Hello all,
I plan on buying single family and multi-family homes in need of rehab, and know absolutely nothing about the rehab part. So I'm trying to figure out how many people I need to hire and how specialized they have to be to make up for my incompetence.
I have 3 questions:
If you can answer just one of these questions or add to my list below, I'd greatly appreciate it.
So far this is my list:
Thank you for reading through this and helping! :)
My suggestion, fwiw, is to pick one of your properties - maybe the one with the simplest rehab- and use it to learn on - dont make changes that are irrevesible. (Ie dont remove original hardwood floors! They are very valuable! Cover them up with vinyl if needed )
Make your mistakes and find a team during this rehab. You will learn a TON that you will then be able to apply to your other rentals.
IMO a good contractor and a good handyman are criticalyou need a contractor that can do it all - this will cut down on costs.
Good luck and have fun!
The contractors you need will be based on what the property needs. You will have to first decide what you want to do. For example, the hardwood floors are a bit worn. Do you want to leave them as is, refinish them, install new floors or cover them with carpet? IF new floors, what material? These approaches are all appropriate depending on the condition of the floors and your desired outcome. Your decision then leads to calling a h/w floor contractor or a carpet store.
My suggestion is you think about why you want to get a rehab if you truly know nothing about rehabbing, as compared to a turnkey property. Hiring out a large amount of the work will be expensive and subject to a variety of contractor risks. The turnkey has all the work done and is rent ready when you buy it.
The contractors you need will be based on what the property needs. You will have to first decide what you want to do. For example, the hardwood floors are a bit worn. Do you want to leave them as is, refinish them, install new floors or cover them with carpet? IF new floors, what material? These approaches are all appropriate depending on the condition of the floors and your desired outcome. Your decision then leads to calling a h/w floor contractor or a carpet store.
My suggestion is you think about why you want to get a rehab if you truly know nothing about rehabbing, as compared to a turnkey property. Hiring out a large amount of the work will be expensive and subject to a variety of contractor risks. The turnkey has all the work done and is rent ready when you buy it.
Hello James,
Thank you for the reply! Sorry I should have phrased my question better. I want a rehab because I want an undervalued property and most require rehab. The turn key properties I've come across don't have the ROI I want. I also have the start-up capital to hire the right people, and I don't have the time or experience to do it myself.
That being said, I am still learning. I am hoping to get to a point before I buy my first property where I can roughly estimate the rehab costs, bring in a general contractor and home inspector to do the same, and then call specialists that are already on my phone and reviewed/interviewed to come and fix it ASAP.
Right now, I'm trying to learn how many people I need to have on my team and on my contact list, ready to go. I would like my rehabs to go as quickly and smoothly as possible and don't want to investigate who the right people are when I already have the property bought.
My suggestion, fwiw, is to pick one of your properties - maybe the one with the simplest rehab- and use it to learn on - dont make changes that are irrevesible. (Ie dont remove original hardwood floors! They are very valuable! Cover them up with vinyl if needed )
Make your mistakes and find a team during this rehab. You will learn a TON that you will then be able to apply to your other rentals.
IMO a good contractor and a good handyman are criticalyou need a contractor that can do it all - this will cut down on costs.
Good luck and have fun!
@Milena S. You should visit the service counter in the Home Improvement section of a Home Depot store. If you ask, they will recommend professionals who do flooring, painting kitchen cabinets and counters etc. And they know the good trades people from the not so good. That has worked well for us; flooring and painting has been the most used rehab work we have have gotten involved with-we don't have the skills to do it ourselves. At my age I'd rather go fishing. ;<) All the best!
My suggestion, fwiw, is to pick one of your properties - maybe the one with the simplest rehab- and use it to learn on - dont make changes that are irrevesible. (Ie dont remove original hardwood floors! They are very valuable! Cover them up with vinyl if needed )
Make your mistakes and find a team during this rehab. You will learn a TON that you will then be able to apply to your other rentals.
IMO a good contractor and a good handyman are criticalyou need a contractor that can do it all - this will cut down on costs.
Good luck and have fun!
