All Forum Posts by: Bill Kramer

There has to be a happy middle road when it comes to money. 

That's just how it is. Any new client/contractor relationship should be kept on a short leash. But both parties need to keep skin in the game.  As the relationship grows, the leash can be let longer.

Its a risky game, and both parties gotta protect themselves because there's a ton of bad people on both sides of the fence.

When the balance tips to favor one side, nothing good happens. I've worked for guys who have 10 properties and guys who have 10,000. 

That's why I am always listening for cues that I am about to not get paid. And the investor should be doing the same by monitoring work progress and having a rep check in from time to time.

Too many times have I been burned for tens of thousands of dollars. Eventually you wise up and learn to spot the cues in advance. 

Ego on the client side is a huge turn off. I'm not impressed by millionaires. I have worked for alot of them who don't have $500 to spend. Thats how they got to be millionaires in the first place, by not paying for anything. When someone start talking that game, or how it should be an honor to work for them, you already know their blowing smoke. Many of us contractor charge extra for that honor, lol

 That sounds eerily familiar. I had an apartment complex I painted for that had the attitude that a company should float them for 6 months without payment. They absolutely refused to pay contractors/suppliers because of this attitude.

Problem was, when they finally did pay it was never in full. 

Lucky for me I found this out before starting work, priced it 5x higher than normal so I would hit the $7500 threshold quickly to get out of small claims. When we foreclosed on the lien it was very entertaining.

A customer who feels they shouldn't finance someone beneath them is exactly what contractor is listening for to disqualify you as a client, Or a smart contractor with kickass lawyers is waiting for. 

For 3 years I made quite a bit of money taking on clients like that. It was a great learning period on contractor law for me.

 Mike Rowe has been a huge champion of doing just that. Check him out

Remove that lever stopper in your hood houses. Popups are king, you're not living there, so you're "style" doesn't matter. Function over form.

If you have cast iron drains, you are setting yourself up. Swap out to pvc asap. Pay now or later. Rust will buildup in there and you don't want that fight with your drill snake. I've lost many a snake to rust inside cast drains, because you can't yank that snake back out. And that's IF it doesn't fail due to erosion.

All drains are 2 inch fed into 4 inch, with vents placed within 6 feet of each drain. You should have at least a 6 inch drop BEFORE your ptrap so the water can get velocity.

Lever stoppers will kill you on maintenance calls. If I have to make a trip more than twice over a lever stopper, I'm making the "executive decision" and removing it. Have yet to have a client get upset over it.

I would say to start looking for a contractor 6 months before you ever need them. Buy them lunch and have a talk about projects you have done and stay in touch. Maybe swing by a jobsite to see what it looks like. Ease into it.

I have never met a contractor who has turned down free food. 

Build that relationship ealry. You're going to have to wait in line anyways, so make it count. This is the absolute best way to do things. 

The last thing a contractor wants is someone calling and wanting you to start yesterday. If I have a month or two to prepare for a job, I can line up the resources like hiring more labor or get my subs lined up.  

After 2 or 3 jobs, things will go alot smoother. 

Question is how do you find out about liens?  Gonna have to clear those up too. Everytime our city mows a lawn it's a $400 lien, then you have the water department that will lien for unauthorized usage/unpaid bils, code enforcement will slap liens a house too for disrepair.

Pray you don't buy a meth house either. If it's been flagged for that, it just got real expensive.

There's alot of hidden dangers in those places. You can't research them enough. 

I would never start a job for free. But I am not gonna ask for a massive deposit either. $5-$10k upfront gets it going, personally I like chasing the carrot and keeping cash flowing. But I won't wait around long for that carrot either, try to play games and I'm headed  to the courthouse to file a lien, and start the process. I try to see it from both sides as there are definitely alot of bad contractor out there. But there are alot of bad investors too. 

Investors and property managers have a bad reputation down here, and most contractor won't even talk to them.  I've been a contractor for 7 years, so I am still getting myself off the ground. 

I tried residential, and gave up. I am not a mover, and people can't seem to read a scope of work to save their lives.

With investors and property managers, it's champaign taste on a beer budget.

But evansville has become a hotbed for a new wave of investors who will pay for quality, a changing of the guard if you will. The slumlords are cashing out.

It's nice to be appreciated for a change. 

I don't think the lack of presence here is because they are busy, they just have no desire to deal with investors, as that is viewed as bottom of the barrel work.

For me, the hardest part is getting paid. Too many times I have to walk away from a decent client because they want to stall out writing a check or nitpick their way out of paying.

Its a great industry to be in as there is definitely volume, it's just a matter of finding the right investors.

Appliance dollies are well worth the  $$. Don't rent vehicles by the hour at home depot, when for the same price you can rent a pickup at uhaul. And with uhaul you get it all day.

You don't realize how much you needed an appliance dolly until you own one.

I find the best way to uphold accountability is through crystal clear communication. 

When I ran 12 employees churning out ultra high volume apartment painting, we had daily and weekly meetings. I laid out goals, and made the consequences quite clear and the rewards quite clear. I paid an 8 hour day. If you did good and finished in 6 hours you could go home and still get paid for 8. If you slacked off, you stayed until the job was done even if that means a 12 hour day, but I'm still paying for 8.  Very rarely did someone work late.

The only reason I don't run a crew anymore is I had to pause for year to be present for my mom's last year of life. When I went hands off, people got lazy. Nowadays if I need help, I have a network of contractors I can get manpower from and team up on work.

I hold my advertisers accountable too. Either it performs, or I cancel it. 

You cannot communicate enough with those you work with. I lead by example, so when the guys say it can't be done I can show them it can.