All Forum Posts by: Justin Sullivan

@Mark Faustrum

No theft at all I enjoy the commentary and love a great debate with different opinions. So I feel as though it’s like a response I just made about a mortgage broker and asking them for their lenders instead of going through them.

But as for this guy trying to screw you over is completely messed up. I’ve had guys whom I’ve welcomed into my business to work towards a partnership then I hear from my client a week later that he’s kicking my back in. I told him to take care of a few items for me when he first started and he walked my client around her house saying don’t worry I’m going to take care of all this stuff Justin missed. I’m here now. Little did he know she respected me and told me. Some people are cut throat snd only care about themselves. So at what level should you do the same? Does anyone ask the gurus or multi millionaire investors for their subs or contacts? No and if you did they would probably laugh at

You. This business is a constant work and always moving parts around. So why should you give this new giy your people? He should get in the trenches and make the phone calls that you made to get them. I just had to get funding for a property and I spend 3 straight days focusing on only that nothing else. Along with a few other half days just to get this funding. Total of about just over a weeks worth of work. Then I had to get all the docs over to 5-6 different people. But this is what it takes to be successful in this business.

@John Tyler

So if you read my post you would have seen that I wasn’t asking you to critique me because I am comfortable with my decisions. I wanted to know how feelings on it. So I am not really sure where you got the feeling of anyone being insecure of thinking someone is stealing feom them because that wasn’t the question.

Let me word it like this to see if you understand better. Everyone seems to think contractors aren’t valuable so let’s see if you get it worded this way.

You use a mortgage broker to find a lender for you. They reach out to their network of lenders and close the deal for you with great terms. So next time you need funding you call that broker and Say “hey man I’m closing on another deal could you give me that lenders Info so I can close this without you?” Should he give you his lenders contact info to close the deal?

Or you go into a restaurant and order the most amazing homemade soup you r ever eaten. So you ask the chef for his recipe so you don’t have to pay him and you can make it yourself.

The list goes on and on for example I can relate it to. It’s not about worrying that their stealing from you. It’s about them not valuing your time or effort for what you do snd have done to get where you’re at. Granted if I have anyone my subs contact info my subs would charge them more then they charge me anyway so they’re actually probably better off just going through me.

As a GC and investor I feel as though it’s a gray area as to what I give away for free ans what I charge. And like I’ve already said I am not looking for your opinion about my decisions. I’ve said yes and no to many people for many different reasons. I actually think it’s quiet rude to just expect someone else to so all your work for you instead of getting on the trenches and making the calls snd weeding out the bad ones yourself. If managing a project is what you want to so .

I know how I feel about this but I would like to hear from other contractors and investors.

As a contractor/investor I get asked often to

Share my subs with my fellow investors. This is kinda a grey area for me because my subs are not only for my investments but also for my contracting projects. I’ve spend years with wrong subs and losing money and over paying etc to get the crews that I have and even still today I replace guys at times.

How do you feel about this? Do you think I should willing open up my contacts and share my subs? Or should I hold back since I worked to get them? Do you as an investor share your subs with other investors? Do you as a contractor share you subs with other contractors or investors?

I’ve done both sides to this question I have shared my guys and denied sharing but I am curious to know what everyone else thinks about this. I feel like construction is the hardest part of the investment. Everyone is constantly talking about contractor this and that so if you’re good at this part of have a good team you have a competitive edge.

Disclaimer: I am not looking for advice on how I should go about this in my life or business. I am simply asking around for everyone’s opinions to see what people think. Honestly I have made my choices from years of experience and I stand firm by my decisions. Please don’t try to sway me one way or another or don’t talk about me being good or bad for whatever way I do choose. Let’s keep this about your thoughts and opinions.

@Elijah Brzezinski

I think you need to look into more options for investments. Part of investing is not accepting no and seeing a silver lining where others see nothing. I haven’t had a job for any of my deals snd just got approved for a personal loan with self employment bank statement. So where there’s a will there’s a way. Don’t accept no you may have to make 100 phone calls but eventually there will be a lender for you. I have done this for the past few years snd it helps to

Build up your network for future deals. Put there work in now so you don’t have to later.

@Arianna Crawford

I just sold a personal residence for a large 6 figure tax free profit. Originally when we purchased it we planned to hold it forever but our plans changes with the increase in market and our lack of funds. You’ll have to do whatever is best for you. If paying off your debts is going to help you to better save for more properties then go for it. It’ll definitely save you some money in the long run with interest. But like a few people have said you have to figure out your long term goals. We decided to sell

Because we moved across the country and having the extra cash helped to start more projects get our new personal home and have some reserves. Now we have a couple projects rolling and just went under contract on a single family which will be developed into 8 units due to great zoning area. So our plan has always been new construction so that’s where our head has been. Make your plan and decide what is best for you. Someone else may have wanted to do a heloc or refi snd keep our house.

@Nei Ngoshi

I just paid $9,000 for a new sewer line to the street snd I am a contractor and investor. Plumbing is expensive. My question is why all the repairs just to end up replacing it? Did he run brand new to the street and that total including what was done is $8,000? I mean the pipe in the basement is new. I think your just sticker shocked by the price snd now want verification. Have someone you trust go out there and inspect his work or pay To have it scoped. Only issue with that is your paying more money which is your current issue. Is he warranting his work? Obviously he said it’s going to fail again if you don’t replace. That pipe looks old and looks like it need to be replaced. His invoicing is QuickBooks which is a good system snd cost money to have. So he’s not a bum he seems to have a decent operation. His boots are dirty so he clearly works hard.

So I would replace what he says because that pipe is beat up. But also make sure he’s going to warrant it for 5 years. If he agrees to

That then he’s legit. My friend paid $3500 just for a clean oit in the basement. It’s was like $100 of pvc rest was labor and $5 of cement.

@Donna Henry

Donna I have a Constructuon background but now I utilize this to benefit me in my own investments. Don’t go to places like Home Depot or any large company in your area. They are going to charge you 3x from anyone else. I just did windows for someone snd charge $500/each and this was enough for materials sub xontractor snd me to make a little something for having the right guys. You need to find yourself a small GC or if your want to be hands on fins the windows installers yourself. Utilize sites like Craiglist or Facebook. Go to Home Depot in the morning to get business cards swing by job site and stop in to get cards as well. HD is for the homeowner who wants to make sure they will get someone back out ten years later. You don’t need those warranties so you don’t have to pay those prices. There is different types of Contractora ones that go directly to homeowners who are hood at marketing and paperwork and can handle picky clients snd ones that work with Investors who take a lower price for promise of continued work snd not having yo do paperwork or marketing. My sub don’t have yo so everything I type there contracts and create bills in my system for their invoice so all they have to do is work. Find those guys and you’ll get the prices you need!!

@Lauren Akins

So how my wife and I did it was I quit my

Job first while she kept working snd we started a flipping business. This is active income which paid our current lifestyle and the extra went into rentals. We now start acquiring rentals and are about 1/3 of the way to financial freedom. We focus on higher quality deals that will bring in more profit rather than doing a bunch of low income deals. Nothing wrong with

Either way it just the way we choose to do our investments. Right now we have 4 units which have a pure cash flow number of just over $2,000. Honestly even after we reach $7,000/month cash flow we’re just going to keep going. The only beauty of that is that we don’t have to our our active income towards bills anymore. Our goal is to cash flow over 1 million $ per year. That’s the long term goals. We started somewhere tho snd have been making our plan work. Right now we are under contract for a deal to build 8 new units which after that would put us financially free for our current life. We would have to budget snd be smart which is another reason why we won’t stop goin. So we should be free with 12 units roughly about $500/door. All long term investments. Air b&b seems to have greater cash flow but that’s not our specialty. Pick your niche and just start towards a goal for next 3 years then adjust. Hope this helps!!!

@Alejandro Patino

While yes this is definitely high you have to take many factors into account for this job. The entire house is knob and tube are these electricians having open walls or will they have to cut through plaster? Are they retiring a new

Panel? What amp is that? (200 amp panel re-wire $2-2,500) Is fixture included? All these factors come into play when factoring pricing. With the addition of wire pricing being through the roof and blue boxes being impossible to find (leaving only the newer expensive boxes) this price might be normal in your area.

Good rule of thumb for electrical RE-wire is $2-9/sq ft. Then you add in panel and any other fixtures or upgraded outlets you want (you can get $0.70 switched and outlets or $5 switches and outlets) keep in mind $2/foot is mainly for volume and newer projects. With them busting out plaster and removing old wire all this stuff adds extra labor time. This contractor may also be busy and is able to charge a premium now because he doesn’t need the work. I would look for other quotes but don’t be shocked if you can’t get is done for less than $8,000. Once you have a good reputation with a few good crews your pricing will naturally go down. Good luck!!!

@Jamie Kammers

So honestly no response here on this thread or decision you make will be right or wrong. It matter as to what’s right for you. You have to ask yourself several questions…what is your long term goals? Does selling this house help you get there faster? Would holding it help you reach your long term goals?

For my investing I have already quit my job and I flip for income and flip to buy rentals for cashflow. I only flip single families and we have a clear criteria as to hold or sell. Our goals couple years ago were to get cash so we flipped. Now we have a nice cushion so our goals is to get cashflow so we’re looking into quads to build or buy for long term investments. Our strategy changes depending what our next couple years looks like. We just recently sold a house and cashed out on over $150,000 instead of cash flowing 6-800/ month and having an increasing Assest. This was best for us.

So it seems like you already answered your questions with what you want over the next couple years. Your looking to retire at 50 so you need to do whatever is going to get you there quickest. Can you take the profit from selling this house and flip it into more cashflow and more opportunity? Or is it best to hold onto this property refinance and make these needed repairs. Do you think you’ll make more money by holding this and selling in 2-3 years? 5-6? Will holding onto this restrict you from having funds to purchase the duplex you have in mind? Ask yourself all of these questions snd write it all down so you can visualize everything. I think you’ll know what to do at that point in time!!!