- Are you paid by me, or do you take a commission from the providers you recommend? A commission structure creates an incentive to recommend whoever pays best, not whoever's best for your project.
- Who verifies the work is done correctly — and is it the same person who did it? If the answer is yes, there's no independent check protecting you.
- Will I see competitive bids, or a single quote per trade? One quote is a price; multiple quotes are a market.
- How are payments structured — all at once, or tied to verified phases? Phased payment tied to confirmed progress is your main protection if something goes wrong.
- What happens if a provider's work isn't done to standard? A real liability period in the contract, not just a verbal assurance, is what actually protects you.
- Who handles permits, and what's their track record with the local planning committee? Permit mistakes are expensive and slow to unwind.
- How often will I get updates, and in what form? Regular, dated photo and written updates beat occasional phone calls for actually tracking progress.
- Do I need to be in Israel at any point? A well-structured remote renovation shouldn't require your physical presence except, at most, for a final walkthrough.
- What's included in your fee, and what isn't? Understand upfront what's covered versus what triggers additional charges.
- Can you give me a realistic budget and timeline range for a project like mine — and what would make it run over? A vague "it depends" isn't a red flag; an inability to name the actual risk factors is.
The common thread across all ten: you're checking whether this person's incentives are structurally aligned with yours, not just whether they seem trustworthy in conversation.