My son tried the traditional college route at UCO for a year and it just wasn't for him. He enrolled in welding school in Tulsa and he's making about $80K/annually now, only a few years out, building wind towers. He likes knowing he could move just about anywhere and get good paying work with benefits.
We've been Angie's List members for years. Every time we cancel we get lured back with a low membership rate. Honestly, I don't know how much we get for our membership. I've called a couple of companies, but it seems we always settle on someone who came recommended from a friend or the NextDoor app, etc.
A for Home Warranties. I think they are great in some situations. When we bought out home we got one. It was a 1964 house and we had no idea how well it had or had not been maintained. The first year the warrant way more than paid for itself; new water heater, leaking plumbing, electrical panel was shot, toilets that needed new parts, etc. We pretty much got everything fixed in the first year so we didn't renew.
Neighbor used their's so much that the warranty company WOULDN'T renew them! Also when I've sold properties by owner, I've always included a home warranty to put the buyer's mind at ease. I'd buy one again in a heart beat if I was buying an older home.
I prefer smaller service providers where the owner is often the one making the call or at least follows up personally. Our electrician is Richard Turko with HIS Electric. Really great owner operator who has done everything from light switches to having our OG&E overhead lines buried and a new electrical circuit box installed for our heavy outside needs. He also donates a lot of time to my favorite non-profit NBI. As for a plumber, we really like Steve Olson. Does what he says he's gonna do and for a very fair price. He came over to do a list of things my wife wanted done while I was bedridden in my cancer treatment and he refused to charge us for the services performed. Great work ethic and moral character. For our sprinklers we use Ted. We found him on Craigslist. Older guy whose has been doing this forever. He has shown up on a Sunday with little notice to fix heads that have been run over and even the time I severed the main line and he didn't want us to be without water for the day. It's people like those three I really love to do business with.
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