Clever Real Estate 2024 contractor-choice survey (n=1,000 US homeowners, Aug 14–16 2024): reputation 25%, experience 23%, cost 19%, recommendations 13%, availability 11%

Claim: The most-cited contractor-choice ranking is Clever Real Estate's 2024 survey of 1,000 American homeowners (fielded August 14–16, 2024; reported by CNBC October 9, 2024):

• Reputation: 25%
• Experience: 23%
• Cost: 19%
• Personal recommendations: 13%
• Availability: 11%

Source: Clever Real Estate; CNBC October 9, 2024.

Confidence: Verified.

Caveat — cross-border use

This is US data. It is used here as the best available proxy because no equivalent published Canadian survey was located during the research. Canadian preferences may diverge — Canadians may weight regulatory/credential signals (Tarion, HCRA, RenoMark) more heavily than US respondents weight their equivalents, particularly post-Tarion-reform.

The directional finding (reputation + experience together account for ~half of the decision) is well-corroborated by the Canadian HomeStars data (HomeStars September 2021 Reno Report (n=1,103, Angus Reid Forum): >98% of Canadian homeowners read reviews before making a purchasing decision) and is treated as broadly applicable.

Implication for Candid renovator client copy

• Lead with reputation signals: reviews, testimonials, awards, named clients. Not credentials.
• Reinforce with experience signals: years in business, project counts, named completed projects.
• Then layer credentials: RenoMark, local HBA, insurance, licensing.
• Cost and availability are tertiary in this data — don't lead with them.
• See Rule (renovator client sites): display RenoMark in the footer affiliations strip with equal visual weight to local HBA, BBB, HomeStars, Houzz for the visual hierarchy that follows from this.