"Contractors are evil"
- Take a $9,000 deposit and stop answering the phone
- Turn a 3-week bathroom into 4 months
- Charge $14,000 for a job with $3,800 of materials in it
But did you know one page of paper makes it impossible for a contractor to get paid for work that doesn't exist yet?
I've run 80+ renovations. A contractor has stolen from me exactly once, house number 4, $6,500. Every house since has used the same page. It's called a draw schedule, and it works on a bathroom remodel the same as it works on a flip:
THE RULE: nobody is paid for work that isn't done. No deposit. No "for materials." No "to hold the spot." The money moves after the work exists and I've stood in the room looking at it
THE PAGE, line by line:
1. Scope of work with the actual items. Not "renovate kitchen." "Remove existing cabinets. Install 14 white shaker cabinets, Lowe's, model number. 22 linear feet of laminate counter. Delta 2401 faucet." If it isn't written, it isn't in the price, and every "oh that's extra" dies before it's born
2. The price split into 4 draws tied to things I can see:
Draw 1 (25%): demo done, rough plumbing and electrical passed inspection
Draw 2 (25%): drywall, paint, doors hung
Draw 3 (25%): floors, kitchen, bathrooms installed
Draw 4 (25%): punch list done, final inspection passed, site clean
Each draw is paid within 24 hours of a walkthrough. Fast pay when it's done is the carrot. Zero pay before it's done is the stick
3. Materials on my card, delivered to the house. The contractor sends the list, I order it, it shows up at the address. He never holds my cash. A contractor who insists on buying materials himself is marking them up 30% or spending the deposit on his truck payment
4. A lien waiver with every check. One page, free, the state has a template. It says "I was paid
$X for this work and I release any claim on the house." Without it, a subcontractor he never paid can put a lien on the house 4 months later, and the house can't sell or refinance until it's cleared. That's the one that got me
5. $150 a day past the finish date, written in. I've never collected it once, because a contractor who signed it finishes on time
6. 10% held back until 14 days after the final inspection. That's when the leak under the new vanity shows up
BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING:
License number on the state contractor board website. Free, 2 minutes. No license, no job
Certificate of insurance emailed by HIS insurance agent, not a screenshot from his phone. An uninsured guy falls off the roof and the homeowner is the one who gets sued
Three bids on anything over $5,000. The middle one is usually right. The lowest one is the one who walks off in week 3
"No real contractor will sign that"
Every one of mine did. The good ones like it, because a written scope means no arguments and a 24-hour draw means they get paid faster than any homeowner pays them. The one who won't sign is the one who was going to take the deposit. He just said so for free
The guy who took my $6,500 wanted 50% up front "for materials." I said yes because I was 23 and he was nice. The page exists so nobody has to be nice
I will teach you how to flip houses. Link in my bio, fill out the form and I'll hit you back