Thank you for the reply! I've never thought of that and I think it's a great idea that can be applied in all aspects of life. You do things yourself, learn about the process, make mistakes, and then slowly get other people to cover your newly learned inefficiencies. I like it. Thank you! :)
@Milena S. You should visit the service counter in the Home Improvement section of a Home Depot store. If you ask, they will recommend professionals who do flooring, painting kitchen cabinets and counters etc. And they know the good trades people from the not so good. That has worked well for us; flooring and painting has been the most used rehab work we have have gotten involved with-we don't have the skills to do it ourselves. At my age I'd rather go fishing. ;<) All the best!
That's a great idea! I'll get to the my local hardware stores soon and get some referrals. Online screening hasn't brought me much success so far. I should've known that professionals would be in the hardware store doing what they do best and not online hahaha :)
Thank you and have fun fishing!
@Milena S. haha, i was out running in the cold when i responded and it looks like i didnt make sense :)
My suggestion is to start with an easy renovation - find a contractor and handyman and do this one project before starting on others - you will learn a lot!
Your second project you will make fewer mistakes, then the next and next!
And i bet you will be picking up a hammer, saw and an impact driver ! Just wait!
@Milena S. haha, i was out running in the cold when i responded and it looks like i didnt make sense :)
My suggestion is to start with an easy renovation - find a contractor and handyman and do this one project before starting on others - you will learn a lot!
Your second project you will make fewer mistakes, then the next and next!
And i bet you will be picking up a hammer, saw and an impact driver ! Just wait!
LOL Okay that makes more sense :) I still liked your other suggestion too. I'm impressed you can run in the cold and type at the same time hahaha. Hopefully I will! :)
You're setting yourself up for getting taken by unscrupulous contractors in my opinion. Why not just start with one project? If you're honest about your lack of experience I'd be reluctant to get into 2 aggressive projects. A lot of the contractors you'll come across will eat you alive if you let them.
You're setting yourself up for getting taken by unscrupulous contractors in my opinion. Why not just start with one project? If you're honest about your lack of experience I'd be reluctant to get into 2 aggressive projects. A lot of the contractors you'll come across will eat you alive if you let them.
Sorry, I should have clarified this in my post. I am starting with one project. I'm buying my first with cash, rehabbing, doing a cash-out refinance, and then repeating the process (the BRRRR strategy).
This is part of my question. How do I find good contractors? I know someone on this post mentioned going to Home Depot to find referrals. Now from that idea, I plan on finding referrals in local hardware stores, interviewing these leads and reviewing their past and/or current projects, get the best few to give me a quote on my first property, and then pick the best one from that. If they work out, great. I'll give them my next project. If they don't, I have other options. If you can add to this idea let me know!
Hi @Milena S.,
You ask 2 very important questions that a newbie investor ask:
1) How do I find out the cost of renovation?
2) How do I find good contractors?
The cost of renovation is the cost of labor AND materials for a particular set of task/ part of the project (like screwing a light bulb - LOL).
Cost of labor will depend on the area/city/town you're in.
Cost of materials is pretty much the same across the US (and the same across Canada - I'm assuming).
Now to have a good idea on both, specially the cost of materials, J Scott's book on How to Estimate Repairs will be a good one to read. It's very detailed. You can cross reference the cost through researching online as well.
Now to answer your next question: How do I find good contractors.
Answer: one way to do it is through networking with other rehabbers/landlords/investors/ real estate agents (who specialize in working with investors) and property managers in your local market. Ask them for referrals. Then interview 3-5 contractors per job (3-5 plumbers, 3-5 carpenters, etc). It's going to take a lot of work upfront but this will save you time over the long run.
Another way to find good contractors is by finding good GCs (General Contractor). Generally, a good GC will have good sub contractors. How do you find a good GC? Same process - networking in your local market then interview several prospective GCs. For GCs, you need to interview/meet 5-10 of them and you should go to 3-5 projects they are working on or have worked on to see the quality of their work.
Again, lots of work but it will save you the aggravation and sleepless nights of worrying about contractors/ GCs messing up your projects.
Hello all,
I plan on buying single family and multi-family homes in need of rehab, and know absolutely nothing about the rehab part. So I'm trying to figure out how many people I need to hire and how specialized they have to be to make up for my incompetence.
