Helpful perspective especially given your experience in the industry. Our realtor recommended him (and has used him countless times both for client projects and stuff he’s done in his home) and suggested we add the clause...I hadn’t heard of it but after doing research online yesterday, apparently it is a thing (unsure how it impacts the relationship though). I definitely understand your POV but just trying to protect us from having to live through a renovation that takes 6 months instead of 8 weeks. I actually like his payment terms as he is leaving final payment as 25% so I guess that would incentivize him to finish it on time.
I’ll see what he says back to my ask and go from there. Definitely agree with your point on communication...we won’t be living in the house for the first 5 weeks but I’ll be stopping by enough to check on progress/escalate/etc. I probably sound like an annoying customer but I’ve heard of enough horror stories that I won’t leave this to chance
Thanks for the perspective, appreciate it!