It’s never too late or too early to evaluate your selection of contractors. Do you know several who will return your call quickly and stop over for a bid or is it a strain to find a good contractor?

Sometimes the best time to find a remodeling contractor is when you’re NOT looking. That way you are not so eager to get started and you can avoid some classic mistakes. Among them are rushing into a home improvement project without planning and letting a contractor start work without a contract.

Either approach can doom your home improvement dreams, as they can lead to communication issues as well as the potential for a dishonest contractor to take advantage of you. (Check out these tips for avoiding contractor scams!)

Building a Contracting Contact List
Even if you’re not about to start a remodeling project, be sure to ask around for names of good contractors. Now, in all fairness to the contractors, you don’t want to be just kicking tires if you don’t plan to do a project soon. But, then again, most people have some remodeling ideas percolating around their heads all the time.

Be honest with the contractor and say you are getting ideas and want to spend a few minutes talking when you’re not needing a contractor. The “good” contractors should appreciate that and may even like the fact that you won’t be a harried home owners looking for immediate results.

Think about which remodeling projects you might do during the next six months and ask a contractor to show you samples of similar work. Ask about how they designed the addition or solves a tricky space issue in the kitchen–or anything else that fits your needs. Also, figure out whether you need to hire a general contractor or not.

By taking this creative approach to home improvement, you’ll gain valuable insights into how contractors react when you’re just “shopping.” You’ll quickly see which ones are after the long term relationships and which ones want the quick deal.

For more information, check out this handy guide to finding a contractor.