At what point in the purchasing process do you hire a GC?

Question

Hi, I am new to flipping and creating a timeline of steps to complete a flip and would appreciate some advice.

When you find a house do you tour it first with the General Contactor (GC) and have them make a statement of work before you make an offer? Do GC's agree to do that for free usually?

Or do you do a ballpark estimate on your own with no GC involved during a tour with your agent, and then bring one in after you make an offer (and pay earnest amount)? In this case what you do if the actual cost of rehab is higher and doesn't pencil out like your ballpark estimate did?

I've struggling with understanding this sequence of events so I appreciate the help. Thanks!

Caleb Brown · Answer

Typically I have a GC walk during inspections. Initially I can estimate and have an idea. The GC I use is one I've used multiple times so we already have a relationship. Initially as you work with GCs you might have to pay for a scope of work, bid. Any GC you have ask for an itemized bid

Matthew Tregoning · Answer

I ballpark it first. If it still looks good I get the GC in before the inspection period is over. I just had a renovation grow fast once the walls and ceilings opened. First number needs room to be wrong. If it doesn't, the deal is too tight.

Michael Eskenasy · Answer

I’d bring the GC in before your inspection contingency expires, not necessarily before you make the offer.

That distinction matters.

You should be able to walk a property and build a rough rehab number yourself well enough to know whether it deserves an offer. But I would never let earnest money or contingency deadlines turn that rough number into an assumption.

Get it under contract with the appropriate inspection/due-diligence protection, then use that window to have your GC walk it and tighten the scope.

And don’t just ask, “What will this rehab cost?” Ask them to separate:

must do / should do / nice to do.

That keeps a contractor’s perfect renovation from accidentally becoming your investment model.

The bigger lesson is this: the GC shouldn’t decide whether you have a deal. They should verify that the deal you think you have actually exists.

Eventually you’ll get good enough at estimating that you can move very quickly. On your first few, though, paying for experienced eyes before your contingency disappears is cheap insurance.

Happy to connect on this

Dan Handford · Answer

Cameron, I would treat contractor involvement as a staged process. Use a conservative price-per-square-foot screen to decide whether a property deserves more work, then get a trusted GC or specialist onsite before your inspection or due-diligence window expires. The early number is only a filter, not a budget. For a first flip, build the written scope by room and trade, confirm what is excluded, and carry a contingency for concealed conditions. If the detailed bids break the deal, your contract should still give you a clean decision point before the risk becomes permanent.

Jay Toluganti · Answer

My process is, once I find a property that pass my buybox requirements, sales good in the neighborhood, i would calculate the ARV, and use GC provided napkin number per sqft and coneup with offer. If the offer is in the range of what wholesaler is asking, i woukd send pics to my GC for his opinion to confirm the rehab nunbers and I tell my number to the wholesaler. If they agree, then I will schedule a walk through with my GC amd he still is with his number, I will send the EMD.

Cameron Smith · Answer

@Jay Toluganti This is really helpful, thanks!