3-2-1 Real Estate Ready: The contractors you'll need before you need them

This week's three insights from me, two quotes from others, one question to carry with you...

──────────────────────────

I.

Nobody chooses a plumber. They choose the first plumber who answers the phone on a Saturday with water on the floor. That's not a decision, it's a surrender, and it's how most people end up paying too much for work they can't evaluate from someone they'll never call again. I keep a list so I never have to make that call blind. There's a note at the end of this post if you'd like a copy of mine.

II.

So audition them on something small. A running toilet. A dead outlet. A gutter that needs clearing. Pay for a hundred-dollar job while nothing is urgent and watch how they handle it. Did they show up when they said? Did they explain the problem or just the price? Did they quote before they started? Did they try to sell you something bigger than what you called about? You learn more from one small job than from fifty reviews, and you learn it on a day when being wrong costs you a hundred dollars instead of five thousand.

III.

The bench worth building is short: a plumber, an electrician, someone for heating and air, a roofer, and a good handyman who can do the ten small things that aren't worth a specialist. Add a landscaper if your yard demands one. Find them the honest way, by asking the neighbor whose house always looks cared for who they use. And before anyone does meaningful work, verify the license with the state board and confirm they carry insurance, because in California an unlicensed contractor on a job of any real size is your problem, not theirs. Then keep the list somewhere you'll find it at seven on a Sunday morning. Five names in your phone is the difference between a bad afternoon and a bad month.

──────────────────────────

"Dig the well before you are thirsty."

— Chinese Proverb

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."

— Luke 16:10

──────────────────────────

ONE QUESTION TO CARRY WITH YOU:

Who would you call right now, and do you actually trust them?

──────────────────────────

MY VENDOR LIST

Fourteen years in Solano County. These are the trades I actually send my own clients to.

Want a copy? Reach out through 707.564.8888 and I'll send it over. Prefer it on paper for the kitchen drawer? Ask me to mail it and I will.

──────────────────────────

Thanks for reading,

Samuel Vera

DRE #01911575

Vera Co Real Estate Team | Rapisarda Real Estate

Between Wednesdays, I'm on Instagram at @samuelverarealtor

3-2-1 Real Estate Ready arrives every Wednesday. Past issues live at veracorealestate.com/3-2-1