How to Research a Contractor Before You Hire: A Homeowner's Checklist

We learned this the hard way. When we renovated our own backyard, we contacted 105 landscaping companies for one project. Fifty came back with a quote, thirty actually showed up in person, and only 25 of those ever sent a real number. For the exact same job, the estimates ranged from $8,000 to $50,000. That experience taught us that a little research up front saves you a lot of money and stress later.

Here is the exact process we would use every time, whether you are painting shutters or reimagining a kitchen. If you would rather not do this legwork yourself, that is where Myzer comes in. We do the research and the outreach, we confirm they are licensed, we check their availability, and we bring you the reviews and quotes. On our top packages we will line up scheduling options that actually fit your calendar, and keep a tracker of what you are paying. You still pick the company, you hire them directly, and your money never passes through us. But if you want to do it yourself, this is how.

Step 1: Search your project and dig into the reviews

Start on Google, then look across more than one review site if you can: Google, Yelp, Angi, and any others you trust. Do not just skim the star rating. Do three things:

Look at the photos of past work. Real photos of completed jobs tell you more than any tagline. Read what recent customers actually said, not just the number of stars. And sort the reviews by most recent, then check the date. If the last real review is more than a month or two old, pause and ask why. A pro doing steady, quality work usually has steady, recent reviews.

Step 2: Reach out to 10, not 3

Most people say get three quotes. Honestly, one estimate is the bare minimum and the common result. But three or fewer is not where the good decisions live. Even with three, you do not have enough to see the pattern.

Pick 10 businesses to contact. Ten gives you a real range and a real chance to compare. Remember our backyard: if we had stopped at the first three quotes, we could have wildly overpaid and never known it. And keep in mind the size of the pool. In Nevada alone there are more than 5,400 licensed contractors, so you have plenty of options for almost any project.

When you reach out, send every company the same information: the same scope, photos of exactly what needs doing, and measurements or square footage. Same job, same details, so the quotes can be compared fairly.

Step 3: Confirm they are licensed and insured

This one is non-negotiable for us.

The FTC recommends only considering contractors who are licensed and insured, and confirming it yourself rather than taking their word for it. Do not just trust a license number printed on a website. Sometimes a business holds a local license but is not officially operating the way state guidelines require, which often means passing testing and other steps.

Confirm they carry the correct licensing for your area and your type of work. Here in Nevada, you can verify any contractor through the Nevada State Contractors Board license search. Most states have an equivalent contractor or licensing board. Ask for proof of insurance too, so you are covered if something goes wrong on the job.

Step 4: Get estimates, then watch how they show up

Once you have your list, get them out to the house or ask for estimates by email. Then pay attention, because how a pro behaves during the estimate is a preview of how they will behave during the whole project.

As you talk to each one, ask yourself:

Are they communicative? Do they answer the phone during business hours and reply to emails within one business day? Did they show up to the estimate on time, or at least let you know ahead if they were running late? How did they handle the estimate itself, did they point things out, take measurements, ask good questions? How fast did the official written estimate come back? What is their timeline to actually complete the work? How do they compare to the other nine? And how do they handle payment?

One more thing we watch for: a pro who refuses to give any pricing on a simple, well-documented job, even with photos and measurements in hand, is often telling you something. When we helped a homeowner named Ashlee find a painter, a few companies did exactly that. They lost out.

Remember: price alone tells you nothing

The most expensive quote is not automatically the most skilled, and the cheapest is not automatically a mistake waiting to happen. What actually separates a great hire from a risky one is a combination of things: price, quality of work, communication, follow through, timing, and real reviews with real photos of past jobs. When you only look at price, you are grading a contractor on one number and ignoring everything else that decides whether the project goes well.

By the time you have run 10 companies through these four steps, the right choice usually stops being a guess. It becomes obvious.

The takeaway

Three quotes keeps you from the worst mistake. Ten or more, checked the right way, is how you make the best decision. The difference is not just money. It is confidence that the person walking into your home is the right one for the job.

That is exactly why we built Myzer. We do the reaching out, the vetting, and the licensing checks, so you get a short list of pros who actually earned your call.

To be clear about what we are: Myzer is not a contractor. We do not perform any construction work, and we do not hire anyone on your behalf. We research companies that are licensed, check their availability, and bring you their reviews and quotes. You pick the company you prefer and hire them directly. And we never manage or hold your money.