HomeAdvisor.com is a popular site that spends a lot on marketing. So, are they a good resource for finding a contractor? My answer is that depends. So, let’s break it down.

Pros

• HomeAdvisor has some great content, though some of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
• There is no licensing of most contractors in Texas. You must have a license to sell a house but not build a house. The mechanical trades are licensed but there is zero oversite. The state has no mechanism for dealing with bad contractors. HomeAdvisor has some standards that must be met. A low bar is better than no bar.
• If you are going to use a contractor dating site, they are at least the biggest one.
• It is free to consumers. As in, “you get what you pay for.”

Cons

• Most contractors are not listed. Contractors must pay a yearly fee plus a per lead fee. Decent contractors do not need to pay for leads so they are not presented. In my experience, most contractors featured are either inexperienced or not very good. In checking the listings for College Station and Bryan, I did not see any that I recognized.
• Though HomeAdvisor requires some minimum standards and does background checks, they are limited, because of a lack of access to information and possibly because they are not motivated to chase away too many perspective advertisers.
• While they have a lot of good information much of it is aggregated from their advertisers, which we have already established are not the best in the business.
• There are better ways to find a contractor.

I would like to tell you that you don’t need help finding a contractor because you can just hire us. But I know that you are smart and can recognize a blatant conflict of interest when you see one. The fact is that even though we love everyone, we know that we are not the right contractor for everyone. Read the information on the link provided and hire a contractor that is right for you.