Managing contractors for remote flips - your urgent input please
I have been involved in joint venture flips for about 1.5 years now, with me essentially being the money partner and my joint venture partners actively managing the construction-side of the project. Recently I have been working with one joint venture partner who I really like as he is very above-board and cost-conscious, coming up with creative solutions to save money and still achieve great final results.
We have already been talking about doing multiple flips together; we are currently working on one flip together and I have actively been looking for potential additional projects. As a result I currently have 2 properties under contract, deals that I would have to firm up within less than 2 weeks.
Unfortunately, my joint venture partner has been experiencing health issues recently, and although he will finish the project that we already started he will not be able to take on any new projects.
That puts me into a real conundrum as I don't have any active construction experience and these flips are about a 3 to 4 hour drive away from where I live. I am a full-time business owner who has been project managing in my existing business for 25+ years, so the notion of project management is comfortable to me, however, my lack of active construction knowledge and my physical distance pose a significant concern.
My local real estate agent in that market has been very helpful and is willing to help me look for contractors and he might even be able to check up on any potential projects occasionally but he won't be doing active construction management.
Part of me says that I should face the challenge head on and try to locate, select and manage suitable contractors myself and learn along the way, also by reading other Bigger Pockets investor blogs and advice on how to manage contractors.
The other part of me is concerned that this might be over my league at this stage, considering that I only have about 7 to 10 days to firm up the deal on these 2 potential projects, which might not be enough to do proper due diligence on contractor selection. And after contractor selection comes the possibly dicey part of managing the contractor (who might want to try to take advantage of me due to my distance and lack of active construction experience).
One option would be to let these 2 properties go and focus on building the contractor infrastructure first. I am unable to assign the contracts since I did not put an assignment clause into the purchase offers. The other would be to try to make them work on short notice.
I would really appreciate any input and advice you can provide. Also, if you could point me towards some useful contractor agreements that would be really helpful. Thank you in advance for your comments.