All Forum Posts by: Christopher B.

Did you get your GC license along with proper insurances, etc to pull permits for your jobs? I know you have utilized a project manager and hire subs/independent contractors through the PM so am curious to how you're getting permits pulled on your jobs. 

I'll chime in here. I have a house under rehab right now that we pre-sold so going through this myself.

The pros are obvious, quick sale, "guaranteed" buyers, reduced holding costs, reduced risk 

The cons are you could sell for less now than you could get later. If you go over budget you can't adjust materials selections or the sale price to help cover the additional expenses. People will want to make changes and selections which is tough because they don't understand what things really cost. What if they have weird taste that isn't attractive to the avg buyer?

I was very hesitant to pre-sell so I set my price in stone and made it clear no changes to the rehab plan would be made and that I, not them, had 100% control of all material selections. 

I probably wont do it again though and for the very reasons I listed. I'm over budget and can't adjust to compensate. I could sell the house for $10k more tomorrow so I'm leaving money on the table. And they've still asked for changes and certain material selections. They've been reasonable but it can still be frustrating sometimes. 

If you decide to do it make sure you maintain control of your project, are confident about your rehab budget, and get the price you want/need.

If you are doing none of the work nor managing the project yourself then no, you do not need to have a contractors license. You still need to hire a licensed contractor and have all proper permits pulled. 

I do no advertising, shame on me. My last 10 deals came from: 

1. Wholesaler from BP

2. Local wholesaler 

3. Agent/wholesaler

4. Bought from city 

5. Agent/wholesaler 

6. Zillow 

7. Driving for dollars

8. MLS

9. Agent- off market

10. Contractor - wholesaled off market house to me

Bob is spot on with all his advice. Overtime you will want to shorten that process so you can make quicker decisions and in result be a more competitive buyer. Eventually you'll get to this: 

1. Find property 

2. Spend 30mins-1hr walking property and develop round rehab estimate that you'll use to make offer

3. Make offer/negotiate - some houses/situations will warrant contingencies and others will not. You'll eventually get a feel for this. 

After deal acceptance 

1. Perform 2nd walk through and create detailed sow and budget

2. Meet contractors confirm/adjust budget and sow as necessary 

@Chris Eaker Gary actually moved to Florida earlier this year 

@Jason B. I'm working with a GC right now that is solid though he specializes in new builds so is generally selective of rehabs. If you're stil looking for someone let me know, I'm happy to share his information as well as some other people I know of. It's very tough to find contractors right now around here, especially subs because of the wildfires. 

I can relate to this pretty well. It's always been my goal to build a lifestyle business for myself but honestly am not there yet. It sound like you, just like me, are operating an inefficient business. I have begun to break my business down, constantly looking at how it can be made more efficient and am actually planning to take a step back this fall through winter to reorganize. This is talked about ad nasuem here but in reality it's difficult to get your business there. It's why franchises are so popular, they do that for you. 

Maybe you should think about taking a step back. Slow things down for a few months, focus on improving the operations of your business. Maybe it will allow you to keep your sanity while operating at the same volume you are now or perhaps even allow you to scale your business larger.

Very interesting. Limited accounting functions/capabilities has been the no.1 complaint about mgmt softwares I have come across. Friday I met with my bookkeeper and this topic came up actually. He told me he's currently working with a mgmt company and they have set it up to do all financials out of QB because they felt the accounting side of the mgmt software wasn't powerful enough.

I'll definitely look into this a little deeper myself, your experience is contrary to what I've come across. Question, do you reconcile through Buildium? Are you still using QB's or another accounting software that buildium feeds into?

Reglazing will be the easiest but this isn't as durable long-term as a new tub will be. The new finish will wear off, especially if they use a harsh chemical cleaner. This has happened to a couple tubs from a duplex a bought 6yrs ago. 

Replacing the tile could be a huge mess like many mentioned. However, if the house is truly old, like 50's with the original til, then the tile is likely Mudd set. Which simply means there is no backer board but a bed of concrete attached to the wall with wire lathe. If this is the case then replacing the tile is easy but getting your tub out will be tough.

For a rental I highly suggest the 1 piece tub. 

This is why so many do the accounting in QB's and mgmt in another software. None of these softwares will do both well.