Difficulty finding the right contractor to fit my business

[Brian Butterfield]

Contractors seem to be everywhere, but the right contractors to fit my business seem to be elusive. I've Compiled lists and cold called by searching places like homeadvisor or angieslist, as well as go through my networking of contractors that I currently work with, but where I seem to hit a road block is finding the select few contractors that are willing to work with in my business model. Specifically I'm looking for contractors that have a work force that can tackle multiple projects at once, are motivated by repeat business, and will give me solid consistent pricing (in return for the volume of work I give them). The catch is I have access to all my finish materials (flooring, tile, cabinets, counter tops etc..) at cost direct from the manufacturers. This means they don't get to mark up the materiel. I still expect to be charged for all the install labor and any coordination time it takes in delivering materials to the job sight or scheduling between different trades. I've been very successful in the last year running my flips as the General contractor but find that I need to bring on multiple GC's to keep up with the amount of work I've been putting in the pipeline. I don't want to keep running my own projects so I can work more  ON the business and less IN it. Any creative suggestions or advice about how to track down the types of Contractors I'm looking for??

[Christopher B.]

My plumbers took me out to lunch a couple weeks ago. We got into the topic of bad contractors and customers  (from their perspective). One of them said this, paraphrasing, "if the guys says to me 'I've got a bunch of work and want to build a long-term relationship with you' I get back in the van." This is used often towards them and isn't seen as a positive by many. 

The reality is they're interviewing you as much as you are them. Us investors have a reputation as being cheap, hard to work with, unrealistic, and sometimes difficult to get payment from. They view us as negatively as we do them. So when you're interviewing them remember they're interviewing you too and think about how you can gain their confidence and trust.

Finding good ones is a tough part of this business.