time going thru the steps every homeowner should address with potential partners for their project. From getting current copies of licenses and insurance, to reading the contract and checking the state website for any current information that might be available.
In this Q & A article the homeowner says that they hired a “friend” of two co-works, gave him and $9,000 upfront to purchase the materials “to get a discount”, but after the project never got started and he stop returning their calls, then found out that he was not registered with the state, and wants to know what to do.
Unfortunately we hear this all the time, and we loose jobs to these guys when homeowners get sucked into the thought of getting the cheapest price possible. Well, that thinking just cost them an additional $9,000.00 this is the thing that gives us all a bad name, but until homeowners stop buying into it will never change. Whoever they hired gave them a low-ball price because he didn’t know his costs, and or never intended on doing the project because he isn’t a real contractor.
The Globe writer does a good job of going on to explain just what we always tell clients upfront. You can’t really do anything if you hired an unlicensed person. The state does have $10,000 available thru a state fund in the event of a loss to a contractor (which is funded by fees paid into by all registered and licensed contractors each year), but you must have hired a registered contractor or be eligible for access to the fund. As rightly so, since we are the ones funding the money.
The article goes on to quote Barbara Anthony, the undersecretary of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation “Our mantra at the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations is to only deal with registered home-improvement contractors”
The article also did a good job of reminding homeowners that in Massachusetts a contractor cannot take more than a third of the project price upfront (unless there are special order items, and they can take enough to cover those costs). That’s one of the main reasons Almar clients have so many progress payments in our contract. You’re never too far ahead of us and we are never to far ahead of you.
The article didn’t address some other red flags that we always point out: Never let a contractor tell you to pull the permit. If they aren’t willing to do it, there is a reason, and if you pull the permit you will then become liable for them and their work.
Just remember a deal isn’t always the lowest price. The bottom line is almost never just about money. Who you are working with, where they come from, how long they’ve been in business, how professional they are, and their ability to be here for years to come often will save you way more money then by hiring the lowest price guy. There’s a reason he’s so much cheaper then people who know what they are doing.
And remember that for most people their house is their largest asset! Why hire the cheapest, unlicensed and unprofessional contractor to entrust that asset to? You wouldn’t put your money in an uninsured bank, or hire a lawyer who didn’t have a law degree, or a doctor without a medical license.
If you’d like more information and tips about how to protect yourself and save yourself thousands of dollars while planning your next remodeling project then request my FREE REPORT: The 6 "Secrets" to the Perfect Custom Remodel of Your Home.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
It's Time to Conqer McCoy
The American Lung Association’s (ALA) Asthma Walk & Stair Climb is about to happen. On June 12th at 1:00pm hundreds of people will team up to help raise money for research and development so the ALA can continue to fight for a cure for Asthma and other related respiratory disease, and I need your help and support.Why is this so important to me?
Here’s a short answer to the question. Fifth grade was big year for me. We moved twice. We left the only home I had know in Holbrook in October to move to a beach house in Hummarock for a few months while my parent built their dream house. Finally, in February we moved into the new house in Hanson. Fifth grade was also the year that I, in the middle of this turmoil, was diagnosed with Asthma.
Now, I am sure the signs and symptoms had been there for many years but one afternoon during recess it finally hit. My airways constricted and cut off my oxygen. I only vaguely remember what happened…I may have even just lay down in the middle of the field but I remember people yelling and calling for help. Then being in the nurse’s office waiting for my grandmother to come pick me up. I don’t remember going to the doctor or getting a diagnosis that first time and all the other trips really seem to blend together but I know it changed me. I grew up, because it was really life or death, and none of my family or friends really understood what “asthma” meant until I was living with it and still trying to be a 10-year-old girl.
I remember trips to the hospital and waiting rooms, and passing out one time in the doctor’s office, because inhaling so they could listen to my lungs was just too much for my body to take. Years of prescription steroids (and the bloating that goes along with that), and different inhalers, and Christmas in Children’s Hospital. I knew the drill, I knew my health insurance ID number off the top of my head, I could recite the list of questions the ER would ask at check in and which blood tests and pulmonary function tests would come next.
The hardest thing was not what I couldn’t do or was too scared to do but that people just didn’t understand Asthma. Anyone who had ever gotten out of breath because they ran to hard or danced to long used to tell me they had asthma and ask “What was the big deal? Lots of people have asthma.” You just can’t understand the terror of not being able to walk to the bathroom because you can’t take a breath. And it was hard for me to understand how laughing was so easy for the people in the “studio audience” on T.V.
Asthma isn’t a “Sexy” disease. You don’t see big stars hosting lavish dinners to raise money on E!. The ALA can’t spend millions of dollars in TV commercials just to get people to the walk in this event. They have me and the other 23 million people who have difficulty breathing because of Asthma.
Everyday in America:
40,000 people miss work or school due to asthma
30,000 people have an asthma attack
5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma
1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma
11 people die from asthma.
There are many resources available to people living with asthma and their loved ones only because of the ALA and their fundraising efforts through events like the Asthma Walk & Conquer McCoy.
My family and I are thankful for these resources and the research and development everyday. I still take medication everyday to control my asthma and have learned to listen to my body so I can sense an attack coming. With your help the ALA can continue their work and maybe save another 10-year-old girl and her family from the pain of this disease.
I invite you to join our team (Almar’s Asthma Avengers) and walk with us on June 12th, or support us financially if you cannot walk.
Now, I am sure the signs and symptoms had been there for many years but one afternoon during recess it finally hit. My airways constricted and cut off my oxygen. I only vaguely remember what happened…I may have even just lay down in the middle of the field but I remember people yelling and calling for help. Then being in the nurse’s office waiting for my grandmother to come pick me up. I don’t remember going to the doctor or getting a diagnosis that first time and all the other trips really seem to blend together but I know it changed me. I grew up, because it was really life or death, and none of my family or friends really understood what “asthma” meant until I was living with it and still trying to be a 10-year-old girl.
I remember trips to the hospital and waiting rooms, and passing out one time in the doctor’s office, because inhaling so they could listen to my lungs was just too much for my body to take. Years of prescription steroids (and the bloating that goes along with that), and different inhalers, and Christmas in Children’s Hospital. I knew the drill, I knew my health insurance ID number off the top of my head, I could recite the list of questions the ER would ask at check in and which blood tests and pulmonary function tests would come next.
The hardest thing was not what I couldn’t do or was too scared to do but that people just didn’t understand Asthma. Anyone who had ever gotten out of breath because they ran to hard or danced to long used to tell me they had asthma and ask “What was the big deal? Lots of people have asthma.” You just can’t understand the terror of not being able to walk to the bathroom because you can’t take a breath. And it was hard for me to understand how laughing was so easy for the people in the “studio audience” on T.V.
Asthma isn’t a “Sexy” disease. You don’t see big stars hosting lavish dinners to raise money on E!. The ALA can’t spend millions of dollars in TV commercials just to get people to the walk in this event. They have me and the other 23 million people who have difficulty breathing because of Asthma.
Everyday in America:
40,000 people miss work or school due to asthma
30,000 people have an asthma attack
5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma
1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma
11 people die from asthma.
There are many resources available to people living with asthma and their loved ones only because of the ALA and their fundraising efforts through events like the Asthma Walk & Conquer McCoy.
My family and I are thankful for these resources and the research and development everyday. I still take medication everyday to control my asthma and have learned to listen to my body so I can sense an attack coming. With your help the ALA can continue their work and maybe save another 10-year-old girl and her family from the pain of this disease.
I invite you to join our team (Almar’s Asthma Avengers) and walk with us on June 12th, or support us financially if you cannot walk.
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