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Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Real Estate Home Prices Up 4th Straight Month

November 24th, 2009

In Tyler TX we really have a unique situation compared to the rest of the country. We have seen the 4th straight month with rising home prices although the prices have not risen that dramatically. At least Tyler real estate is seeing a shift up instead of prices continuously going down like we have seen in cities like Detroit. One major issue is that a large majority of home owners owe more on their homes than what they are worth. We really want to get to the point where people have enough equity in their homes that if things got bad they could sell their homes without the need to foreclose on their house.

Everyone is familiar with those home flipping shows where people buy really bad rotting houses and fix them up for resell. Most people have gotten out of the home flipping business and many of these businesses are now remodelling houses in Tyler TX. A good way to build equity in your Tyler home is to have your kitchen or bathroom remodelled. We have had our kitchen remodelled and have plans in the works to get our bathrooms redone. When choosing a home remodelling company we looked around at several construction companies that could do the job. What we discovered was that a licensed home builder costs a lot more than a builder that is insured and bonded. You really only need a licensed by the state home builder if you plan on getting a home remodeling loan for $10,000 or above. Most home remodeling companies can have you pay $10,000 to one construction crew member and $10,000 to another if you were approaching $20,000 and still avoid the bank requirement for a licensed builder. This will save you a lot of money as an insured but not licensed builder will usually cost you a lot less for your remodeling project.

It all depends on which home remodeling company you pick as some may say all the right things, take your money, and than never return. You want to choose a company that has a history of doing quality work more than just a few times. Builders are notorious for opening up, taking money, and leaving half way through a project. One of the biggest scams has to do with construction companies running off with peoples money. They usually cannot even be charged with a crime if they did any work at all as they can claim that they completed part of the job and were only paid for part of the construction job.

The home remodeling company we used to increase equity in our Tyler house is R and R Home Creations. They can be reached at 1-903-574-0375. Josh Rucker is the owner and they specialize in kitchen and bathroom tile and back splash although can also do other things such as drywall, texturing, and painting. When picking a home remodeling company you want to hire someone based on their specialty. We have been very pleased with Josh Rucker and his crew. They have put together a tile job behind our wood burning furnace that is designed very well and is very sturdy. For instance, our stove weighs close to 1,000 pounds but they set the stove on bricks while at the same time making it appear the stove is sitting on ceramic tile. You cannot even tell that is what they did but it helps make the point that they have achieved a learning curve on tile work that only years of experience could teach someone.

When hiring a construction contractor to remodel your home we recommend following a few suggestions. It is ok if you get a building contractor to do a few extra things outside their specialty but when you go to far off what they are good at you end up with less quality work and spending the same you might have paid someone experienced in that line of work to do. We think it is a good idea to hire someone in the family or a friend to do expensive electrical work as hiring an electrician can really tack on a lot of extra cost to a remodeling project. Tile work is easy to do but once you get into more advanced design you are better off to let an experienced tile installer do the job.

Painting, drywall, and texturingis something that many professional contractors know how to do even if their specialty is something else. It is always good to price your painting and drywall work out witha few contractors until you find a good price. You always want to make sure they are good enough to not leave you high and dry as this could very easily happen if you are unfamiliar with the person. A website showing referals and jobs completed, yellowpageslisting, a newspaper ad, and other signs like these will give you knowledge if the business has been around awhile. Asking for a couple recent jobs that were completed along withthe peoples phone numbers can give you the confidence to go ahead with hiring a contractor. A Tyler TX building contractor that offers several choices and options for cabinets, drywall, painting, and so on will let you know if they are experienced in what they do. An experienced building contractor will have choices available for their niche building area because that is all they do. They will have likely done the same job in many different ways and will be able to offer more than one design and technique for completing a job. Someone that knows of only one way may not be the best choice unless their price is cheap and the job is something simple like painting a wall or framing something in.

Waiter Surprise

November 10th, 2009

In the past I have written about my Olive Garden experiences, but because of my most recent visit to the well-know Italian restaurant I feel a need to re-write about the popular hotspot. I never really was very impressed with the moderate service that I endured.

This past week I was dining with my husband when a young man approached our table. He introduced himself to us and offered us a delicious wine, which we probably never would have ordered if he had not offered the small sample. Many times when I have eaten at Olive Garden I have had no idea what to order so I just order the usual. Even if I ask the waiter what they recommend, usually they just look at me like I have asked the most complicated question. But our waiter, Shaun, knew just what to order. I was impressed at his recommendations.

My drink was never empty, the delicious food was quickly delivered to our table, even though he had many other tables to tend to, our waiter never left us waiting on anything. Service is one of the most important things when going out to eat. Even if the food is great, I would not return to a restaurant if I have had terrible service. I was waiting for him to do something wrong so that I would not have to leave a large tip. My drink was almost empty, but the very moment that I drank the last sip of my glass he set down another drink.

I would not be writing this if it was not for my impression that a waiter actually did his job and much more. Next time I am dinning at Olive Garden I will wait the extra time just to be seated in Shaun’s section.

Tyler Texas Personal Injury Lawyer

September 10th, 2009

It is important to make a list of certain check points to check off when choosing your Tyler Texas personal injury lawyer. The number one concern with people is whether the personal injury lawyer has your financial and health interests at heart when taking your case.

