How do you find a good GC / contractor for out of state walkthroughs?

Question

I’m an out of state investor buying low priced single family homes. My biggest concern is buying a lemon.

I’m not looking for perfect houses. Cosmetic repairs are fine paint, drywall, flooring, cleanup, small handyman work, etc. What I’m trying to avoid are major issues like foundation problems, serious water intrusion, roof leaks, bad electrical, plumbing/sewer problems, heat issues, and mold.

For those of you buying out of state:

How do you find a good contractor or GC to walk properties before closing?

Do you use a general contractor or handyman or someone else?

How do you make sure they actually inspect the important things and don’t just walk through quickly and say “looks fine”?

Do you give them a checklist? Require photos/videos? FaceTime walkthrough? Pay them for gas/time?

The main question I need answered on each property is:

Could a handy person safely live here while fixing it up, or is this a deal I should walk away from?

Any advice on how to vet reliable boots on the ground would be appreciated.

Travis Timmons · Answer

Out of state value add without ever stepping foot on the property is a bad idea. Even if it works, it's still a bad idea. It is a high risk guessing game on a few different fronts, and you are putting complete trust on strangers with a profit motive.

I invest both locally and out of state, and the way to get good contacts is to meet them, earn their trust and respect. Otherwise, you're always going to be "the rich guy from New York" that they overcharge and move to the end of the line when something else comes up.

If you are looking at a price point below the median level in your out of state market, your risk is also much higher. Cheap properties are in higher risk locations with higher risk tenants. And the lower gross rents will not absorb capex. Replacing a roof is the same price regardless of whether it rents for $3000 or 750 per month.

Jules Aton · Answer

I’d suspect that if you are buying low priced properties anywhere especially out of state that you haven’t personally inspected the chances of buying a lemon are extremely high. Your Realtor who is hopefully also an investor will probably be your best source for recommendations.

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Steve Candor thanks for the post. I had to invest out of state when I lived in NYC as well. Super hard to do it there. Now, as a 15 year, out-of-state investor my recommendation is to ALWAYS choose whatever city you have the most trustworthy contacts in. Keep in mind that you may never see your asset. That's an ENOURMOUS amount of trust/money to put into a stranger's hands. What I mean here is that if you know someone in a different city...but that city may not have as good as "numbers" as this other city...then stick with the city where you know people. One wrong move, one wrong contractor, one wrong vendor…will erase any "benefit" one city has over another. Your network is the most important piece for any potential returns when you invest out of state.

When I lived in New York, I invested in Jacksonville, Florida. Not because it had great numbers...I mean, it did have reasonable numbers...but because I knew people there. That's the ticket to your success.

So, the 2nd leg to this answer is kind of like the first - How do we find good contractors? And this is a super important question and it doesn't just apply to contractors. How do you know that a lender is any good? An electrician? A title company? Anything? Even if they do have 20 years experience...how do you know really? And while nothing is foolproof the most consistent method of finding good vendors is relying on OTHER real estate investors that have worked with those vendors. This is why we network with other real estate investors - kind of like what you are doing here!

Now this might sound strange but facebook is a good tool for this. Facebook usually will have some good local groups for you. Some of those facebook groups have thousands of members. So, search for "real estate investor group X city/state" and it will bring up several. Join the groups. Get plugged in with their online meetings. Ask who people use for what. The priority is consistent recommendations from active investors.

I hope this makes sense how I am describing it. Good luck!

Kerlous Tadres · Answer

I'd pay for a licensed home inspector on every deal (usually $300 to $500) and separately get a contractor bid for the repairs, since those are two different jobs. Give the inspector one clear question in writing, "could someone safely live here while fixing it up, or are there major foundation, roof, water, electrical, plumbing, sewer, HVAC, or mold problems," and require photos plus a FaceTime walk so you're seeing it with your own eyes. And honestly, the best boots on the ground come from referrals in local investor groups or your agent's own flip crew, not a random name off Google.

