Paying contractors

[Adam Craig]

I have some guys working on a house that I am going t rent - The main guy works for $22/hour and his helper works for $15 - so on a 40 hour work week I am paying these guys $1480 -

They are doing everything from painting/floors/tile/cleaning and everything else.

So the problem is - I am not there to monitor there 40 hour work week. I do drive buys and stop in unexpectedly and always find them there, but I feel they might be milking the job based on the time it took other guys to do my previous 2 houses.

So how does most BP members pay contractors. Do you have them bid on the job or do you find guys to do it hourly.

[Michael Seeker]

You've got the contract and then you've got change orders. If something comes up in the middle of a project (and it usually does) then you have to negotiate the additional cost with the contractor and adjust timelines accordingly. If you can't come to an agreement you may need to hire another contractor for that unforeseen item and keep the terms of your original contract the same with possibly the exception of the timeline.

I've never heard of anybody including unforeseen work in a contractual agreement. I don't think that is clear enough to put in a contract and could really end up being quite a benefit or detriment but is too much of an unknown.