How do payments work?
Most people assume that when they work with a contractor, they will need to make payment by the 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3 method. And many companies use this method. Unless we are doing a small project Almar does not typically use this method. So how do payments work then?
At first the idea of seeing something out of “the norm” (or what they think they should be seeing) for contractors throws some homeowners off, but you understands the system, you’ll see why we rarely have a homeowner complain.
Progress Payments
The Progress Payment Schedule (AKA Milestone) is basically a break down the cost of the entire remodeling projects into small chunks. Enough so that we can cover the expenses that are coming up: bills, deposits, special orders…but never so much that we are too far ahead of a client and vise versa.
Why do we utilize this method?
Too often we hear the stories from people that “they took a huge deposit and we never heard from them again”. My hope is that by is utilizing this system our homeowners enjoy another layer of comfort when moving forward.
Example
Here is an example of what you might see as one of our Progress Payment Schedules:
| Payment: | When Due: | Amount: |
| Initial Payment | Contract is signed | $XYZ.00 |
| Building Permit Costs | TBA | |
| Start of Deck work | $ XYZ.00 | |
| Start of Door work | $ XYZ.00 | |
| When Siding is Delivered | $ XYZ.00 | |
| When Siding is half installed | $ XYZ.00 | |
| Final Payment | When work is completed | $ XYZ.00 |
Why at the start of?
We use milestone payments at the beginning of each project phase. This makes things clearer because it’s easier to tell when a phase starts than when it’s finished. We find this approach reduces confusion throughout the process, improves communication, and ensures everyone’s on the same page.
We always remind homeowner’s this in not the cost of each item of the project, but the overall cost broken down into milestones that are easily visible that they are happening.
Our family has been working with families like yours here on the South Shore of Massachusetts for over 65 years. It is important to us that everyone works together to create the best experience. We never want to see someone regret the choice they made because they did not have all of their options, which is why it is important to always ask “How do payments work?”.
