When it comes to maintaining your home, some people are handy and others find the easiest home repairs to be a major challenge. In fact, some homeowners may find that doing repairs to their property may only lead to making a bad situation worse and actually increase their expenses even further.

For those individuals that are less than handy, hiring a handyman to do home repairs is a wise move. Most handymen have a philosophy of “No job too small”, meaning that no matter what mundane task you have in your home they are more than happy to help out. Some people find it is easiest to have their local handyman come fix a variety of small items around their house on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Simply a maintain a running list of home repairs and the next time your handyman comes to visit all of the items will be checked off your list.

The skill set of the handyman will vary from individual to individual. However, most are fully skilled in a variety of trades. Depending on the person, this may run the gamut from plumbing to electrical to carpentry to flooring installation. In all cases, you should hire a professional handyman who does this as a career and not simply someone interested in doing odd jobs on an occasional basis.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind when hiring a handyman for your home repair projects.

Ask For References

Any professional handyman should be able to provide potential clients with a list of references. Be sure to ask for such a list and take the time to call a few of the references.

Be Clear About the Price

It is always better to hire a handyman on a per-project rather than per-hour basis. Further, make certain that required materials are included in the price and get your estimate in writing.

Establish a Realistic Timeline

Once you hire your handyman, be sure that you are both on the same page when it comes to the timeline for the project. Try to be realistic with the handyman, but if you have a particular deadline that you must meet (for example, you are hosting a party in two weeks) be sure to indicate that as well so that the project stays on schedule.

Keep It Professional

While you may be tempted to hire the unemployed neighbor or your distant cousin for some handyman work, this is typically not advised. You want to keep this strictly professional and once you introduce friendships or family relationships into the process, you may end up with hard feelings if the handyman project goes off track.

References: Hiring a Handyman By BringItHome available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.