HomeAdvisor Review

HomeAdvisor is a free home services site that helps you to find professional service people for your home maintenance and improvement projects. HomeAdviser is used by more than 30 million homeowners and it allows you to search for and read detailed reviews for the professionals listed on the site. From carpet cleaning to carpentry, HomeAdvisor can help you to estimate the cost of your project and find the best service professionals available in your area. You can also add your own review and let other homeowners know about your experience with contractors listed on the site.

Advertising Disclosure

In the past, finding the right contractor for home improvement projects, repairs, and maintenance, and remodeling usually meant asking a friend or neighbor for a recommendation. The other option was the Yellow Pages distributed by telephone companies containing paid advertising for the services and merchandise offered by local businesses and contractors. The internet changed the way people find local home services providers with several companies creating website-based marketplaces where home services providers, including contractors and installers, can be matched with homeowners and other consumers looking for someone to help with a project or to provide a service. One of the oldest companies connecting consumers with service providers is HomeAdvisor.

HomeAdvisor Pros

HomeAdvisor is free for homeowners and offers a wide variety of home services. The site screens all service people, verifying social security details, ensuring that they hold relevant licenses and conducting criminal records searches through third party data sources. HomeAdvisor has a handy free mobile app and a useful blog with tips and advice on home improvement projects. The site’s resource center contains advice from home service professionals along with tools and tutorials for planning and completing projects. Online reviews for the site are good with customers praising HomeAdvisor for its convenience and reliability.

HomeAdvisor Cons

HomeAdvisor cannot guarantee the availability of service professionals in any given area at any time. There is also no guarantee that customers will receive a response from all contractors contacted through the site. Some users have complained about unsolicited service people arriving without an appointment after they have used the ProFinder tool. Because of differences in legislation, background checks are more thorough in some states than others.

HomeAdvisor Bottom Line

HomeAdvisor is a one-stop shop for home improvements and maintenance. As well as connecting you with a qualified and licensed service professional to complete your project, the site can help you estimate the cost of your job and give you practical advice about planning and complete your project. HomeAdvisor’s free mobile app makes it easy for you to manage your project on the go and gives you easy access to a wide range of information on the site’s resource center and blog.

More About HomeAdvisor

HomeAdvisor offers consumers a free source for access to local service providers for the exact service or type of work the person needs. Consumers provide information about their projects, home repairs or home improvements, and the website searches its database to find up to four local businesses matching the consumer’s project requirements and who are available right away to begin the project.

At the same time as it is submitting the names of the service providers to the consumer, HomeAdvisor also notifies each of the professionals. Consumers have the option to have the provider contact them, or they can choose to contact each provider at their own pace.

Consumers can look at HomeAdviser Reviews posted by past customers of each of the service professionals to learn more about them. The final decision about the contractor or service provider to hire for the project is left up to the consumer. Prices and terms are negotiated directly between the provider and the consumer.

The process and procedures used by HomeAdvisor to connect consumers with a HomeAdvisor pro are similar to Angie’s List and Amazon Home Services. Coincidentally, HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List merged in 2017 to form what the company refers to as the internet’s largest resource for home services currently operating in the world.

What Can HomeAdvisor Do For You?

HomeAdvisor attempts to take the work out of finding someone to complete a home repair, perform maintenance on your home or property, or locate a contractor for a major home renovation. After signing up for a free membership at the company’s website, consumers are directed to a page where they are asked to choose the type of project or work they need from a list of categories. They are then directed through a series of prompts asking them to provide additional information, including details about the scope of the project, its location and other details to allow the website to match consumers with up to four Home Advisor Pros.

If an exact match cannot be made between the project and a professional, HomeAdvisor offers a suggested list of services closely related to the type requested by with consumer along with local professionals who are available.

HomeAdvisor offers people a number of different ways to book an appointment with a HomeAdvisor Pro. Instant booking allows a person to schedule an appointment through the website, or the appointment can be scheduled through a HomeAdvisor specialist who the company claims will call the consumer within a couple of minutes to handle making an appointment with the contractor or service provider.

Other methods for scheduling appointments with Home Advisor professionals include the HomeAdvisor App that works with most smart device. Appointments can also be scheduled through the HomeAdvisor Facebook page.

A useful feature of the HomeAdvisor website is its TrueCost Guide. Consumers can see what other people have paid for projects similar to the ones they are contemplating. The company conducts surveys of HomeAdvisor members to get the actual cost of their projects. Because the data comes soon after completion of a project, the information could be more accurate than cost estimates from sources using older cost information.

Home Depot Home Services and Lowes Home Services offer installers, contractors and other service providers, but their processes and procedures are different. Home Depot and Lowes contract with local businesses to furnish the services needed by a consumer who, in turn, purchases those services from Home Depot or Lowes. Sears, through its Sears Home Services, uses its own installers and technicians to provide services to consumers.

Example Services Available From HomeAdvisor

Services consumers can find through Home Advisor include large projects, such as additions, remodeling, and renovations, as well as small projects, such as carpet cleaning, house cleaning services, and gutter cleaning. When someone is not sure of the type of service provider required for a particular project, the company has a category for handyman services where consumers can find someone skilled at a number of different trades.

When emergencies occur and repairs are needed right away, a special section of the HomeAdvisor website is for emergency repairs. Consumers select the type of emergency and the location of the home to be instantly connected with a service technician who is available to get the work done right away.

HomeAdvisor is free for consumers who wish to join and make use of its services. The cost of the work depends upon the prices agreed upon between the consumer and the service professional.

Someone eligible for In-Home Supportive Services through a state department of social services might be able to find a service provider through HomeAdvisor. The best way to find out is by contacting the agency handling the In-Home Supportive Services program in your state.

Advertising Disclosure: This post may contain promotional links. Watch the Review may be compensated if you use these links.