Welcome to the neighborhood

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There has been a rash of new homeowners moving into our area due to Covid. Here’s some advice for anyone moving to a new area.

As soon as you are moved in you need to start looking for new tradespeople and services. It will be worth your time to find them in advance of needing them. You will less panicked when something happens, and it will. You will have a list of companies to call on for help.

One relatively new place to look for recommendations is Facebook. Look up your new town and find any groups with Town: homeowners, parents, community, etc. People love to share the names of tradespeople that they have had good experiences with. This is a great place to start getting names but not the end. Then you need to investigate them directly.

Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Angie’s List, Google Business listings, all have customer reviews. Read some of the reviews. Hopefully, they will have glowing wonderful reviews. See if the bad reviews have an answer from the company. See if they addressed the complaint. Things go wrong but how the business made it right is especially important.  

Some towns have a Welcome wagon type directory which supplies a list of business. Be aware that the companies pay to be the solo business of their type listed. Same with the free newspaper magazines. The ads and articles are all paid for by the businesses. They are a good source but remember they don’t need to qualify to be listed they just need to pay.

If possible, you might want to ask the prior homeowner about who they used. It might be good to use a service that is familiar with the home. Plumbers and HVAC usually leave a card or sticker on the units.

Here’s a list of the types of business you should have investigated before needing them, especially those stared which tend to breakdown on weekends and holidays.

·         *Auto Mechanic

·         *Plumber

·         *HVAC/Air Conditioning

·         *Oil company/Gas service

·         *General Contractor

·         *Handyman

·         Septic and Well service, if needed

·         Electrician

·         Lawn care

·         Tree service

·         Tailor and shoe repair

·         Police non-emergency number

 

The stars are the most important ones, but you are going to need all of these at one point or another.

Better to find them in your leisure than in a panic.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

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