Smaller teeth leaves the board smoother as you mentioned.  

I went ahead and filed the 7 days notice to cure with my legal company because that has the teeth- where as my email deadline has no teeth.

School and city bond measures pass quietly.

There are some ways to recoup your money for example his bond, asking for payment, and of course court. 

Most good GC's will be able to get Subs and Materials at a discounted rate that you will never get....so the actual cost to you may be close to the same.That way, you don't have to: 1) deal with the Sub's crews (you don't know anything about the trades and can be taken advantage of easily), 2) Deal with City Inspectors - they hate dealing with homeowners/Investors, 3) assume any liability for faulty work , 4) worry about Lien Releases and stuff like that, 5) Verify that all subs have Liability Insurance/Bonds/Workers Comp, 6) be involved with materials...picking up, storage, warranties, liabilities, etc....Your time is better spent running your investment business - find a new property to flip, keep your books in order, etc.

If you're posting in this real estate investment platform, I assume you're thinking of using your IRA/retirement funds to invest in real estate, privately lend, or do something other than buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc...otherwise why would you be asking that question in BP?

You could explore bonding your contractor and looping in a surety bond company to set up a performance bond.

Interest rates are edging modestly higher today as strong U.S. economic data and a rebound in tech risk appetite take some pressure off bonds.

I figure it could be a great bonding experience, as he enjoys doing this type of work (he has done plumbing, framing, electrical, etc. and can fix anything).

If it were 2007 all over again and you knew you could sell at a record high, and invest your capital into conservative bonds and wait until the market corrected, would you?