One of the most interesting parts about being a homeowner is the freedom to remodel your home as you wish. As freeing as this may sound, remodelling a home isn’t something you wake up, decide to do, and everything works out. Unless you have extensive experience with remodeling or renovating houses, you should probably hire someone to handle the dirty work for you.

But how do you find a contractor who is cooperative, will work with your budget and wants nothing more than to see a beautiful new roof over your head? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Ask Homeowners in Your Neighborhood

If you’re completely clueless about remodelling, a great place to start is to ask the neighbours. Create a list of about 10 to 15 contractors who have the right expertise. It should be relatively easy to rule out contractors who won’t work for you by looking at their portfolio. If they make it hard to see their past work, walk away. Other red flags you should look out for include the lack of a social media presence or few to no reviews on any of their work.

Make sure they have a license and/or certification

Another amazing tool to use to narrow down the list of contractors is to ask for licensing and/or certification. Legal requirements differ by state, but every state does have laws around home remodelling. If you’re not sure what the requirements are, exactly, give your local state licensing division and ask for specifics. A license is a great way to ensure the job done is safe, legal and insured.

Check their references

References are the way you get in touch with people that the contractor has worked with in the past. It’s a common practice in the industry for past clients to permit their phone numbers and names to be used in the future. Select a few references from the list and make some time to call them.

Discuss your budget

Professional contractors aren’t afraid to discuss money matters. Break down the project into multiple phases, if necessary,

If necessary, break the project down into multiple phases. Although this may increase the total cost due to repetitious start-up expenses and inflation, it may also be a better option for you to spread out the cost over time. Homeowners can often save money by doing some tasks on their own, such as cleaning and painting.