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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]1. take numbers of trucks I see doing work in the neighborhood.  Nieghborhood listserv.
2. the contractors I've gotten from Angie's List have been very bad.  No way to verify or compare the work poster had done with what I need.
3. I can't get much info about contractors without websites, but the ones with websites tend to overcharge.
4. I don't know what public data would tell me that would be useful in decisionmaking.  [/quote]

OP here. Thank you. Public data on building permits issued is a very rich source of data on which contractors are getting permits issued, for what types of projects, dollar values of those projects, project locations, etc. The data would not be the only way to decide to hire a contractor, but would give additional insight that the homeowner can use in addition to all the other ways they normally find a contractor. [/quote]

Just know that permit data is notoriously unreliable and inconsistent between jurisdictions. for example, MoCo allows placeholder permitting with no requirement to update. So a $300,000 renovation will typically be listed as $100,000.[/quote]

OP again. Thanks for the insight. Data quality and consistency is a very important issue. I've already seen it across different VA cities/counties in terms of the type and quality of permit data available. If you have any other experiences with permit data problems please share.. you can also email me at km AT vrble dot com. Thanks![/quote]

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