I have 3 questions:
If you can answer just one of these questions or add to my list below, I'd greatly appreciate it.
So far this is my list:
Thank you for reading through this and helping! :)
The job of a General Contractor is to run the entire job. So if you've got yourself a General Contractor they will be the ones worrying about dealing with the individual trades such as Plumber, Electrician, Roofer, Painters etc....
I would add two things. When going to Home Depot, go at 7:00 am, and see which contractors are coming in at that time. Then you know who the go getters are. Contractors that come into home depot at 7:00 am to get supplies is a sign of a potentially good contractor. Another thing I advise is pick some small part of the work to do yourself. On the first one, even if you leave just painting on room, or putting spackle in wall cracks....doing will bring confidence. We worked side by side with our handyman on all of our first 5 buildings, and after being basically the same as you starting out, now I can put in sheetrock, electrical (inspected of course), sand wood floors, install Pergo flooring (used that skill to put pergo in our home hallway), and even install windows. Not that I want to do that work myself, but having done it, I know how long it should take, and how expensive it should be.
Hi @Milena S.,
You ask 2 very important questions that a newbie investor ask:
1) How do I find out the cost of renovation?
2) How do I find good contractors?
The cost of renovation is the cost of labor AND materials for a particular set of task/ part of the project (like screwing a light bulb - LOL).
Cost of labor will depend on the area/city/town you're in.
Cost of materials is pretty much the same across the US (and the same across Canada - I'm assuming).
Now to have a good idea on both, specially the cost of materials, J Scott's book on How to Estimate Repairs will be a good one to read. It's very detailed. You can cross reference the cost through researching online as well.
Now to answer your next question: How do I find good contractors.
Answer: one way to do it is through networking with other rehabbers/landlords/investors/ real estate agents (who specialize in working with investors) and property managers in your local market. Ask them for referrals. Then interview 3-5 contractors per job (3-5 plumbers, 3-5 carpenters, etc). It's going to take a lot of work upfront but this will save you time over the long run.
Another way to find good contractors is by finding good GCs (General Contractor). Generally, a good GC will have good sub contractors. How do you find a good GC? Same process - networking in your local market then interview several prospective GCs. For GCs, you need to interview/meet 5-10 of them and you should go to 3-5 projects they are working on or have worked on to see the quality of their work.
Again, lots of work but it will save you the aggravation and sleepless nights of worrying about contractors/ GCs messing up your projects.
I like that! I've been going to local real estate networking events and have been meeting some great investors there, so I will definitely add that to my list as another source of referrals. I will get J. Scott's book as well!
Thank you for the advice! :)
Hello all,
I plan on buying single family and multi-family homes in need of rehab, and know absolutely nothing about the rehab part. So I'm trying to figure out how many people I need to hire and how specialized they have to be to make up for my incompetence.
I have 3 questions:
If you can answer just one of these questions or add to my list below, I'd greatly appreciate it.
So far this is my list:
Thank you for reading through this and helping! :)
The job of a General Contractor is to run the entire job. So if you've got yourself a General Contractor they will be the ones worrying about dealing with the individual trades such as Plumber, Electrician, Roofer, Painters etc....
Thank you for the reply and clarification! The thing I was initially worried about with a general contractor is "what if they don't get the right people for the job?" If I get a bad painter, I get bad painting. If I get a bad general contractor, I get a bad property. It makes me feel a little more in control to be able to screen everyone on the job, and that's why I want to know how many people I need on my contact list as an option aside from a general contractor.
But I hope I find a good general contractor (at least for my first rehab). Everyone on here has been really helpful with screening and referral tips!
I would add two things. When going to Home Depot, go at 7:00 am, and see which contractors are coming in at that time. Then you know who the go getters are. Contractors that come into home depot at 7:00 am to get supplies is a sign of a potentially good contractor. Another thing I advise is pick some small part of the work to do yourself. On the first one, even if you leave just painting on room, or putting spackle in wall cracks....doing will bring confidence. We worked side by side with our handyman on all of our first 5 buildings, and after being basically the same as you starting out, now I can put in sheetrock, electrical (inspected of course), sand wood floors, install Pergo flooring (used that skill to put pergo in our home hallway), and even install windows. Not that I want to do that work myself, but having done it, I know how long it should take, and how expensive it should be.
