* this post is sponsored by HomeGig*
We’re in a busy season of life with two little girls, school, and all their extra curricular activities that come with this stage of parenthood. There just isn’t enough time to tackle house projects ourselves the way we’re used to but that doesn’t mean that the need to tackle them has gone away – in fact, it’s quite the opposite, they’re piling up! In order to stay on top of our never-ending to-do list, we’ve been hiring out our projects more than we have in the past but the scary part is not knowing who you’re hiring and what their work is like.
We learned our lesson the hard way earlier this year. We contracted a local landscaper through a word of mouth referral to re-sod our backyard and our experience with him was less than great. While the project turned out good (thankfully!) in the end, his punctuality, communication, and the exchange of money made it a nerve-wracking experience and needless to say, we won’t be hiring him again.
Right off the bat his communication was spotty. He requested a partial payment from us up front to buy materials (understandable) but after he no-showed the day he said he’d start and a few subsequent days of radio silence, we started to get worried. After persistent texting from me and my husband, we finally got a response from him but the cat and mouse game continued. He’d say he’d show up on a certain day / time but would no-show and then other days, he’d show up completely unannounced. It went on like that for weeks and we kind of just felt like we were at his mercy the entire time. The job took much longer than he initially quoted but at that point, we had already invested a good chunk of money into this project so we rode the wave and just hoped that he’d follow through and not take our money and run.
After that bad experience, we learned about HomeGig – a new platform that allows homeowners to advertise their home projects (for free) and in return, a network of seasoned pros are able to provide quotes for the job – all in one easy place! There’s no fees, no spammy phone calls or text messages, just a great way to save yourself time and money with the confidence in knowing you’re connecting with skilled tradesmen. All payments to the pro are held in escrow until the work is complete, so there’s nothing to worry about – seriously!
Had we used HomeGig we would’ve had more confidence throughout the duration of our backyard project. Not only because the pros on HomeGig are vetted and reviewed by others in your surrounding area but also because HomeGig holds your payment to the pros in escrow until the job is completed and the home owner is satisfied with the outcome. I really wish we had known about HomeGig prior to hiring out our landscaping project because I’m sure we would’ve had a much better experience all around.
We’ve got a slew of home projects coming up and not much free time to tackle them so you know who we’ll be turning to: HomeGig.