How to Compare and Select the RIGHT Saint Cloud MN General Contractor for Your Home Remodeling Projects—
Taking Just 3 Minutes to Read this Article
Could Save You Thousands of Dollars
You made the decision to remodel your home. Congratulations! Whether your home improvement project is a bathroom remodeling, kitchen upgrade, basement finishing, an addition, or any combination thereof, home remodeling is sure to improve the look and feel of your home.
Undertaking a remodel is very exciting. Plus, an added benefit of your remodeling investment is that it will increase your home’s value. This means you get both a short and a long term result for your money. The short term result is your day to day enjoyment, while the long term one is the financial payback you’ll receive down the road when you sell your property. That’s A LOT more than what you get from an investment in a new car. (Not that new cars are a bad thing, they just don’t hold their value over time like home improvements do.)
When done right, home remodeling is a great investment! When done wrong — shoddy workmanship, cheap materials, cutting corners — it is not.
We’ve all heard horror stories about incompetent contractors and, even worse, contractors who steal people’s money. These types of stories just get my goat. In fact, I was shocked, embarrassed and downright angry to find out that, according to the Better Business Bureau of MN/ND, complaints in 2011 against general contractors ranked #6 and construction and remodeling services complaints ranked #5 (up from #7 in 2011).
I always do the job right and treat my customers very well. That’s how my dad ran the business when he owned it and that’s how he taught me to run it when I took over back in 2006. Because of this honest and fair approach, I operate a top-notch construction business in central MN. In fact, we are celebrating our 38th year in business!
My Advice for You
There’s something that concerns me very much that I want to share with you today. You see, I’ve noticed over the years that some people would rather hire a less than reputable contractor to do their jobs – usually because they are quoted less money.
I’m all for competition, excellent workmanship, good pricing and ethical business. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why I’m a board member for the Central MN Builder’s Association (CMBA). They have a code of professional conduct that is in place to protect you!
But back to my concern. I want you to know that it bothers me to see good people risk their hard-earned money on contractors who are, well… just not very talented or competent. You know, like the ones who end up on the wrong side of the BBB, and the ones who cause many people to get slightly nervous when thinking about hiring a contractor.
Now, I enjoy helping and educating homeowners about how to choose their general contractor. That’s why I created an evaluation checklist with a set of standards to help you choose the right contractor for your project. This high set of construction standards will allow you to judge whether or not a contractor is qualified to do your job.
One example of the high standards I outline on this checklist is that you are entitled to know EXACTLY what you are getting for the price quoted. The only way for you to know this is to get an extremely detailed bid. This process takes a lot of time and costs a contractor money. This is the very reason why those contractors who are less than trust-worthy will not give you all the details you deserve in their bid. Often this is when they resort to unethical sales tactics and begin pressuring and manipulating you to buy from them even though you don’t fully understand what you are getting for your money. This stuff drives me crazy!
Knowing what construction standards to look for and evaluating ALL contractors by these standards is key. And, as I stated earlier, you want to know this information before you hire a contractor, not after. Why? Because this one step can save you thousands of dollars and much pain and suffering during your construction project.
Seriously… take my word for it and research all contractors BEFORE you hire him or her to do your work! My message is getting through to you, right? Do your research before — not during or after — work begins on your home improvement project. Promise yourself that you will not skip this step!
“Okay, Craig. Tell Me How to Decide Who to Hire.”
So, how do you go about choosing a Central MN General Contractor that can do your home remodeling project right? By looking for evidence that supports the qualities a contractor and his company claim to have.
What qualities should you look for in a Contractor? There are four that are most important. They are stability, reputation, professionalism, and workmanship. You noticed that cheap is not a quality on this list? Well there is a good reason for this. Because cheap is a terrible reason to hire a contractor for your remodel project. I’m certain that makes sense to you.
Before you hire ANY contractor to work on your home, INSIST that he or she shows you concrete evidence that they value the four qualities listed above. How can you do that? It’s easy, just give me a call and I’ll show you. Really, I will show you for free and with no strings attached. What’s more, I promise that you are not obligated in any way to me. I really just want the opportunity to help educate you some more on how to choose the best contractor for your home improvement, remodeling or custom construction project.
If you use the standards and the checklist I’ve been talking about, I guarantee your chances are excellent that you’ll know EXACTLY what you are getting out of your construction project for your hard-earned money. And that’s a very good thing!
Talk to you soon…
Respectfully,
Craig Schoenberg
2nd Generation Owner
Schoenberg Construction, Inc.
3040 36th Ave SE
St Cloud, MN 56304
(320) 252-0911
