NEWBIE WALKING PROPERTIES W/ CONTRACTORS

[Courtney Rollins]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to REI and am looking to buy and hold distressed single family and small multi unit properties on specific blocks in the Baltimore area. I plan to finance using savings and hard money before refinancing into a traditional loan. As I attempt to estimate rehab cost and create a scope of work for myself and for the hml applications, I need to have contractors visit the potential properties because...I have NO idea how to confidently estimate repairs, and recently purchased books on the topic. However, book knowledge and real life application are two different things. My question is does it normally cost to have contractors walk a property with you to determine a SOW to submit to hml's and other lenders? Is this a regular practice? Also, how do you prepare to be efficient with your contractors and others time? I recently visited a property with my realtor and a developer, but was ill prepared to ask the right questions and didn't properly document what needs to be done on the property. I am going to ask another contractor to visit the same property but this time I am bringing with me template of a SOW I picked up online and will take notes to try and determine rehab cost. I hope I am better prepared this time and I hope I don't drive my realtor crazy visiting the same property again. So much to learn! Thanks for any support all!