All Forum Posts by: Kyle Jiron

@Chris K. You bring up a really good point, which has actually been on my mind a lot over the past two years. I've been working in the commercial world for over four years, doing project management for a large general contractor in the DC region. I've been dabbling for the last year or so in the residential world doing side projects, helping friends and family with renovations on their personal homes and managing my own live-in flip. 

In the commercial contracting world, the systems in place really work well to mitigate a lot of the risk for all the involved parties. Having agreed upon SOVs, payment schedules, retainage, design documents, and well written contracts really take a lot of the "unknowns or potential problems" out of the process. If a residential contractor can take the AIA system, paired with the commercial professionalism and apply it to their residential business, I can't imagine how they wouldn't be successful. 

I think the biggest benefit of the AIA system really shakes out to be the effective & clear communication of the guidelines and procedures for construction management, which tend to be much more muddied in the residential world. The level of professionalism in the commercial world is a big standout to me as well. All in, I think a large amount of GC's in the residential world tend to operate in less professional manners, which results in a lot of the problems we have read and seen above. I believe this comes from a lack of knowledge about how their businesses should be run. Just because you are a great baker, doesn't mean you should own and run a bakery. That's not to say all of them, there are definitely a lot of professional and successful residential GCs (take a look at some of the guys commenting above, their track records are impressive). I just feel there are many residential GCs, who may be great builders, but are not fit to be running their own businesses, and this results in some horror stories and a bad reputation for the rest of us. 

This is a great question and we've definitely seen this go both ways around the site. I think a lot of this depends on the contract between the GC and client, any applicable state laws and also the relationship you have with the GC. In MD for example, state law allows the contractor to be given up to 1/3 of the contract value as a deposit before any work begins. In the commercial construction world things run a little differently. As the contractor we are typically on the hook for work performed and then bill on a monthly basis for work completed to date. Materials can be bought, stored and billed for in a current month, but the contractors are required to have property insurance, with the client listed as an additional insured, on any material stored to ensure the client's risk is mitigated. Relationship wise, obviously you are much more willing to trust a repeat contractor versus someone you are using for the first time. I think the most important thing would be to have a strong contract in place and to have done thorough due diligence on the front end prior to signing up a contractor. A strong contract will scare away any shotty contractors, and also protect you in the event that the contractor disappears in the night. 

 Great meeting you Tuesday. Look forward connecting again soon and hearing more about how this opportunity plays out for you!

Welcome to BP @Tristan Toliver! Looking forward to hearing more about your first deal. Keep us posted on the progress! 

Also - You should come out to the Silver Spring meetup (LINK) where you'd have a chance to meet and network with some local BP folks. 

Happy Investing!

@Benyam Ephrem welcome to bigger pockets! I can't speak to your specific questions, since I'm not familiar with the rental regulations in the UMD area. You should check out the silver spring meetup (LINK) if you want to get out and meet some more of the local area investors, who may be able to help you better. Best of luck with your investing!

Thanks for setting this up @Kevin Leahy, looking forward to it!

@Alan Salgado that's a great point. I wouldn't have normally thought to include any aesthetic HOA requirements into a renovation budget. Definitely a good thing to keep my eyes out for! Thanks for sharing!

@Amanda Han big thanks to you, Brandon and the BP Podcast Team for helping all of us learn and grow!

Welcome to BP! 

@Alan Salgado Congrats on the completed deal! Any specific lessons learned you'd want to share with the BP community?