Investor · Centreville, VA · Member since 2016 · 109 posts · 65 votes
Hello BP Folks in the Beautiful Eastern Shore Area of Maryland !
I picked up a property (SFR) near Easton, in Cambridge MD that needs a good bit of love... Since I'm in Northern VA, I have nearly no contacts near the property and, after listening to a recent PodCast figured -- BP is the perfect place to start my search.
I'll need cleanout, demo, carpentry, roof, electric, plumbing, HVAC to start. If I take it further, I'll need finish work.
Does anybody have some recommendations for service provider(s) in that area that also understand the quality and pricing needs of a rehabber?
Hello BP Folks in the Beautiful Eastern Shore Area of Maryland !
I
Does anybody have some recommendations for service provider(s) in that area that also understand the quality and pricing needs of a rehabber?
Thanks - Keith
Keith , as a contractor , I will have to say as the quality goes up so does the pricing , as the reverse is true also .
You may have some difficulty finding someone , this is winter season , most of the contractors on the shore head to Ocean City , winter time is when all the work is done there .
As a contractor , the pricing is the same for a rehabber is the same as any other customer . Our cost do not change because a customer is rehabbing a house to sell for a profit , or a customer wants an addition on their house . Either way at the end of the week we will make the same .
Thanks for the heads up about contractors heading to Ocean City for the season - that makes sense. I haven't begun interviewing yet so I didn't know that availability would be sparse. I don't yet have a plan for how far to take the rehab for the next house on my list. I won't waste folks time to visit and bid until I have pretty solid plans A, B & C. I'll visit the site and build the plan over the next several weeks.
I find that referrals have been the best way to find good help at reasonable prices. That's what I hope to get through this thread, and that information is then available to others as well.
I understand your point - "quality goes up as the price does". This is an age old saying that is generally believed - but no longer by me.
I have found that, as a general rule:
> price does not equal quality - and this applies to most things in life...
This applies to cigars, scotch, bourbon, steak, vegetables and many other common items. I have found that it is particularly applicable to nearly everything that goes into a (mid-priced) house. There's a cost/value trade off for everything and there is no point in paying more than necessary for the appropriate level of quality.
This goes for replacement windows, doors, shingles, sheetrock, flooring, paint, electical, and HVAC and the professionals that install them. - well, maybe shingles are different, but my observations seldom exceed 20 years with shingles, so, 20 years is good enough.
My experience is that contractors that do not have the capacity to perform well are more than happy to charge more than their skill and performance is worth and the uninformed consumers of those goods and services are willing to pay the charges - no longer by me.
As to the price being the same for a rehabber as any other customer, that may be true for you and your business model. But my experience is that business owners have pricing flexibility built into their business model.
For example, I have found that this goes for goods - and - services - - supply & demand. Contractors that have more time on their hands than work to fill that time - and also possess the necessary skills are eager to do the work at more reasonable pricing. Some contractors even specialize in rehab-type production and are generally more sensitive to the need to offer high quality at lower cost because it keeps them busy - it's production work. Those are the folks I generally hire - well qualified and better priced. They're out there and that's who I'm looking for.
I've swung a hammer and a paint brush and paid others to do so too. I have a pretty good sense of level of effort to accomplish a task. I'm happy to pay a fair wage for good work, but will try to avoid overpaying for it. I'll bet that, over a beer, you and I could agree on virtually everything I've posted here.
@Keith ThompsonI i can agree with what you said overall . But it would have to be more than 1 beer . And yes you can find contractors a bit less expensive that do production work . But right now even the BIG Boys , the track home builders are looking for subs . There is a lot of work out there and not enough contractors