​Expect Delays; Count on the Worst

My 81-year-old dad is the guy that drives his family nuts. We love him but if you go anywhere with him you must be ready to leave at least 20 minutes before you really need to leave. He always expects delays. Normally with him, we are the first to arrive and often stand around waiting for others to arrive or let us in. I can honestly say he has never missed a flight; I can’t say that about myself!

I recently had to take back some houses via Deed in Lieu and finish the construction on them. The contractor we are using is great. When we first took them back, within two weeks our city website was hijacked for ransom! Proudly, we were the first city to refuse to pay the bitcoin ransom. Unfortunately, it took ALL six weeks to rebuild the site. This meant no zoning, no approvals, no inspections, no variances, no permits, no anything. We limped along dealing with everything like the good old days; back on paper for at least six weeks and a few weeks more of just playing catch up. That completely blew our timeline for finishing.

In addition, just as we were getting caught up we experienced torrential rains, floods, and downpours literally for weeks. These are things no one could predict or avoid. There are many other things that can delay projects such as backorders, turn over in the workforce due to hot markets, poor quality workmanship, finding oil tanks hidden years ago (that one really hurt), getting subcontractors back out after inspections, Partner disagreements and more. The list could go on forever.

The bottom line is that every day costs you money whether you have a loan on the property or not. Timing your project to be released during the hot selling market is crucial and any of the above can steer you off target. These things can and will happen. What is the solution? Just expect and prepare for it. Have the funds you need to make extra payments, to pay another contractor to fix it, to offer a bonus to finish on time or early and get on the city inspector schedule early to get them out there. Talk with other investors to get an idea of what they do to work around delays. We have all been through them and will pick up tidbits of tricks to avoid it in the future. There will always be more that will come along.

Most importantly, take the punches like a champ, not a chump. Treat everyone with respect and try to understand their point of view or predicament. Sugar fixes a lot more than salt. Temper tantrums and blaming fixes nothing! In fact, it causes high blood pressure, unnecessary stress, and ruins relationships. Good character is the one thing no one can strip from you and it attracts people to you. When given a choice, the subcontractor will always respond first to the person that showed him grace. When everything does go right, well then you have just another reason to celebrate!