All Forum Posts by: Curt Bixel

I am considering putting a duplex under management by a short term rental company. The contract they sent me contains the following clause:

b) Indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Agent, and all persons in the Agent's firm, regardless of responsibility, from all costs, expenses suits, liabilities, damages, attorneys fees, and claims of every type, including, but not limited to, those arising out of injury or death of any person, or damage to any real or personal property of any person, including the Owner, for:

1. Any repairs performed by the Owner or by others hired directly by the Owner; or

2. Those relating to the management, leasing, rental, security deposit, or operation of the Property by the Agent, or any person in the Agent's company, or the performance or exercise of any of the duties, powers, or authorities granted to the Agent;

This sub-section, and all rights to the Agent’s indemnification, shall be considered void if the Agent exemplifies any willful acts of gross negligence;

Is this pretty standard language for a contract?

That is what I have been doing, but it seems like I could make more money by using this specific property as a short term rental.  I don't think I could handle that myself.  :)

I am considering putting a duplex under management by a short term rental company.  The contract they sent me contains the following clause:

b) Indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Agent, and all persons in the Agent's firm, regardless of responsibility, from all costs, expenses suits, liabilities, damages, attorneys fees, and claims of every type, including, but not limited to, those arising out of injury or death of any person, or damage to any real or personal property of any person, including the Owner, for:

1. Any repairs performed by the Owner or by others hired directly by the Owner; or

2. Those relating to the management, leasing, rental, security deposit, or operation of the Property by the Agent, or any person in the Agent's company, or the performance or exercise of any of the duties, powers, or authorities granted to the Agent;

This sub-section, and all rights to the Agent’s indemnification, shall be considered void if the Agent exemplifies any willful acts of gross negligence;

Is this pretty standard language for a contract?

The gas company came out last week to establish service.  The kitchen was being remodeled, so the tech was able to see the gas valve that would be used for a gas range, if I were to ever get one.  The range I am planning on getting is electric.

In any case, the tech said that he could not establish service, as the gas valve was made of the wrong metal.  I can't remember if it was brass, galvanized steel, etc.  In any case, he said that it would need to be replaced before service could be established.

The contractor working on the property said that the tech was probably new and didn't know what he was talking about.  He said I should just call and have them come out again, and a different tech will likely show up and simply establish service without issue.

What is the likelihood that this will work?  I would be tempted to simply change the valve, as that is about a 10 dollar valve and about 5 minutes of work.

I am brand new to hiring other people to manage work on rehabs.  I have typically done all the work myself, and thus know how to do pretty much everything from cabinetry, appliance installation and repair, sanding and refinishing hardwood floors, window replacement, drywall, painting, plumbing, electrical, and even a bit of HVAC.  I really do have a strong understanding of these tasks and what quality work looks like.  

My first attempt at having others manage and complete the processes did not go well, mostly due to lack of supervision.  I am in the process of cleaning that up. I want to do better the the next time.  I am curious if I can describe my plan going forward and get some feedback. 

There are multiple parties involved.

Owner - me

Project manager - oversees entire project

General Contractors 

Workers

Here would be the steps of the project.

• 1) Work with the project manager to create a detailed scope of work.
• 2) Project manager gets bids for all items in the scope of work, selects the general contractors and presents the plan to the owner for approval.
• 3) Project manager gets all contracts signed with detailed scopes of work agreed to as well as timing of payments, and dates for completion for each contractor. 
• 4) Owner makes any initial payments.
• 5) Contractors organize workers and supervise completion of each item in their respective scopes of work.  
• 6) When workers inform the contractor that the work is complete, the contractor goes through the scope of work, line by line to assure that each task is completed and is of reasonably quality.  Once satisfied, the contractor pays the workers, and at that point becomes responsible for the completion and quality of all items in the scope of work.
• 7) When the contractor informs the project manager that the work is ready to be inspected, the project manager goes through the scope of work, line by line, to assure that each item is completed and of reasonable quality. At this point, a punch list is likely generated, but it should be quite short, as the contractors have each carefully inspected all work.  Once satisfied, the project manager approves payment of the contractors.  At this point, the project manager becomes responsible for the completion and quality of all items in the scope of work.  
• 8) When the project manager informs the owner that all work is complete.  The owner goes through all scopes of work, item by item, to assure that all work has been completed and is of reasonable quality.  If there is any punch list needed at this point, it should be exceptionally short.  Once the owner is satisfied that all items are complete and of reasonable quality, he approves all final payments.

Again, I am looking for feedback.  My original plan was to hire good people and assume they would provide a quality project.  I think we are going to be able to finally achieve that on my first project, but it became quite clear that there need to be strong incentives at each level in order to keep a rehab on track.  The steps above are my attempt to incentivize the supervision aspects at each level, so that I am not presented with an incomplete project where I am generating long punch lists that include multiple items from the scope of work that have simply not been addressed.  

Originally posted by @Jon Gregory:

Hardwood floor refinisher here. I agree with Marian that it’s a bad idea to use that type of product on a floor. It’s better to use on lighter trafficked surfaces like a cabinet or something. I’ve seen lots of short cuts and tried them all through the years and that is something I would never do again. (Use colored top coats on a floor)

 Jon, can you confirm that “refinishing hardwood floor” is a term that does include sanding?

I had a project manager who supplied the contractor with a spreadsheet of work to be done that said:

           "Sand & refinish hardwood floor."

The scope of work states: 

"Refinish ALL hardwood floors, when/where applicable. Corner spot in living room needs to be replaced before refinishing of floors"

The end project was simply a coat of brown paint or brown solid stain over a floor that was likely given a thorough vacuuming.  The corner spot was not replaced.  

If someone agreed to "refinish hardwood floor" as part of the scope of work in a contract, and the work they performed was to simply vacuum the floor and then use a mop to apply what looks to be either a brown paint or solid stain, should I feel cheated.  The cost in the original estimate was $1250.00 for 450 feet.  

What if the contractor neglected the step where the floor was sanded, and instead simply gave the floor a good vacuuming and then used a mop to spread what appears to be either paint or solid dark brown stain?  

Sorry, this was an inadvertant post....