Choosing a contractor online

We get a lot of questions from people asking us how to find a contractor in their area. The nature of the construction business really requires local connections to find reliable, quality contractors for your home improvement projects. Since we are based in South Texas we're naturally limited to giving specific recommendations to our area. For that reason we tend to steer people toward the major online contractor review and selection sites that we know and trust. We've used all 3 of the below sites for work done on our own home and can personally attest to their value.

 As you can see no one service has it all. That’s why we recommend pairing the competitive bids of Service Magic with the consumer protection benefits of an Angie’s List membership. 

There are really two different business models here. Service Magic and Reliable Remodeler are pretty much identical though the number of partner contractors varies. If one doesn’t have enough contractors in your area, try the other. They collect leads from homeowners looking for work and make money by charging contractors for the right to bid.

We contacted Service Magic for a replacement HVAC and within 1 hour had 4 very competitive bids. We also contacted other HVAC contractors in our local phone book. In the end, the most competitive bid through Service Magic was 30% lower than any other bid we could find.

This brings us to Angie’s list. As you might, we had misgivings about selecting a contractor for such an expensive project online without any references. While Service Magic provides user reviews we wanted some sort of independent verification.

Angie’s List provides just such a service. Their business model is based off charging a small monthly fee to consumers to have access to unbiased user reviews of local contractors. This model assures you that your best interest is in mind rather than the contractors. If you’re planning on spending thousands on a project, you really can’t afford to not pay the small fee to access this information.

Using the net to find a contractor online doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, if you follow our method you’ll find it quite empowering.

1. Get quotes for your project through Service Magic or Reliable Remodeler

2. Signup for Angie’s List and verify the contractor’s reputation

3. Accept a bid and save money!

Hope this helps.

Your team at InformedBuilding.com