Click here to contact a personal injury attorney

Many personal injury lawyers have long since lost their ability to have real compassion and concern about the peoples lives they represent in court and instead see them as just another source of income. When choosing a lawyer you want to pay close attention to how much time they give you to talk and if they listen to what you are wanting from the case and what your financial and health concerns are and how this corresponds to what you would like to see in the final outcome of the court battle.

What can happen quite often is an early financial settlement that may only be $200,000 – $500,000 for the injured person when they have been permanently injured for life. Take for example a recent injury that occurred to a friend of mine in Tyler Texas. He had injured a part of his body while on the job and was not provided the proper safety equipment to handle the things he was working with. This was typical work behavior and the managers approved. My friend was simply working according to protocol that were already accepted and agreed upon although the work safety manuals stipulated that he should be using certain safety equipment that was not made available to their employees. It would have been impossible for my friend to meet the demands of his boss and job while protecting himself from injury.

Click here to contact a personal injury attorney

My friend who lives in Tyler Texas lost some use of a part of his body he would need later on after getting his degrees so that he could pursue what he wanted to do long term. Because this part of his body was injured while at work he would not be able to pursue this dream any longer. His income potential over the course of his life were substantially limited based upon his aspirations and certain sporting activity would be hampered for life as well. In the course of him pursuing a lawsuit with this company his lawyers convinced him to go ahead and settle out of court because there is no guarantee a lawsuit would be able to achieve the amount of money he needed. The problem is that many people personally injured on the job in Tyler Texas go ahead and accept a settlement offer even though this may not be in the best interest of that person.

The pressure of listening to a professional personal injury lawyer telling you that if the case went to court you may not get anything is enough for most people to give in and accept a settlement for much less. Considering many settlements will be gone in just a few years does it really make sense to choose a settlement for $200,000 – $500,000 when your life long injuries might be more in the neighborhood of $5,000,000. Personal law attorneys especially inexperienced ones will really push you towards the settlement option regardless of how badly you have been injured as they do not have the confidence to fight something like this in court and do the required work to make sure you get the money owed to you.

By interviewing several personal injury attorneys and seeing how well they ask questions and prod for your concerns and what you are looking to get out of the lawsuit you can determine what care they may give to your case. If the attorney seems to all but rule out taking the case to court and seems to be set on just settling you may want to look elsewhere. Many times settling your claim out of court is just not the answer. You may not have a guarantee on the final dollar amount by taking it to court in an actual lawsuit but you will at least get the chance to fight for what you deserve. Their is no price too high on losing the ability to provide for your family because of the incompetence of a Tyler Texas business owner or boss.

Some lawyers operate in a manner much like an extortionist in an attempt to make themselves wealthy while providing absolutely no benefit to their clients. An extortionist will take whatever they can get and are skilled more in the art of extortion than in the art of research, evidence gathering, court appearance, and trial law. You want a true personal injury lawyer that will go to court for you and fight it out with the business that harmed you to get what you deserve. Any scam or con artist can extort money from a business but it takes a very smart educated lawyer that can take your case to court and get you what you believe you are entitled to. It is actually harder to pass the CPA exam than the bar exam and so don’t let the fact that a lawyer may be licensed to practice law trick you into thinking you are talking to someone of higher intelligence. I personally like lawyers who are both licensed CPA’s and licensed to practice law.

If you’ve been injured in an accident, on the job, or by a negligent health care provider, your first step should be to do some research and find a responsibly, reputable personal injury lawyer in Tyler Texas. A good East Texas attorney will take the time to listen and will set realistic expectations for the amount of money you may be able to collect. They will offer the option to fight the case in court without undue pressure to settle. Sometimes a settlement is the best answer and so it is important to keep that option open depending on the severity of your injury.

Have you ever heard the term ambulance chaser? This is the type of personal injury attorney who advertises on phone books, billboards, and cabs and may not be a reputable East Texas attorney. Many of these lawyers are out to collect as much money as possible for themselves and will charge exorbitant fees if they win your case. An attorney that takes more money than they themselves are entitled to just prays on the weak minded and uneducated citizens in Tyler. This type of attorney is why we recommend interviewing several East Texas attorneys in order to find one that is honest and will not take more money in fees than he is due.

We have found that by contacting local bar association phone number you will be quickly answered by a phone operator who will route you to a live law office in Tyler Texas based on the law category you give them. The Bar association maintains a list of responsible Tyler Texas attorneys and will be able to recommend a good personal injury attorney that will listen closely to your case. If you think you will have trouble paying attorneys fees, you may want to investigate the free legal aid clinics in your area. Not all attorneys recommended through the bar association are honest but you will have better odds of being hooked up with a legit attorney by approaching your search through the bar association.

In summary make sure that he or she listens to your personal injury case and does not immediately push you into a settlement offer before talking about the advantages and disadvantaged of fighting it in court. An obvious example of an attorney that is listening to your case will immediately take down the details of your account of what happened that caused your injury. Your attorney will ask inquisitive questions you may have not thought of to help them determine how they might be able to win your court case against the Tyler business that injured you. Sometimes a law suit is not the appropriate response to an injury but don’t let a settlement offer be pushed on you before proper advantages and disadvantages have been explained to you regarding fighting it out in court. Like I explained earlier, $200,000 – $500,000 in settlement money is just not enough for certain injuries. If after a few years that money is gone and you are still injured what have you really gained?

Click here to contact a personal injury attorney