Better Than Angie’s List
The best thing about cultivating and maintaining relationships with lots of good, local contractors* is that it’s a benefit to my clients who need one (or three).
Runner-up benefit?
I can pick up the phone and get the “scoop” (off-the-record) from an especially knowledgeable source.
That proved invaluable in a recent deal, when the Seller’s chimney contractor was adamant that there wasn’t a problem, and the contractor representing the Buyer (my client) was equally adamant that there was.
My “Deep Throat” source — one of the best chimney contractors in town — shared his rather low regard for the skills and reputation of the Seller’s chimney contractor, and suggested calling the national association to check whether the contractor was certified (the contractor represented that he was . . . but he wasn’t).
Case closed, at least as far as my client and I were concerned.
Who — What — is “Deep Throat??”
Until I talked to a younger colleague, I never realized that “Deep Throat” is now a dated cultural reference.
So, for the benefit of anyone under, say, 40 years old, “Deep Throat” has these two connotations:
One. It’s the pseudonym given to the secret informant who provided information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post in 1972 about President Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal.
Two. “Deep Throat” is the name of a certain, notorious 1972 film starring Linda Lovelace.
See also, “Contractor ‘Win, Place, or Show’“; “Has Your Contractor Lost Their Mojo?”; “Realtor Referrals“; “Contractor Etiquette“; “Giving Good Invoice“; and “Doing Due Diligence on Small Home Builders.”
*One of my colleagues is rather infamous for always needing the name of a good inspector, handyman, lender, etc. — even though they’ve been selling real estate for more than 20 years.
The obvious inference: they — or their clients — burn lots of bridges.
