Rehabbing?
Hi all, i have a quick about rehabbing properties.. I want to hear from people whats the best way to go when it comes down to repairing your investment property?...
Should i use one contractor to do all my repairs or use different individuals that specializes in different areas such as painting, pluming, etc..??
thanks...
The answer depends upon your level of renovation/maintenence skills...and your ability to manage the trades.
Hiring one GC to handle the project will save you time, and free up your time to allow you to pursue deals....
Do the work yourself and you might save a few dollars.... if the work is done properly.
In the 70's I became a jack of all trades... I found the properties, rehabbed them myself, and sold. Trouble was, I took myself out of the acquisition game for six months at a time while I was swinging a hammer.
It was fun... but not very business like. A successful business will always be seeking opportunities...
Remember a month ago I suggested you write yourself a business plan? The act of writing your own business plan would have addressed this question during an assessment of your own skills. .. and determining what type of business you want to start.
Will you be a hammer swinger or will you be out there in the field finding homes to acquire. It's really tough to be both, and do both very well.
Farming for leads can be a full time job. Rehabbing can be a full time job, too There are just so many hours in the day.
ShortSalePro sure hit the nail on the head. I aquired a rehab property in late June of 2004 that needed a complete interior rehab and needed the outside to be landscaped and fenced. I decided to do the work myself thinking it would be fun and would take about 3-4 months. BTW the property is 2 1/2 hours away from my primary residence.
Well, needless to say I underestimated the date of completion. I just finished the property in early January 2005. It was fun and challenging but I worked on it full time and it took me out of the market of acquiring properties.
Dave
[addsig]
I too can vouch for what they are saying. It took me and my wife 6 months to rehab a house.Plus I work for one of the big www.three.In the process I missed two great money making deals because i was too tied up and over www.extended.Not to mention that some of our work had to be spruced up by a contractor anyway. And let me tell you they make you pay when they have to correct your mistakes :-o
My husband and I completed our first deal here in GA; we hired an contractor; however, the labor was really high. How can I know what labor should cost for painting, pressure cleaning, etc.? Do anyone have some good places to get carpet and applicances? :-(
Carpet? Try one of the Dalton Carpet Outlet places. I know a lot of the time, if you buy XX number of yards, you can get free installation. Killer prices, too!
Appliances? Heck, I've yet to find anybody that can beat Home Depot for those.
Back to the original question... If you use ONE contractor, basically, you're hiring a General Contractor, who will then go hire sub's to do the work, tack on a % to the sub's prices, and that's what YOU pay. Or, if you've got a bit of experience, a few contacts, you can step out on your own, and hire Sub's yourself. There's pro's and cons of both, and it's been beaten to death on this board, so you can easily find the arguments for each with a quick search.