I am trying to find a contractor I can fully trust. The contractor should only charge me all labor (including his own time) and material cost with a reasonable profit (20% something) and I do not need to tell what to do in detail.
Of course, the trustness can only be established by working together on projects.
I have a sweet white american guy who worked and prepared 3 of my houses for rent. He was a builder who used to build houses. I do not think he charges too much. He fixed one property for me for about $1800 while A chinese contractor tried to get more than $5000 from me for the same house.