All Forum Posts by: Ryan Normand

Quote from @Peyton Millirons:

For any Contractors on here : What are some ways you have created your business to be more for investors/real estate instead of just focusing on General Construction? - Deal Analysis? - Project Returns? - Marketing? 

Honestly, in my experience, investors usually just want cheap. A lot of times you end up in a bidding war with sketchy, unlicensed characters who are offering to do the job for pennies on the dollar and it becomes a race to the bottom in terms of price and quality.

If you can find an investor who's willing to pay a little more to have someone who's licensed, reliable, and provides quality work - awesome - partner up with them and keep them around. They could become a lifelong customer. 

I'd recommend starting by networking with realtors. They interact with tons of potential customers and can bring you a lot of work from both the consumer and investor side. Do you have any friends who are realtors? Are there any open houses in your neighborhood where you could pop in and introduce yourself?

Short answer is yes, it is ill advised to pay a contractor 100% up front. I can't think of any situation where I would request that from a customer.

On the flip side, most contractors, including myself, will require some sort of deposit before buying materials and starting work. We don't want to invest thousands of dollars into labor and un-returnable materials only to discover the customer is broke. This also filters out serious customers from those who are just window shopping. 

The amount of the deposit (AKA first draw) depends on the contractor and the size of the project, and how many materials need to be purchased up front. I try to keep mine in the 10%-35% range, but again it varies. Anything much higher than 50% is generally a red flag to me, though.

Your best defense mechanisms are 1) Pick a contractor who is reputable, licensed, and comes with good references. Don't just blindly go with the cheapest bid. 2) Before paying any money, make sure you have a contract in writing that includes a detailed SoW and draw schedule. This protects both the customer and the contractor.

I use Sketchup by Trimble. The free version is pretty good but IMO it's well worth the $100/year to upgrade to the shop version. 

Yup, unless it's high-end custom, just do off-the-shelf hollow core. 

I agree 100% with @Joel Forsythe. The GC isn't the "middle man", they're the quarterback... at least the good ones are. You'd better have a solid plan for filling that void if you remove them from the equation. It's a full time job and then some. 

I hate to be that guy who just says "it depends", but really... It depends.

If it's anything like the AZ market I would say starting around $150/sf hard costs to construct a simple design with builder grade finishes. This figure climbs rapidly if you start to customize your design, add high end finishes, etc. This doesn't include soft costs (architect, permits, etc.) or site work (septic, roads, grading, etc.) if applicable.

Have you seen Rob Abasolo's (aka Robuilt's) videos about this topic on YouTube? If not, I'd start there.

I'm with the other contractors here. A quick Google search should give you a rough idea of market rate for most common remodel tasks. If you're willing to pay somewhere around market rate and you're serious about getting the work done, then call out a few contractors and get estimates. May the best contractor win. Competing for jobs is part of being in the contracting business so any good contractor should be understanding of that as long as you're up front and reasonable about your expectations. 

Just don't expect to automatically get 30+% off market rate just because you "can provide a lot of work" or because you "have another guy who can do it cheaper"... I see and hear that stuff a lot from flippers/investors and that attitude will actually make contractors mad at you :)

Quote from @Aaron Schrader:

Of course, you'd want to have an idea of what you are doing so you don't create more work for the paid/skilled labor.
 

This is 100% true. The purpose of demo twofold - 1) remove all the old stuff, obviously, and 2) prepare the space for the skilled trades to come in and operate with maximum efficiency. It's not just swinging a sledgehammer around like you see on HGTV :)

It's 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

in my experience LVP holds up better against water, but laminate is tougher against scratches, dents, and other wear and tear. 

Tons of good brands out there. I'd stick to the $2-$4/sf price range for both LVP and laminate. Anything below that is likely junk and anything above that is overpriced. Get something with a pre-attached underlayment as it makes install faster and cheaper. HD and Floor and Decor are good starting points and offer decent prices and selection. 

Most markets will probably be somewhere in the $2 - $3 per sf range, install only. Cost can also vary depending on your floorplan. This figure doesn't include demo costs, floor prep, stairs, baseboard, etc. Install cost should be roughly the same for lvp and laminate.