Lessons I learned on how to be my own GC after being scammed. You have to be ON SITE, even if you trust your subs. There are sometimes hundreds of decisions that are being made and a lot of vendors don’t keep track of every detail. I told a landscaper once to trim my tree and he basically cut the whole thing down while I wasn’t looking. So, now I manage projects regularly and don’t have any work done while I am not at the property. I check in on progress regularly. Know the laws in your state- a contractor might tell you that you need to pay them 50% up front but in my state, that’s not legal. In CA, contractors are limited to a down payment of 10% of the total contract price OR $1000, whichever is less. Double check what your rights are before you send a check to anyone! Join a local FB group and search their name/company info to see what local folks are saying about them. Online reviews are always helpful, but sometimes your local FB groups will tell you an ever bigger story. Sometimes vendors change their company name once they’ve ruined their reputation, so locals will be the first to sniff it out and warn everyone. How a contractor treats you (does he show up on time, is he responsive, does he flake on you) is how he will treat your project. I gave people a LOT of passes (kid was sick, car stopped working, wind blew something off my roof, my other client called with an emergency, cousin who I’m not close with who lives in another state died, neighbor needed a ride to the doctor’s office and the appointment was three hours, etc.) but I learned pretty quickly that if you don’t care about your project vendors will treat you like a door mat. If a vendor gives you an extremely high quote compared to other comps, they simply don’t want the project and are only willing to take it on if you pay them a ridiculous amount of money. It might be the fact that they don’t like you OR they don’t want to work on your roof in the windy winter months, but either way I would avoid working with that sub because they really don’t care about your project. #homereno #homerenovation #diy