I guess we got lucky. When we bought our house 15 years ago, we had a woman selling blinds come through, which we bought, and probably overpaid for, but they work and we still have them. A guy selling furniture out of the back of a truck, that we bought and know we didn’t overpay as we still have the living room set and grandfather clock (my new neighbor was kind of pissed as he owned a furniture store of his own at the time), and the famous guy selling meat out of the back of his truck, that we also bought, but that was not good at all, I didn’t know you could sell horse (or it at least did not seem very beef-like).
Ha, such suckers we were/are, we still have our 17 year old Kirby that seemed like such a great idea at the time.
The key would have him come before the drywall is up. This would be if you did something major like have a complete kitchen rebuild or a basement finished. Then the inspector could make sure the wiring, ducts, plumbing, etc were all proper. You should also take lots of pictures as the work is being done. If nothing else, it will help you locate wires/pipes behind the wall if necessary at a later date.
A great show to watch is “Holmes on Homes” on the HGTV channel. They go in and fix problems in houses. It won’t teach you how to fix up your house, but it will teach you what to be aware of. Many times they rip down the drywall to find that wiring and plumbing were not done properly or to code. Unless you are really knowledgeable about home building, you wouldn’t be able to spot these types of problems even if you were looking right at them.
Yes, when we bought our house 12 years ago, they were lining up to offer all sorts of things I didn’t need or want.
I think they see “newbie idiot” written on the front door and think you will just sign anything they throw at you. Wait until you start getting the mail from people who want you to buy everything from insurance for your door mat to installing nuclear reactors as back up generators.
Some of the mail is cleverly disguised to look very, very official - as if the state or local government offices need or require some document. Those are the worst, as you have to read the fine print really closely to find out they have nothing to do with those government offices, or are trying to sell you something that is free if you call the real government offices.
There is at least one legitimate door-to-door business I know of. A friend of mine tries to visit new neighbors with a big Welcome Wagon basket containing items donated by local businesses – sample products and coupons. She asks for no payment from the recipient, and can help people find stuff and get around because she is a long-term resident herself.
She’d rather call them to find out what is a good time to come by, but since they just moved in, finding a phone number is often difficult.
I believe she is paid by the Welcome Wagon people and the merchants.
The only people that bugged us all the time when we bought our house were people trying to convince us to buy new vinyl siding for our log cabin. :rolleyes: