All Forum Posts by: Aaron McGinnis

I love to tell people about what I do.

Most folks my age hate to hear about what I do.

Makes it very hard to get along with folks when just about everyone in my 'social peer group' slaves away in a cubicle doing their 50 hour workweek and I have the most awesome job in the universe.

Haters gonna hate...

I'm wrapping up a rehab that I'm managing for another investor (A friend of mine who also happens to be on this forum)

We've done Roof, HVAC, light plumbing, light electrical, new cabinets, granite, a fireplace refinish, carpet, hardwoods on main level, 11 boards of sheetrock, exterior work (some light, some not so light), 3 bathroom remodels, and a very swank tile backsplash for under $33k. Also in 3.5 weeks.

Of course, we're both experienced as heck and this is by no means either of our first rodeo - or the biggest bull for either of us. It's also taken an impressive quantity of manhandling of cost and managing of contractors. And me being on site cracking the whip 16 hours a day for the first 2.5 weeks of the rehab.

So all that to say - it can be done. But it's just as easy for a rehab to run up a much, much larger budget in a big hurry.

Get yourself an N-95 filtration respirator. It will help a LOT with the truly rancid houses and the godawful trash-out duties.

Another vote for Terro. Ants eat it up and it kills the queen... I have knocked out some serious Argentine ant colonies (which can grow to be ENORMOUS) using Terro.

Stick with the type of main run that is there now.

Quick way to tell: Go look at the outside box. Now look up. Is there a mast? You've got overhead.

In the absence of a mast, look towards the street. Is there a box out there? You've got underground.

If both are missing, you've got bigger problems!

Seriously man, consider walking away from this deal and picking up something a bit easier.

I commend your desire to jump in with both feet... but trying to do a studs-out finishing job as your first rodeo is begging for trouble.

Get a few more bull rides under your belt before you jump on something like this.

J Scott -

Possibly to topic of a separate thread...

You mentioned closing w/your own atty. Are you referring to closing REO deals? If so, does it not cost you extra to close with your own atty?

If so, why bother doing it? I've looked at the option before and never particularly felt it was worthwhile.

The only real question I've got is - are the drains inside a concrete slab foundation or something?

If they are, you're definitely going to be talking about a serious headache of a replumbing job.

If the house is on crawl with all the lines exposed in the crawl space... 'eh. Worse case scenario is that you'll have to dig up and replace the mains out to the street.

Get an electrician out and have him quote you a price to replace the wire in the house. The rest is basically cosmetics =)

Here's my tactic -

Have your contractor buy material via phone sale. Lowes, HD, and most any real building supply store will do it. They go to the commercial sales desk, get rung up, then the place calls you for a CC #... then have them send you the expanded receipt.

My contractors bring their own tools, and I'm not really too concerned about them stealing my 2x4s or hardiplank. Rough building supplies don't have much resale value, and since everything is bought on my CC I can track it if it somehow gets returned (At least at Lowes and HD you can)

Finish items, like light fixtures, faucets, etc. I tend to buy myself anyway - so if they manage to grow legs and walk away it's really obvious. We measure for tile and other surfaces and buy precisely, so if we come up short it's a time to say 'hmmm'.

I guess some argument could be made that a contractor might want to steal something smaller, like a bucket of mud or nails or something - but honestly, the guy who did it would have to be really daft to risk future work over a bucket of fasteners.

And a lot of this boils down to knowing who you're working with. Simple rules apply - like don't let your day laborers near anything more expensive than a shovel, and nothing smaller than the same.

Oh yeah, also - things that are really worth stealing like tile or fixtures... Don't buy them or put them on site until they're ready to be installed. I don't like having boxes of expensive tile laying around. It's easy to steal and easy to get damaged.

Most my guys are more concerned about things like hand tools, ladders, and power tools being left on a jobsite. Ladders especially are known for growing legs and walking out on you. Hand tools are easy to pawn and don't raise eyebrows at the nearest pawn shop... 2x4s and buckets of nails not so much.

Personally -

It takes me... Maybe 5-10 minutes to write up and submit an offer (Unless it's one of those situations where you have to do a ton of custom paperwork)

Personally, I'd rather keep the commission in my pocket than give it away. I guess I'm just cheap, or greedy... But I am not going to pay someone else a thousand dollars to fill out a pdf form.

Kinda like in college where you always go for the easy extra credit... Go for the easy extra cash and fill out the darn form yourself.

YMMV.