So You Wanna Be Your Own General Contractor

We all watch them. HGTV, DIY, TLC, A&E, they all have one thing in common, home improvement shows. Everyone will watch Richard and Ginger do it with ease. They all see Armando and family do it with out too much trouble. Even that really nice guy on Extreme Makeover Home Edition can do it and in only 1 week! DON'T BE FOOLED! Did you ever hear the old adage " The man that represents himself in court has a fool for a client"? When someone decides to be his or her own Contractor, that person is assuming a large risk. Without professional guidance or a contracting consultant you can and probably will lose lots of money. What you do not see on tv are all the headaches, the yelling and the aggravation that goes along with the job. There is a skill to the job. That skill is developed from years of experience, learning from mistakes and multi tasking. Think of it this way, the first time you played baseball, did you hit a home run? The first time you got on a bike, did you fall off? The first time you roller skated, did you fall? Did you ever do anything for the first time and do it as good as a professional? probably not. When you play contractor on your own home remodeling project, you will make mistakes. Those mistakes will cost you and the cost will probably run into the thousands of dollars. If you do decide that this is something you need to do, the best and safest way is to hire a consultant. With the consultant you can go over schedules, permits, ask questions when ever needed, what materials are the right materials and even go over the contracts of the subcontractors. But, keep in mind that when you do decide to be your own contractor, you will have to be on site every day all day. Doesn't that sound fun? No, it's not. It's alot of work. Just as you would not represent yourself in a two hundred thousand dollar lawsuit, you shouldn't play contractor on a two hundred thousand dollar house. Leave the accounting for the accountants and the contracting to the contractors.

Robert
www.peakimprovements.com