Rental Property Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2016 · 303 posts · 154 votes
Hey BP community - So I have been trying to rehab a few of my projects and I have probably Interviewed over 30 people. Some are great... well atleast on paper. I show them the project, we talk about timelines and budgets and they promise to start on time and then they disappear. I actually had a guy work on several smaller repairs an entire week and then disappeared without even getting paid.
Anyone having similar situations out there. My case might be a little different. Although I am
In an urban environment, the market here
In Rochester NY is depressed. I got ads placed everywhere and even offered sign on bonus... love to hear some success stories here.
Hey BP community - So I have been trying to rehab a few of my projects and I have probably Interviewed over 30 people. Some are great... well atleast on paper. I show them the project, we talk about timelines and budgets and they promise to start on time and then they disappear. I actually had a guy work on several smaller repairs an entire week and then disappeared without even getting paid.
Anyone having similar situations out there. My case might be a little different. Although I am
In an urban environment, the market here
In Rochester NY is depressed. I got ads placed everywhere and even offered sign on bonus... love to hear some success stories here.
Staffing a construction company is always a struggle. Our construction arm does a couple million annually & man that's not an easy couple million to transact. What many people getting into this business don't know is that the trades & construction industry is riddled with drug & alcohol abuse. Show me a roofing crew without a felon on it & I'll show you a unicorn.
Im finding some similar things happening in Boston, Ma, believe it or not, because there is another bigger fish around the corner. Ive found that establishing great trust / working relationships through my rentals, im able to put people on the hook long term. Putting people in contracts with penalties is the best. IE. Finish on time and get a 10k bonus, or dont, and forgo 10% etc. I pay people on time, and early often if they are doing well, but always in the contract increments.
Finding reliable and honest contractors and people in the world as sad as it is can be hard...
Taking the time to check out a job site they're working on currently is another way to see how they work.
I see the situation you're in and I would suggest trying to find another investor that has had success few a GC that could help line up the proper help.
@Aqil Dharamsey Hi there. Sorry that I do not have a success story for you but I am here in Rochester as well and have had the same problem. Although I haven't quite tried 30 contractors, I did have 3 different contractors come through my property, promise a detailed scope of work and bid, then nothing. One of them I actually found here on BP and it still didn't work out. This is my first property and it is a single family so I have just kept on pushing forward with my rehab (my wife and daughters did most of my demo). Luckily there isn't a lot that I cant do myself but the time to do it is limited. I figured at his point, I will learn more by doing this myself and take my education on to the next one, along with the money I saved by doing the work myself. I'm really hoping that by the time I have my next property lined up, I will have a GC ready to go as well. Feel free to reach out if I can help in any way. Good Luck!
I’ve had numerous mishaps. I changed markets about 2 years ago And I’ve been doing this for a while. But keep at it. As long as you keep your ducks in a row do what your supposed to eventually you will
Find the right people.
I had such a hard time finding good ppl in newburgh I started my own little referral
Program. It worked out well now contractors call me when their not busy to ask if I can find them work.
Rochester is a tough place to find reliable contractors. I've been doing this for a while and all I can say is once you find a guy that is reliable, hang on to him for as long as you can. We have literally purchase houses just to keep good guys working even though we're not going to make much money just because we don't want to lose them. Inbox me. I think I've got a couple people that can help you out.
Hey BP community - So I have been trying to rehab a few of my projects and I have probably Interviewed over 30 people. Some are great... well atleast on paper. I show them the project, we talk about timelines and budgets and they promise to start on time and then they disappear. I actually had a guy work on several smaller repairs an entire week and then disappeared without even getting paid.
Anyone having similar situations out there. My case might be a little different. Although I am
In an urban environment, the market here
In Rochester NY is depressed. I got ads placed everywhere and even offered sign on bonus... love to hear some success stories here.
Staffing a construction company is always a struggle. Our construction arm does a couple million annually & man that's not an easy couple million to transact. What many people getting into this business don't know is that the trades & construction industry is riddled with drug & alcohol abuse. Show me a roofing crew without a felon on it & I'll show you a unicorn.
I’ve had numerous mishaps. I changed markets about 2 years ago And I’ve been doing this for a while. But keep at it. As long as you keep your ducks in a row do what your supposed to eventually you will
Find the right people.
I had such a hard time finding good ppl in newburgh I started my own little referral
Program. It worked out well now contractors call me when their not busy to ask if I can find them work.
Interesting. Could you elaborate on how your referral program worked?
I have found that the amount of development that has been going on in downtown Rochester has sucked a lot of the good guys out of the labor pool. Fortunately this is just temporary.
Maybe you could find another investor who has good guys you could strategically partner with.
Some investors will buy properties just to keep their guys fed. So if you can find another investor you can work in tandem with you may be able to find a win win scenario.
Best of luck and hopefully you find the secret sauce!
I actually work with a company that handles maintenance requests for investors and property managers alike. They actually collect bids on behalf of the investor so they have a couple prices to look at. Also they take tenant calls and coordinate all the minor repairs that happen throughout the year for about 10 bucks a home with a dashboard where you can track their progress.
They help with pretty much everything that has to do with maintenance and maintenance coordinatio. Make readies, minor rehabs, replacing those blinds a tenant keeps complaining about. Pretty much everything.