Providence - To BRRRR or Not To BRRRR during COVID

[Gabriel L.]

My wife and I are looking to make our first REI deal in the next 3 months. We're looking at small multi-family (2-4 units) properties in Providence, RI (ideally East Side or Federal Hill area) that we can house hack. We initially wanted to BRRRR, but we are wondering if contractor availability during COVID (given everyone seems to be renovating these days) will be a large impediment or not?

Also, this post is about BRRRR, but we'll take any advice on people looking at small multi-families in the time of COVID.

[Anthony Thompson]

@Gabriel L. I don’t think contractor availability has really been affected by COVID, but much more just from their being in so much demand from folks doing renovations and home improvements.

I think BRRR and house hacking are both still very good strategies, but yes you should account for some contractor delays and a bit higher costs just because contractors are in such demand right now.

I’d also recommend that if you haven’t done rehabs before you only take on a small-medium rehab project, not a large one (60K+) and that you add a 10% extra buffer to your estimated project cost for safety to account for first time learning opportunities 😊