Realtors often have a list of contractors they rely on to help potential sellers get their homes ready for sale. I have found and used recommended roofers, plumbers, HVAC and electricians from a local realtor that wants my future business.
I would caution seeing a Realtor as an easy way to avoid doing your homework on someone. I did this long ago and the Realtor's recommendation was one of the worst I have ever worked with.
There is, unfortunately, no shortcut to finding quality handymen.
Seconded. What Realtors value in a contractor is someone who will respond quickly and do a job that looks good on the surface to avoid delaying closing. For the most part they don't know whether the job was well done and will hold up over time since they are already on to the next house.
you can definitely save a lot of time by asking your friends for referrals. Anybody who loves their Electrician/Plumber should be listened to in particular.
A good realtor will often not recommend the same contractors that they use for prepping a home for sale. The requirements for getting a home in saleable condition and getting a home in livable condition are not always the same.
Instead they act as an information hub for homeowners.
Obviously "good realtor" is doing a lot of work here, and I don't know how you find a good realtor (kind of lucked into mine after having a terrible one for my first purchase).
It sucks to find good tradespeople because word of mouth does so much for them that they hardly advertise. So if you actively look for one, you tend to ONLY find the bad ones, and you're actually less likely to find the good ones... unless you know someone who happens to know someone. Which sucks since I don't know anyone (and trying to look for someone encounters the exact same problem)
I find myself at Costco several times a week lately, and I always try to interact with employees. Even just "hello", "good morning", or "thanks I'm a fan of your work" gives you an opportunity to sense if employees are happy and treated well.
Good companies take care of their employees and customers.
"Building a fairer system—with the elderly divested of political power, wealth, and property, but guaranteed dignity and state support at the end of their lives—would help everyone, including most of the aged."
So, we just have to take all the wealth and property
From the Washington Post today, for those of us with Type 2 diabetes:
"The effects — and implications — proved to be especially striking for people with Type 2 diabetes, according to the analysis. For them, exercise later in the day tended to result in substantial and lasting improvements to blood sugar control."
"60 Minutes, the storied investigative news program of CBS, Sunday night turned its cameras on one of the growing problems within the U.S. trucking industry: chameleon carriers."
I worked for a man who hammered wood screws most of the way in and then finished with a screw driver because "the threads made by that last few turns were enough."
The school district uses Thomson Reuters Clear to verify residency. Thomson Reuters Clear uses LPR data.
"School District 126’s contract with the license plate reader company shows it’s paying a total of $41,904 for a 36-month-long contract that began in December of 2024 -- the same month that Sánchez and her daughter moved into their new Alsip home."
Per a Google search my county:
For the 2025–2026 school year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) charges nonresident tuition of
$21,668 for elementary school and $20,214 for secondary school. Nonresident students must apply through the International Admissions and Enrollment office, and not all schools are open to tuition-paying students.
My wife worked in the office of an elementary school for 20 years and verified residency, custody, restraining orders and more. She shared many stories about people gaming the system. People will cross state and county lines to access a better school or one closer to work.
Actual Title:
More US students are arriving at college unprepared to read. Experts say some may want to ‘rethink’ a $100K degree and follow their interests
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