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To pay or not to pay?
I agreed to split the cost of a fence repair with my neighbor. To save some money, she is going to have her ex-husband do the work. I don't really care about the fence...it's in pretty bad shape, but it's not high on my priority list of things to fix. She really cares about it and wants it fixed ASAP. Her ex will do the job for the least amount of money, so in the interest of being a good neighbor, I agreed to split it with her.
I told her I would pay her in 4 installments on the first of each month (the first payment being due yesterday). We agreed to this about 3 weeks ago. The work hasn't started yet.
Would you pay the first installment even though the work hasn't started? Technically I'm late, but, I don't want to give her a bunch of money when I haven't seen any progress...
[Poll]
Re: To pay or not to pay?
Nope, nothing in writing. It was all agreed to over the phone.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who would be hesitant about forking over the money right now!
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I would:
1. Not pay until the work started and..
2. When I pay, I'd pay her ex directly. Why are you paying her?
I'm paying her because she's (supposedly) covering my share upfront, and letting me repay her in installments. I just don't have that kind of cash handy to pay her my half all at once (it's a really long fence!).
I say supposedly, because I don't actually know what she's worked out with her ex in terms of payment. Whether he's getting the full lump sum upfront, or half now, half on completion, or what. But I suspect he'll be done long before September, which would be my last of 4 monthly payments.
This all sounds a little fishy to me. Does she have any agreement in writing with her ex about doing this work, how long it will take, how much exactly it will cost, etc.? Is he even a professional? Is he insured?
The more I hear about this, the more uncomfortable I get on your behalf. I'd want a professional doing the work, and I'd want to have a copy of the contract. I'd be paying the company doing the work directly. Otherwise, how do you even know that what she's asking for is half and not more? How well do you know this person?
I know how it sounds. We are trying to cut corners a bit. However, he's a contractor (albeit not a fence guy), so I do think he knows enough about what he's doing. And she cares about the fence so dang much, I don't think she'd have him do it if she didn't really think he could. He put a second story on her house years ago, and she was/is happy with that.
All the professionals we got quotes from came in at well over $5k, and the ex has said he'll do it for $4200. I'd love to have it professionally done, but I don't even want to spend the $2100 that I'm scraping to come up with.
Though you're right, I don't actually know what price he agreed to be paid, and that I'm actually paying half.
We've been neighbors for more than 20 years (well, now they're divorced, so he hasn't been there the whole time, but she has). My mom (neighboring house on my property, also this person's neighbor) really dislikes her and won't even talk to her. I'm trying to do the "right" thing and work with her since the fence technically belongs to both of us.
It's so not "neighborly" to ask for a contract, but ugh, maybe I should.
I know how it sounds. We are trying to cut corners a bit. However, he's a contractor (albeit not a fence guy), so I do think he knows enough about what he's doing. And she cares about the fence so dang much, I don't think she'd have him do it if she didn't really think he could. He put a second story on her house years ago, and she was/is happy with that.
All the professionals we got quotes from came in at well over $5k, and the ex has said he'll do it for $4200. I'd love to have it professionally done, but I don't even want to spend the $2100 that I'm scraping to come up with.
Though you're right, I don't actually know what price he agreed to be paid, and that I'm actually paying half.
We've been neighbors for more than 20 years (well, now they're divorced, so he hasn't been there the whole time, but she has). My mom (neighboring house on my property, also this person's neighbor) really dislikes her and won't even talk to her. I'm trying to do the "right" thing and work with her since the fence technically belongs to both of us.
It's so not "neighborly" to ask for a contract, but ugh, maybe I should.
What I might do would be to pay the first installment on the agreed-upon date, but withhold any further payments until the work actually starts. Call it a good faith deposit. The guy might need to buy some supplies or whatever and you would be starting the project on good terms with the neighbor.
This.
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