OPEN SUNDAY! New to the market 3br 1ba East Side gem.

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Hiring a contractor?

Barbara Eisner Bayer has some great advice on how to protect yourself before having to dish out thousands of dollars for a dispute.

The Contractor Agreement: 7 Steps to an Iron-Clad Contract

By: Barbara Eisner Bayer

Published: February 24, 2011

Follow these seven tips to make sure your contractor agreement works in your favor—not your builder’s.

Step 1: Hire a lawyer

Contractors use their own forms, which are drafted for their benefit, not yours. You’ll benefit from hiring an attorney to review your contractor agreement or draft one that’s you-friendly. Even though this may cost around $250 to $500, it can save thousands of dollars later if there’s a dispute.

Step 2: Take the home court advantage

Add a “choice of law” or “forum selection” provision, which says that disputes will be litigated on your turf. This provides protection against out-of-town contractors or suppliers—you don’t want to have to drag yourself across multiple state lines for a lawsuit.

Step 3: Create an incentive to finish

Define when the contactor will deliver on his promises, and when he’ll get his money. Within the contractor agreement, create a payment schedule in your favor by holding money back until the work is fully completed and you’ve verified the final payments to subcontractors. Maintain control by holding the purse strings.

Step 4: Reeling in a runaway contractor

The most common problem you’ll encounter is a general contractor who gets paid, but doesn’t pay his subcontractors and suppliers—possibly leaving you on the hook, according to Craig Robelen, a home builder in Boca Raton, Fla.

Robelen advises protecting yourself upfront by requesting the names of all professionals your builder will work with. Verify that your contractor has paid his subcontractors by requesting conditional partial lien releases during the construction term, and a final lien release at completion. (Have the general contractor collect them and present them to you.) These are essentially formal acknowledgments from subcontractors that they are being paid for work done.

Also, see if your contractor has a “payment bond” that guarantees subcontractors will be paid.

Step 5: Corral unauthorized costs

Your contract should state that any changes that will affect the price of construction should be in writing and countersigned by both you and your contractor. This protects you from unauthorized charges.

Step 6: Avoid kickbacks

Protect yourself from kickbacks—where contractors gets bonuses from their subs for referring business—by requesting that builders sign affidavits that they’re not getting any “fees” from subcontractors as a prerequisite for doing business with them. Keep costs well-defined by asking for a “bid summary,” which should show a minimum of three quotes in every cost category of your budget.

Step 7: Binding words

If you’d like to avoid going to court in case of a dispute, add a clause in the contractor agreement for binding arbitration. If there’s a problem, you and your contractor will plead your case in front of a non-biased arbitrator, whose decision will be final.

If your contractor balks on any contract point you feel strongly about, do some more research. Maybe what you’re asking isn’t typical for that kind of job. Talk with neighbors who have had similar work done and sound out other contractors regarding their policies on the disputed issue before you sign anything. This helps you determine what’s customary for your particular area.

Barbara Eisner Bayer has written about personal finance for the past 17 years. She recently completed a home renovation on time, on budget, with the aid of a cold compress on her forehead.

Remodeling rules to live by

I've listed some of these "messes" before with incredible finishes that simply don't sell due to poor floor plans & re-created space.  Always think "re-sale"!! 

 

Flickr image courtesy of mccun934.

Fancy finishes won't make up for lousy floor plan

By Arrol Gellner, Friday, March 11, 2011.

Inman News™

One Sunday a while back, I dropped by an open house that had just been remodeled and put on the market. It was a speculative renovation, otherwise known as a "flip." In keeping with the usual modus operandi of such projects, the builder had refitted the modest mid-1960s rancher with shiny granite countertops, gridded plastic windows, glossy prefinished flooring, and so on.
This familiar slate of so-called upgrades, as painfully predictable as it was, wasn't the real problem, though. The builder had also made some heavy-handed changes to the home's original floor plan, evidently hell-bent on pumping it up to the overblown market standards of recent years. And here he made a classic amateur mistake: So busy was he swaddling the place in glitzy finishes that he completely overlooked a number of eye-popping flaws in his "improved" design.
The worst of these was the layout of the entry and living room -- probably the very last place you want to screw up a house. The builder, convinced that a really huge living room would impress potential buyers, had combined the former living room and master bedroom areas into one gigantic rectangular room with -- drum roll please -- no windows at all.
Oh, the front door (which led directly into the room, another no-no) did have some glass in it, but this captured only the feeble light from a shadowy, roofed-over porch. Rather than the effect of extravagant space the builder was after, his living area felt more like the rumpus room in a church basement.
Compounding the error, he provided an elaborately appointed kitchen completely open to both the living and dining rooms -- but also lacking any windows. In fact, the only direct light in the whole vast space came from a single sliding glass door in the dining ell.
For the builder to presume that his open floor plan would miraculously allow him to make do with the light from a few far-off windows was a blunder of epic proportions. For one, building codes have minimum requirements for window size in habitable rooms, and I doubt that he satisfied even those rock-bottom requirements.

