How Much Down Payment Should I Deposit with a Contractor? Part 2
Again, the choice to work to the letter of the law is one to be decided by you and your contractor considering the different aspects of the work to be done.
3. Always work with some kind of written and agreed upon work schedule.
It really shouldn’t matter who you are contracting, whether it is someone you know or a new contractor, the habit of documenting the works to be done is something you have to pick up.
This is multifaceted in benefits.
This will define the project scope and milestones.  It’s with this that you can use to structure out payments based on deliverables.
A document like this brings in more flexibility and ideas of how to actually relate with the contractor, ideas like sourcing the materials together with the contractor. A schedule will define how much of what is needed and when, some savvy owners we have worked with prefer buying the materials by themselves and only pay the contractor their labor costs.
Beyond that, you easily know if work is on schedule or if the quality is as agreed. You then can chart the next course of action based on actual knowledge.
Answering the question then. How much to deposit with a contractor as a down payment is something every property owner has to decide with his contractor considering how well you know the person or company you are dealing with, how you choose to work with your local state and importantly the details and the scope of the work as defined by you and your contractor.
There are many uncertainties; the onus of protecting your downside squarely falls on you.
We have succeeded in the last decades managing properties in Los Angeles because we assume this headache from property owners. If you are a property owner, commercial or residential, hiring a property manager like our company lays the ground for you to get better value when dealing with contractors.
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