Investor · Malden, MA · Member since 2015 · 66 posts · 14 votes
I am currently looking for a house in Pittsburgh, and I will most likely be renovating it . I am doing the BRRRR strategy, and I will need a contractor that will work with me being out of state ( Boston) , and is willing to take pictures and have good communication with me throughout the process.
congratz on your new adventure, I wished I had someone for you, my GC is not on my "good boy" list right now. hahahaha at least to refer to anyone. The issue is he works well with me, but he just can't seem to work with my investors ;p
And I haven't had any luck referring a GC in pittsburgh without issues ;(
I have not yet had to hire them for anything because I typically handle most of that stuff on my own, but I have heard very verry good things about Capital Construction. I'll message you with their contact information.
Thanks for responding! I guess its safe to say its hard to find a good contractor @Jennifer Lee,.
I have flipped a couple houses in Boston area and like @Anthony Angotti I have done the renovation my self and hiring of some jobs that I cant do myself. Its going to be hard to hand off some of that control to someone else.
Very much agreed. I hire off some more specialized trades and things that would completely destroy my property, but for most jobs it's hard to pay some 4X material cost to see them do a bad job :(
There are a number of good people in Pittsburgh, but I know that they stay pretty busy a lot of the time.
Hiring w/o being on the ground is tough. Investor referrals are best, but a lot of investors are reluctant to refer their GC's as they have a lot of work in the pipe already. You may have some luck with Angie's List, etc. but expect to pay up.
I've never had to manage a contractor from afar & think it would be difficult even with the best of technology (Skype, etc.). Scope & hiring seems pretty doable, but it really helps to have someone who can verify progress with their own eyes. If you're using a local realtor, they might be able to do walk-throughs for a fee. A home inspector could possibly also fill that role. Pictures only show what they want you to see - try to get some local eyes.
I have experience of being that boots on the ground. I have a lot of out of state investors bc I was once an out of state investor myself.
that said, I haven't done huge rehab for out of state. currently involved with local investor rehab. I had to step in help the newbies take control over the GC (hence I m not referring my guy....for a while)