Quantum Builders LLC

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.

So thats the first tip, look for the others.

Be success

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….

I apologize if you got multiple updates the software we use burped again. I apologize.

This is the first update for this deal since Vic and Leon where out in the blizzard. An investor bought this deal (for a steal) and now we are in the process of rehabbing it. The demo is mostly completed and we are now updateing the electric and putting in new systems in the 2nd floor apartment.

Checkout this video

BTW – I have some very exciting news. Today I got a phone call from the executive producer of “Flip this house” Matt Levine. They are interested in doing a whole season of 15 houses with my team. I’m sure I will be working on some of the houses that you guys own in the process. Thanks for your support

Week 5 isn’t nearly that exciting, most we are working on the rear wall of the house and getting systems installed. The rough electric is in and working, rough plumbing, so systems going in as usual. The important lesson in this video is that the process is being documented for a variety of reasons including the investor, insurance, lenders etc.

BTW – if you are struggling to find a great team or looking for great deals, Give us a call 215-473-1598

We spoke to our investor today, he came by to drop off another deposit check and I asked him if he had been to the house. Surprisingly he said NO, he was watching on Youtube. What a way to do a rehab. This is week 4 and the house has new joists, sub-floors, windows, framing and roof. Basically, the house is moving nicely. Checkout this video and see the progress.