CHERYL DWYER
‘Personal relationships’

Many homeowners who undertake remodeling projects or home repairs have trouble selecting a contractor who will best meet their needs.

Some are fortunate enough to get a good recommendation from a friend or relative, while others aren’t so lucky and may be forced to deal with delays, excessively high prices or, even worse, shoddy workmanship.

Cheryl Dwyer knows how tough it can be. Last year, when she had to replace the roof on the older portion of her Weymouth home, she hired a local company after doing what she thought was enough homework – only to come home one day and discover a subcontracted crew from New Jersey who spoke no English working on her roof. Besides the obvious communication problems, the crew actually bungled a portion of the roofing job, and some of the work had to be redone.

That’s when Dwyer, a full-time working mom, got the idea to establish a referral network called Home Solvers of Eastern Massachusetts that could help homeowners just like herself select skilled and qualified professionals to do everything from plumbing to electrical work to housecleaning and landscaping.

Homeowners who call Home Solvers are connected with an appropriate contractor and an appointment is arranged, at no charge to the consumers. Home improvement contractors and other professionals who are part of the network are screened by Dwyer, who in addition to verifying licenses and insurance coverage also checks customer references.

Dwyer asks prior customers of contractors she is screening about 20 questions, inquiring about everything from pricing, timeliness and work quality.

Once the professionals are screened and added to the network, Dwyer sends customer leads to them. But Dwyer’s service doesn’t end there.

Unlike the national Web-based referral networks that already exist, Dwyer calls both the homeowner and contractor to confirm appointments, and once work begins, she visits worksites to check on progress. She is also available to answer questions and address concerns throughout the entire home improvement process.

“I think it’s a service that homeowners are looking for and contractors are looking for,” said Dwyer, who runs the business out of her home.

Charlie Allen, a member of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, said that although he is not familiar with Home Solvers, services that aim to help consumers select contractors are needed.

“Ours is a huge industry. Unlike other industries it’s very, very difficult for consumers to find reputable contractors,” said Allen, owner of Charlie Allen Restorations in Cambridge. “I don’t know the service, but it sounds like one new way for consumers to have some understanding of what they’re going to get for what they pay, and to hopefully to have a good experience with a remodeler.”

He added, “[Any] help that the consumer can get is good because bad contractors don’t help any contractors, and of course they don’t help consumers.”

‘A Huge Industry’

Dwyer launched Home Solvers at the beginning of February, at about the same time that two national groups released a survey showing that home improvement complaints top the list of complaints filed by property owners with state and local consumer protection agencies.

The survey by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and Consumer Federation of America revealed that home improvement contracting, auto sales and leasing and telecommunications scams topped the 2003-2004 list of consumer complaints.

In Massachusetts, consumers have recourse against unscrupulous contractors. Home improvement contractors are required to register with the state Board of Building Regulations and Standards, which fields consumer complaints and can revoke a registration or sanction contractors. In addition, consumers can seek arbitration and restitution for botched repair work through a guaranty fund administered by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

The Home Builders Association of Massachusetts has supported the creation of a council that would help both of those state agencies in their battle against poor-performing contractors. The association has filed a bill to create a home improvement contractor council or advisory board that would provide guidance to the agencies on which contractors to go after and the type of penalties that should be assessed.

Meanwhile, Dwyer is trying to provide assistance to both consumers and professionals who do home repairs to make sure that both are satisfied with a project’s outcome.

Dwyer said Home Solvers offers personalized service. “I build personal relationships with the contractors. I need to form a relationship with the contractor so when I call them they can get right out,” she said. And Dwyer is available to homeowners from the start of a project to its completion.

While Web-based services charge flat fees as well as additional fees for every customer lead they send to contractors – regardless of whether the lead actually translates into business – Home Solvers charges professionals either a negotiated fee or commission, depending on the service, once a job is completed.

And in addition to providing customer leads, Dwyer builds marketing portfolios for professionals that include before-and-after photos as well as customer surveys. Already, Dwyer has added about 25 home improvement professionals in her network, including a mason, a custom woodworker, housecleaners and landscapers, as well as workers who install siding, windows and insulation.

At first, Dwyer thought it would be difficult to get contractors to agree to pay a commission or fee. But Dwyer said many of the professionals who’ve been contacted are eager to work with someone who can assist them with marketing and advertising services. “It is really starting to take off faster than I imagined,” she said.

To legally protect Dwyer and Home Solvers, customers must complete a job-order form that includes a notice explaining that Home Solvers is not a contractor and all contracts are between the homeowner and home improvement professional.

So far, Dwyer has received phone calls from four or five homeowners, including a woman who needed to have her chimney repaired but couldn’t get a mason to return her phone calls. Dwyer recently arranged an appointment for the woman to get an estimate from one of the contractors in the Home Solvers network.

“It’s nice to be able to send out a contractor quickly,” she said.