Hello David,
Thank you for the advice! I like that idea! I was planning on working side by side with them and learning more, and it will definitely be an embarrassing process for me as I know nothing. But you have to start somewhere lol :)
Hello all,
I plan on buying single family and multi-family homes in need of rehab, and know absolutely nothing about the rehab part. So I'm trying to figure out how many people I need to hire and how specialized they have to be to make up for my incompetence.
I have 3 questions:
If you can answer just one of these questions or add to my list below, I'd greatly appreciate it.
So far this is my list:
Thank you for reading through this and helping! :)
The job of a General Contractor is to run the entire job. So if you've got yourself a General Contractor they will be the ones worrying about dealing with the individual trades such as Plumber, Electrician, Roofer, Painters etc....
Thank you for the reply and clarification! The thing I was initially worried about with a general contractor is "what if they don't get the right people for the job?" If I get a bad painter, I get bad painting. If I get a bad general contractor, I get a bad property. It makes me feel a little more in control to be able to screen everyone on the job, and that's why I want to know how many people I need on my contact list as an option aside from a general contractor.
But I hope I find a good general contractor (at least for my first rehab). Everyone on here has been really helpful with screening and referral tips!
I do not recommend someone with no building & renovation experience attempt to work directly with tradesmen. There are a couple very important things that you should note.
I am not sure trolling home depot is the best stategy :). But you could ask your realtor or other local realtors who they use and trust. This is how I found an amazing contractor who cost way less and did most of the work himself and did a super job.
Hello all,
I plan on buying single family and multi-family homes in need of rehab, and know absolutely nothing about the rehab part. So I'm trying to figure out how many people I need to hire and how specialized they have to be to make up for my incompetence.
I have 3 questions:
If you can answer just one of these questions or add to my list below, I'd greatly appreciate it.
So far this is my list:
Thank you for reading through this and helping! :)
The job of a General Contractor is to run the entire job. So if you've got yourself a General Contractor they will be the ones worrying about dealing with the individual trades such as Plumber, Electrician, Roofer, Painters etc....
Thank you for the reply and clarification! The thing I was initially worried about with a general contractor is "what if they don't get the right people for the job?" If I get a bad painter, I get bad painting. If I get a bad general contractor, I get a bad property. It makes me feel a little more in control to be able to screen everyone on the job, and that's why I want to know how many people I need on my contact list as an option aside from a general contractor.
But I hope I find a good general contractor (at least for my first rehab). Everyone on here has been really helpful with screening and referral tips!
I do not recommend someone with no building & renovation experience attempt to work directly with tradesmen. There are a couple very important things that you should note.
Makes sense :) I'll be looking for some good general contractors then!
I also recommend using a small, one or two man operation. The guy i used was a General Contractor that specialized in renovations He was super easy to work with taught me TON and i didnt have to worry about trying to be the GC myself
Using a smaller firm allows you to be more involved and it also IMO allows your ideas to make it more easily to completion as things dont get lost in translation fromGC to sub to the subs workers
Feel free to PM if you ever want to talk about what it is like to have to learn as you go!
I also recommend using a small, one or two man operation. The guy i used was a General Contractor that specialized in renovations He was super easy to work with taught me TON and i didnt have to worry about trying to be the GC myself
Using a smaller firm allows you to be more involved and it also IMO allows your ideas to make it more easily to completion as things dont get lost in translation fromGC to sub to the subs workers
Feel free to PM if you ever want to talk about what it is like to have to learn as you go!
Thank you for the great advice, Mary! I'll add you as a connection and PM you if I have any questions :)
If I were you I would read up a little on how to rehab, not for specific knowledge but to at least know that a contractor is not taking advantage of you. The biggerpockets book written by J. Scott does a very good job at this. With contractors you have to be VERY SPECIFIC about what you want done in your scope otherwise they will not know what you need done or they will creep the scope and you will end up blowing your budget.
You don't need to know how to do the specific updating but I wouldn't go blindly with no knowledge. Don't rely fully on others for this information either. A good home inspector is great but no one will take your property as seriously as you do.
Knowledge is power.