A general contractor, RE agent, and investor walk into a flip...

[Tyler Madden]

Do they make money?

Greetings! I'm a GC in Colorado and I am very eager to start opening some doors to bigger and better real estate investments. I have one rental and would love more. I've got some really great relationships across the industry because of my job as a contractor; and I'm on the verge of creating a partnership with the key roles stated in the title to start taking on flips to generate some capital. Just wanted to get some insight from those who have been doing this more than myself.

I'm meeting with a real estate agent/friend and another friend who has links to private lending with better terms than standard hard money (rates TBD after said meeting). In my eyes, this seems like a great trifecta that could really cut down on costs involved in a fix and flip investment and maximize profits. I just don't want to get ahead of myself and fail to see beyond the rainbows and benefits and acknowledge the potential downside. Happy to hear any gaps in my thinking that you're seeing.

I have so many questions, and honestly just want to make sure I get off on the right foot with partners. I'm a skeptical optimist, I like to think big and dream, but often times I don't trust that other people can/will do what they say. At the end of the day, I can only control myself... so I usually don't rely on other people much. But I'd like to change that to start getting into better investments; you cant do everything yourself! (right?)

Obviously it's important that everybody brings something vital to the table in terms of saving money on the flip to entertain a partnership. Here are what I see as the benefits each brings to the table...

REA- has an investor mindset when searching for and evaluating potential flips, cuts out the agent fees associated with the flip. Also actively works in the residential construction industry and can supply labor and materials for certain trades at deep discounts, well below retail. Would help manage the job from time to time since we all have other things going on with our businesses. 

GC (me)- Bringing everybody together. Have subcontractors for all trades, teams and relationships to complete work and get materials at discounted rates. Pull any necessary permits, run crews, self performs where able. Cut out GC fees, overhead etc for the project (we're expensive!) I wouldn't be on the job daily, as I have a business that is actively moving in the background of this. 

Friend with $ contacts- I don't want to downplay his role, but I don't know how better to describe him. The money is pretty important though. He has worked in commercial construction for over a decade as a project manager and has loads of construction experience. Much more importantly, he has personal connections with some very wealthy individuals that are willing to invest in his pursuits, primarily as a favor to help him get off the ground, but also to make a little more than they lend. My wife also knows these investors personally after working for them for several years, so I'm connected by association? Hopefully we can talk one of them into some favorable terms where we're getting a great rate, they're getting more money back than they lend, and they're not involved in the profit share as a partner. 

This all sounds fine and well, it practically can't fail, right?! (sarcasm!). Like I said, I'm skeptical of everything; but I don't want that to make me miss out on a great opportunity. 

All three of us are very competent in the construction realm, we wold essentially create a schedule where we each manage the flip on different days allowing us to focus on our actual jobs that pay us as well as pursue the flip. I feel like everybody has a lot to bring to the table and there are a lot of things going in our favor. But, what do you see that could pose a speed bump to this plan?

Also worth noting, we're not hoping to do small-scale or "flip quality". We all do luxury and high end work outside of the flips. We'd be looking at getting into a higher price-point to buy, performing high end renovations, and selling at the upper end of comps because the quality will support it. We're not trying to get involved with bad neighborhoods, or low priced flips. 

I'm sure there are not enough specifics and far too many variables to really evaluate whether this is off to a good start. I just want to have some potential issues on my radar for this meeting next week so that I can present them and see how we would plan to navigate them. 

Sorry if I was a bit ramble-y, just excited! Thanks for any input!

Tyler