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More importantly, though, windows have a purpose beyond just providing adequate light -- otherwise we could fit every home with artificial lighting and call it a day. When humans occupy an enclosed space, they have a very clear psychological need to see natural light as well as a view of the world outside. Hence, a purported living area that lacks windows inevitably feels oppressive and claustrophobic.
The lesson is simple: If you're remodeling, don't miss the forest for the trees. Lavish materials and fastidious detailing are fine, but by no stretch of the imagination can they compensate for a fundamentally defective floor plan.
Therefore, approach any architectural problem from the broad-brush aspects that really matter -- the things that will make the place livable, like solar orientation, circulation and convenience -- and satisfy these fundamentals before worrying over details of color and finish. Otherwise you may end up as this builder did -- with a very fancy mess, but a mess nonetheless.
Read Arrol Gellner's blog at arrolgellner.blogspot.com, or follow him on Twitter: @ArrolGellner.

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Providence - a discovered gem by Travel & Leisure

Move over Boston is right!

World's Most Underrated Cities

Photo Heidi Farmer Piccerelli

Providence

Move over, Boston. A renewed waterfront, vibrant arts scene, and sophisticated dining have turned this small college town into New England's most exciting city. Edgy galleries like New Urban Arts and AS220 host parties as well as exhibitions, while the RISD Museum shows French Impressionists, 20th-century masters, and rising young artists (including alums). The once-derelict West End neighborhood is now the city's epicenter of cool, with friendly dive bars, vintage stores, terrific eateries, and indie record stores. Swill cocktails at The Avery before moving on to the E&O Tap, a local institution.
Don't Miss: Opened in March 2010, Cook & Brown brings French finesse to down-home classics. Try the stuffed quail with cranberry relish and wild rice
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-most-underrated-cities/8

More great news for Providence

Providence Selected as IBM Smarter City

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Leah Michaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

 

Mayor Angel Taveras announced today that Providence is one of the 24 cities chosen worldwide to receive an IBM Smarter Cities grant.

The city worked with the Ocean State Consortium of Advanced Resources (OSCAR) on the proposal for IBM’s 2011 Smarter Cities Challenge, which will be awarding grants to 100 cities around the world over the next three years.

Innovation leading to savings

“The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge will benefit us all – helping us to collect, share and analyze the City’s data to better understand our strengths and develop innovative and cost-effective strategies to deliver services and build a stronger economy in Providence,” said Mayor Taveras.

The city will receive $400,000 in technology and services from the grant. A part of this will include advice from IBM consultants and technology specialists about how Providence could best utilize intelligent technology to become a smarter, safer, and more prosperous urban center.

“We selected Providence because of its commitment to the use of data to make better decisions, and for its desire to explore and act on smarter solutions to its most pressing concerns.” said Jennifer Crozier, IBM director of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs. “The cities we picked are eager to implement programs that tangibly improve the quality of life in their areas, and to create roadmaps for other cities to follow. The stakes have never been greater but we’re excited at the prospect of helping cities tackle the most pressing challenges of our time.”

Incredible Luxury 2br 2ba Condo in College Hill - Just Listed!

www.2angell.com

THE JENCKES HOUSE, Providence, RI

$895,000

Built in 1856, this grand residence represents one New England's long traditions of wealthy architectural heritage.  The house was meticulously converted into 4 residential condos by well known Parker Thompson in 2006.  A private elevator welcomes one into this 3rd floor 1975 sq ft residence where stunning downtown views, elaborate details, space and light all converge.  2 car parking. This is luxury living at it's best!  Please visit www.2angell.com for photos and floor plans.