This is a 1st of a 5 part post (one every other day) that will examine how to find a contractor for your real estate investing team. Picking teaming members is very important for a number of reasons and you need all types of team members but the one team member many people struggle with is finding a contractor.
We believe that a contractor is like a partner while the property is being rehabbed, because your contractor will be making decisions (sometime with your input and sometimes without) that can effect your investment and your profits. So picking a competent contractor is important and picking one that has experience has an investor maybe more helpful. Anyway here is the 1st tip.
1. Don’t select a contractor based solely on price.
In this world you get what you pay for. Many times my company has been asked to bail out an investor because his contractor was unable to do the work he agreed to do.
One of the biggest problems with choosing a contractor based on price is the level of both his subs and other labor. If the contractor is the lowest price, he is probably using sub-contractors and laborers that reflect his pricing which costs you both money and time in the long run.
I recently saw this article about appraisals. The basic idea is that appraisal rules where changed in the boom market to prevent abuse and now those changes are hurting appraisals in this market. The rules where created to isolate appraisers from the influence of real estate pros like brokers, lenders etc.
During the boom times, real estate pros often exerted pressure on appraisers to give good appraisals to prevent deals from failing.
In the down market the rule change created a problem. To insulate themselves from lawsuits, lenders are ordering appraisals from appraisal management companies. These companies isolate banks from individual appraisers and reduce the risk of lawsuits.
Because these appraisal management companies are often national, they don’t have appraisers in every area so the appraisals are often NOT reflecting the local real estate market.
Read more to and know in advance if your lender is using an appraisal management company.
Everyone knows the holidays are a great time to give back and share your knowledge and experience with the next generation. Friday , Wendy, Leon and I had the pleasure of talking to the next generation of Philadelphia contractors. We walked them through one of our projects on a class trip and talked to them about the business of contracting. There are some great lessons in this video for them and for you. Please leave a comment.. Happy holidays.
During this time of year it is important to reach back and help. We are giving back everyday by training the youth to strive to be better as contractors, as businessmen and as leaders. Here’s how….
If you remember some of our very first videos where about a flip we where rehabbing. If you recall it was on Locust St, the property had no 1st or 2nd floor in the back and the wall was falling down in the back as also. Well, since then, the property has been completely rehabbed and sold to a new home buyer and our investor made 15k. John was smart, he hired a great team, managed the deal but let our team get him success.
So, here is PT 1 of John in is own words about how he was able to make 15k in hours.
Temple University Student Housing
The owner is looking to get into apartment buildings and is liquidating his portfolio. This property is an awesome cashflowing property with almost $1,000 a month in CASHFLOW and over $220,000 in EQUITY. Buy this property for almost half its Value.
This is Vic. I have this video of Dwight talking about investing, how to invest, whether to go to a class, how to build a team and more. Dwight rarely allows me to post his videos, I’ll catch hell for this but enjoy. I’ll take the hit from Dwight
Real Estate Investing is a team sport and the most successful real estate investors build teams they trust. Dr Jose Ruiz is an investor that understands teams and his role in building and managing a team. Dr Ruiz decided to focus on his strength (raising money) and let his team focus on rehabbing and finding tenants for his tenants. His choice of a team was Quantum Builders and we are pleased that he chose us.
Together, Dr Ruiz and Quantum completed on time and on budget a rehabbed duplex that is now ready for rent. Here is our final rehab with Dr Ruiz before tenants move into his new cashflow producing investment. Dr Ruiz’s property is now rented, all utilities are separated and a tenant moves in next week. The original monthly rent was $750 but instead we found a tenant willing to pay $1250 a month.
Also if you remember this duplex started when Victor & Leon where looking at properties in a hurricane. Checkout the begginning
