I got one recommendation from my realtor, and this contractor did work for a business associate of his who lives around the block from my house. My realtor said I should talk to at least three GCs, but he only had one to recommend.

I might call one of the GCs I found on Houzz, as I could see photos of his work at least. We're trying to keep the budget under $25K, if possible, and a lot of the GCs on Houzz say their projects start at $100K, which is way more than we need to spend.

Unfortunately, I live in Los Angeles, and so I have to go to Palm Springs to meet with the contractors and neighbors, and so I really do not know very many people in that area at all - yet. We plan to rent the house as AirBnB or VRBO most of the time after we get finished with it, but we will spend quite a bit of time there ourselves. We will definitely rent it out for the entire month of April, as that is when the festivals are.

You'd better check with your homeowner's insurance agent before planning any rentals. AirBnB is hoping you won't.

I'll second Dawg's suggestion to ask for contractor recommendations from friends, family members, and co-workers.

You could find useful reviews of tradespeople online until about the mid 2000s, when the web was still young, but they've long since gotten wise to the game. Now you can't trust any review source I know of. Every entry is gamed by the tradespeople, their friends and families, and their competitors. Meanwhile, the websites hosting reviews will gladly downplay or remove negative reviews for tradespeople who buy their advertising.

I've had about as much luck blind-calling tradespeople who advertise in the local tabloid newspaper as I ever had with ones listed on Angie's List.

As you're also discovering, contractors mostly don't give a hoot for "small" projects. (Why do I put "small" in quotation marks? Think about the people around you in this nation who are trying to live on a yearly salary of significantly less than $25,000.) If you're lucky, you'll find a couple who will drive over in their shiny new gigantic trucks, spend 20 minutes looking at your house and talking to you, tell you they'll mail or email you their bids, drive off, and never contact you again.

The solution for folks who don't want to or can't DIY is handymen. They're disparaged here and elsewhere, no doubt with some justification, but if you're lucky enough to find a good, experienced, qualified one. hang on to him or her. Pro tip: the ones I've hired who did good work didn't drive shiny new trucks.

Or you can do what millions of Americans do and learn to DIY. That's the natural reaction to contractors who are too focused on making the maximum amount of money this year to realize that people who get great work on their $10k projects just might hire them for $100k projects a few years down the line. Except that they already have as much work as they want building hideous McMansions, so never mind.

Curiously, this refusal to look at small projects doesn't seem to be as much of a problem in Europe, at least according to my friends who live there. Maybe they're just lucky.

Sorry for the rant. I'll take a few deep breaths now. :/

BTW,, speaking of Europe, you say you're using European materials, so why do you describe your tiles as 24x24 inches? They speak centimeters over there, not inches. Or are those actually tiles that are made specifically for the US market (supposedly) in Italy? Just curious, because house decor tends to be noticeably different over there, not that I'm enough of an expert to say exactly how..

At any rate, good luck with your projects.

I will be reviewing all regulations regarding rentals in Cathedral City before planning any rentals. I first have to get approval from CC, including inspections, and I am not yet sure what they will require, but vacation rentals are quite common in Cathedral City and also profitable for the city, since they charge business tax in addition to a percentage of rental income.

Lars:

Your insurance company doesn't care how common rentals are. They only care that they have a loophole for not paying the claim when your temporary tenant slips in the bathroom and breaks her leg. Or sets your house on fire.

My brother is handling the insurance part of it, and he is aware of this.

To answer DavidR, the tiles I bought were made in Italy, sold by D' Mundo Tile in Palm Desert, and they are definitely 24"x24", probably made specifically for export, but they are also definitely made in Italy. Photos of the tiles are in my idea book.

I ended up using the contractor that my real estate agent recommended, as I was unable to get anyone else to bid on the project.