BiggerPockets

Rehab Project Update

Thursday, July 23

Today was a very productive day at our Southern CA rehab project. While I had to deal with some quality control issues on one end which set us behind on our time line, I was productive in other aspects.

Cleared the pile of scrap in the backyard and tossed it into the dumpster, went to my second home (Home Depot) and picked up some sheets of 5/8" plywood to lay down as flooring in the master bedroom (the floor level in this room was 5/8" below the hall and other bedrooms and needed to be raised so the carpet had no transition problems once it is laid), the toilets for the two bathrooms, some misc. supplies, and materials to build a small fence around the pool equipment.

The flooring in the master bedroom (plywood purchased) was installed and screws were used to keep in place, the bricks and mortar were completed in the front entryway (they look great), and I repaired several of the broken fence pieces in the backyard. It was hot today (not quite as hot as the previous few days) so I jumped into the pool to cool off towards the end of the day as I have the previous few days. What a life saver this pool is!

 I was not satisfied with the texture coating and paint job in the bedrooms so I had the project coordinator come to the job site to talk about my concerns. He will have the workers sand down the texture and repaint the areas so that the quality meets my standards and I was happy with the implementations he instructed the workers to perform. Tomorrow, I will again check the quality of the work to make sure it is to the standards our potential buyers would expect in a home of this quality and cost.

This set-back is a perfect example of why it is so difficult to perform and manage a rehab project form out of state and why I will not do so again. All of my rehab projects are and will be local, and when the time comes that the market is not condusive to this strategy, I will adjust and adapt as I have always done.

We had the livingroom fireplace completely refaced with red brick (the existing brick was old and ugly, and some were missing or broken) and it looks fantastic. It really makes the room and since we removed the ugly 70's style wood paneling on the walls in the living room and dining room, the new look will dazzle the potential buyers who see it. I am very pleased with the outcome (although it was an added cost not factored initially, the expense will be re-couped in the sales price).

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

William Barnard is Managing Partner of Nationwide Property Investments, LLC and President of Barnard Enterprises, Inc. Will participates in millions of dollars in real estate transactions each year and has experience in nearly every aspect of real estate investing, including rehab flips. Join his FREE Membership at www.nationwidepropertyinvestments,com and start or continue on your journey to creating wealth through real estate!

Comments

1. 

   Harrison Painter Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Everything is looking great guys! Videos are fantastic!

2. 

   Will Barnard Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Thanks Harrison. We are working on another as we speak.

3. 

   Jim Wineinger Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Keep on keeping on, who knows you just might rehab all of southern CA. lol

4. 

   Will Barnard Reply
   over 2 years ago

   That would work!

5. 

   Dory Peters Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Just curious, . . . I'd like to explore a few comments a little further.

   First, I'd like to dig a little deeper into your discussion with your project coordinator over the unsatisfactory, textured coating and paint job. Some of your comments about this property seem to imply that this property is either a luxury home or at least a home in an upper-middle neighborhood. Assuming that's the case, it sounds like something got lost in translation from the discussion of your initial project plans for this property. Did s/he misunderstand your initial set of instructions, or did s/he fail to execute them properly? Was s/he oblivious to the quality issues that you had (and that many discerning buyers would have had) with the paint job? What did you do to get him/her on the same page with you on this? Who ate the cost for this setback? (It kind of sounds like you did.) Did s/he offer to make any reparation(s) for this failure? If not, then did you ask or does your contract obligate him/her to make any reparation(s) (via a performance clause) for this failure?

   Second, I'd like to dig a little deeper into your comment about not wanting to do any more out-of-state rehabs. Especially after having read your comment about the quality of the paint job, I wonder if the primary source of your frustration regarding this rehab boils down to 2 things: staffing and communication issues. Did the project coordinator and the painters belong to the same company? If not, then did s/he or you subcontract out the paint job? Before having hired that project coordinator, had you seen a portfolio of his/her work on similar kinds and caliber of properties? Did you check any references for the projects that s/he has managed on similar properties beforehand? Also, you mentioned something about some expenses that weren't initially factored. Were those basic things that you'd expect a project manager or GC to have caught--but didn't--during the initial planning phase, or were these hidden issues that surfaced during the rehab? In a way, it sounds like what you disliked (and continue to dislike) most about this project is that you felt (and still feel) like you have to babysit this project coordinator.

6. 

   Will Barnard Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Certainly a ton of questions to answer so I will simplify here.
   The communication was there from me to project manager, the quality was not met. Not sure if it was a communication error from manger to staff or just staff's poor initial quality, but regardless, I walked through the home with the project manager and told him EXACTLY what needed to be done to rectify the situation and it was doen to my satisfaction, no additional costs to me other than loss of time (day or two).
   It is in fact in a middle class neighborhood and this home will be the nicest on the street. Yes I have performance clauses in my contracts.

   As far as doing out of state rehabs on SFR's, I have done them before and they require hands on by me, which makes it much more difficult. Not that it can't be done, it can, I just don't enjoy the distance problems as issues arise (and they ALWAYS do!)

   Thanks for your comments/questions.

7. 

   Dory Peters Reply
   over 2 years ago

   IMHO, issues always arise on rehabs--whether local or remote.

   BTW, I wasn't trying to second-guess you; I simply curious about your process and thinking.

8. 

   Will Barnard Reply
   over 2 years ago

   No offense taken, hope I answered your questions. Of course issues arise and that is why I PREFER to be local on rehabs as it is quite difficult to depend on workers to resolve the issues or 100% trust another person to hanlde the issues when they arise.

9. Dentist Huddersfield Reply
   over 2 years ago

   Nice article and thanks a lot.Please keep in touch.

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