Quote:
Originally Posted by jspchief
You aren't gonna get money from the guy. Your best bet is hoping your bank has some fraud protection.
And don't give advances to contractors. If they say they need materials, go to their supplier and pay for materials. But the reality is, good contractors will already have a line of credit with their supplier. If they weren't able to establish a good relationship with their supplier for credit, what does that say about how they operate their business?
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I have good credit with my suppliers but if I install $2k worth of material and then a client decides not to pay or that other bills are more important I'm left holding the bag. That's why I bill as we go. I'm waiting on $1800 from a project we completed in August for a friend. They decided to spend their money on some other family emergency and figured that since we were friends that I wouldn't mind waiting a few months. I don't always buy stuff from suppliers either. For example, I'm doing a $7k bathroom right now for a client who only has $4k. That means I have to buy his stuff from auctions, Habitat, or craigslist to find some bargains and compete the work when we have available holes in our schedule. I don't always work on half million dollar homes where clients have $20k sitting in their bank account to pay me. Sometimes I have to take risks with clients and no matter how well we know each other, I'm going to make every effort to cover my ass and let you cover your ass as well.