Need advice - contractor wants full payment upfront, is this normal?
So I've been interviewing different companies for a project I'm planning, and one of them sent over a proposal that seemed decent until I got to the payment schedule section. They want 50% upfront to even start, another 25% midway through, and the final 25% upon completion, which I know is pretty standard. But then I read some horror stories online about people paying big deposits and then the contractor disappearing or dragging the job out for months, and now I'm getting cold feet about the whole thing. I'm trying to figure out what questions I should be asking to protect myself without coming across as distrustful or difficult to work with. I want to make sure whoever I hire is actually licensed and insured and knows what they're doing, especially because this is a pretty big investment for me and I can't afford to have things go sideways. I was reading somewhere about checking credentials and verifying that they carry proper insurance, which makes total sense. I figure a certified remodeling contractor in Palo Alto would have all their paperwork in order and be transparent about their process, but I don't know how to actually verify that stuff or what red flags to watch for. Has anyone here had a bad experience with payment disputes, and what did you do to avoid getting burned? Should I run from this company or am I just being paranoid?