Jimmy Lieu · Answer

I think having multiple sets of eyes on the property is worth the cost, especially when you're buying from out of state. I usually don't rely on just a GC. I'll have a trusted inspector do a thorough inspection, then bring in specialists if anything raises concerns, like a roofer, plumber, electrician, or foundation contractor. Before closing, I ask for lots of photos and videos, and if I can't be there, I'll often do a live video walkthrough so I can ask questions in real time. A simple checklist focused on the big-ticket items you mentioned is also helpful so everyone is looking at the same things. If you're looking for markets, Columbus has been a good fit for this approach. There are still affordable homes where the numbers work, and building a reliable local team makes buying remotely much less stressful. Happy to connect and answer any questions you have!

Josh Handler · Answer

I'm the guy on the other end of these calls, so let me answer from that side.

First thing: what you're describing isn't a GC job, it's two separate jobs, and most of the frustration in this thread comes from people asking one person to do both. Job one is "is this house structurally and mechanically sound," which is an inspector or a specific trade. Job two is "what will it cost to make it rentable," which is a GC. A GC walking a house for free is not going to crawl under it or pull a panel cover, and honestly he shouldn't, that's not what he was asked to do.

The reason contractors say "looks fine" on those walks is that nobody paid them to say anything else. You asked for a favor and you got a favor.

So pay for it. Not a lot, but pay. A few hundred dollars for a real walk with a written report gets you a completely different person showing up and a completely different level of care. It also filters, because the guy who won't take money for an hour of his time to give you an honest answer is telling you something.

On what to actually require, and I'd put this in writing before he goes:

Sewer scope on anything pre-1970. Camera in the line, video sent to you. This is the single highest-value $200 you will spend on a cheap old house and it catches the thing that ends deals.

Photo of the open electrical panel. Not the door, the guts. Someone who knows what they're looking at can tell you in thirty seconds whether it's a fuse box, an old federal panel, aluminum branch wiring or double-taps.

Water heater and furnace data plates photographed. The manufacture date is right on it. That tells you how much life is left better than any opinion.

Photos of every ceiling and every closet corner. Water shows there first. Same with under every sink and behind the toilets.

Crawlspace or basement, phone flashlight on, video pan. You want to see standing water, mud daubing on joists, sagging, and whether the ductwork is on the ground.

Roof from the ground at all four corners, plus a photo of the ridgeline. And a photo of the attic underside if he can get up there, because active leaks show as staining on the sheathing.

Grade around the foundation. Does the dirt slope toward the house. Half of "water intrusion" is a downspout dumping at the corner.

A video walk with him narrating, not a silent one. The narration is where you learn things.

Then the two questions you actually want him to answer, and ask them exactly this way: "what would you fix first and what would you not touch," and "would you let your own family sleep in this house tonight, yes or no." Those get you a real answer where "is it in good shape" gets you a shrug.

On finding the person: the best source is not Google or Facebook groups. It's asking a property manager who actively manages in that zip code who they call at 10pm, and asking two or three of them, and seeing whose name comes up twice. PMs know exactly who shows up and who doesn't, because they get burned by it every week.

Last thing, and Travis is right about this. On a low-priced house, the deal-killer items are not proportional to the purchase price. A sewer line, a foundation or a full electrical rewire costs roughly the same on a $60k house as on a $250k one, but on the cheap house it's your whole margin. That's why the boring stuff on the list above matters more, not less, at your price point.

Vijay Friedman · Answer

@Steve CandorOne thing that's worked well for out-of-state investors is building a small team instead of relying on one person. A licensed home inspector can identify major issues, while a trusted contractor can provide repair estimates and a realistic scope of work. I also like requesting detailed photos and video walkthroughs of the big-ticket items (roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, HVAC) before making a final decision.

Ecaterina Katerina Morosan · Answer

Hey Steve, are you in NY or buying in NY? If you need contacts in NYC, I'd be happy to share my contacts that are verified by me personally and I've been using their service for many years. So I'd be happy to help

How do you find a good GC / contractor for out of state walkthroughs?

How do you find a good GC / contractor for out of state walkthroughs?

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