Work with GC or House Flipper to Learn How to Renovate

[John Park]

Hello everyone,

New to BiggerPockets (although have been a listener of the podcasts for a while). We live in the tri-state area (NY/NJ/CT) and are looking to learn how to do lighter home renovations (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.). I'm not sure if it is common in the real estate world, but we would love to shadow someone leading a few renovation projects (and happy to pay them for the learning experience). We just want to see a few projects from start to finish and how the process plays out. We'd also like to start our learning as soon as possible. 

1) Are we more likely to get takers from house flippers or existing general contractors or other parties?

2) Are there better/quicker ways to learn how to lead the home renovation projects? One idea is to just buy a home and work on the renovation project ourselves (which we plan to do), but looking for quicker ways to learn while we survey the market for an actual property to buy

Thank you so much

[Ryan Normand]

If you're trying to learn the hands-on aspects of remodeling (e.g. how to tile, frame, drywall, etc.) , then work part time for a GC and soak up everything you can. GCs are always looking for labor, even if you don't have much experience. Be prepared to work hard and not make much money, though. But you'll learn useful skills, and more importantly, gain an understanding of how much time and labor actually goes into remodeling. 

If you're trying to learn the management/leadership aspect of GCing a job, there's no substitute for doing it yourself. It's all about human relationships, professional judgement calls, and learning from many, many mistakes.

[John Park]

Thank you very much

[Eliott Elias]

There is no better way to learn than to take on your own project. You can shadow everyone you want, but there are many things you are not going to see.