I have a vacant lot I purchased a couple of years ago as a strike off property and I’m ready to build on it but I’m having a hard time locating builders or General Contractors. I live in the Denton, Texas area. Denton is a suburb of Dallas, about 25 miles north. Any help would be appreciated.
I’ve checked with the local Lowes and Home Depots but they no longer give recommendations due to liability issues.
Thanks
Greg
Really? The contractors here are hungry for work. Is there so much building going on ion Texas that they are all booked up?
I hire contractors on word of mouth. If my friends liked their work, I will give them a try. If I like their work, I stick with them.
There should be some sort of contractor’s licensing board where complaints will be recorded, and where you can check to make sure licenses, bonding, and insurance are all current. Find out how to access that and check before you hire any one.
Another posibility, if you get desoperate is to look for houses you really like and go and pull the building permits and see who built them.
Something else to check. The local blueprint places here keep job bid boards where you can post your jobs and the contractors and sub contracters bid on them.
It will be harder to check their references if you aren’t hiring them with a referal, but you can still check them out before hiring.
Wow. I find it difficult that you cannot find GC’s in times like these!
Forget Home Depot and Lowes. In my area no self respecting contractor does business with either of these places.
What you need to find is a good old fashion lumber yard. They are around, but they cater to the professional builder. No REAL contractor is going to waste his time picking out 300 2X4’s at Home Depot. They just call their lumber yard and they have it delivered to the site.
These places are a GOLD MINE for referals. What I would suggest is find one near you and go down there an open your own account. Have a salesman show you around and let him sell you. Tell him your a real estate investor and you have some projects coming up that you MIGHT consider using them on. This single phrase will light off that saleman’s “go get it” gene, then ask him if the he or a manager can recommend a few GOOD reliable contractors for your project. Tell them you’ll buy every stick of lumber from them as long as their competive, and you’ll see what REAL customer service is like.
Home Depot and Lowes are for Homeowners. Don’t ever forget that.
I go in there, I even buy things there. But when it comes to BIG purchases like a house worth of lumber, sheet rock, roofing, or special order items… go where the pro’s go.