Many customers wish they have done more digging into a contractor’s past before picking them. Now, some innovators are aiming to help people avoid the same predicament. Chris Chmura reports.
In Livermore, Kim Cafaro is enjoying her sleek, newly remodeled kitchen.
“I love it because it’s sexy,” she said. But Cafaro dragged her feet beginning the project because she dreaded picking a contractor. “Not sexy at all,” she said.” “I had started this seven years ago and chickened out at the last minute.”
You really can’t blame her. The state contractor board says it receives about 20,000 complaints each year. It then revokes 30 to 60 contractor licenses each month. Every month. So, yes, Kim was spooked.
“I feel like when you’re meeting contractors, it’s not a lot before you’re like, ‘sure, i’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars,’” she said, “We want to believe the person we’re talking to has our best interest in mind, but do they really?”
But then, skeptical Kim says she discovered a new east bay business -- founded on skepticism.
“We know what questions to ask… the hard questions,” said Onn Matalon, co-founder of Renovation Bridge. He and co-founder Jacob Gabriel say they help homeowners like Kim -- and you -- weed out crooked or incompetent contractors.
“I originally came from a real estate background, so the same way a real estate agent will take a potential home buyer and show them multiple homes, we take people who are looking to renovate and show them multiple contractors to help them get the right fit,” Matalon said.
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Matalon says Renovation Bridge scrutinizes contractors before recommending them. First, some obvious, yet time-consuming research, like visiting job sites -- present and past. “When you talk to actual homeowners, everything gets revealed. You pull the whole curtain back,” Matalon said.
Matalon says they dig deeper: scanning court records to see if customers are suing the builder; asking about surety bonds and insurance; and checking if the builder’s cash flow is above board. We asked how they do that. “You follow the money,” Matalon said. “If the subcontractor says, ‘hey, i finished the flooring two weeks ago and haven’t gotten paid yet.’ red flag, red flag, red flag, red flag.”
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That level of vetting convinced Kim she could finally invest tens of thousands of dollars remodeling her home. “To me, it was really important to have a partner,” she said. Kim says she didn’t pay anything for that partnership, directly. Instead, Matalon says contractors pay them a finders fee, under a referral agreement.
Renovation Bridge isn’t the only company that sees opportunity in helping you bypass bad builders.
“Think of this like a wedding planner for your renovation,” said Liz Young, founder of Realm. It also helps homeowners renovate -- with vetted contractors. “I started Realm five years ago after I got ripped off while renovating,” Young said.
Young’s sour experience begged a nagging question. “Why is there nowhere to turn to for trustworthy guidance on what to do, who to work with, how much to spend,” she asked.
Fast forward five years. Young says Realm’s advisors have successfully connected thousands of California homeowners with vetted contractors. She says her business model is working. And she sees a blueprint for a permanent fixture in home renovation. “This changes this industry forever,” she said.
Data is another component here. For example, Realm says it stores contractors’ bids-- thousands of them. That archive can then help them help you determine if a builder is offering a fair quote or padding the price of a job.
So, what about a guarantee that your project will be successful? Neither business offers that, though they say they do see you through -- from start to finish – and are on hand to help tackle problems.
