Rehabbing from out of state

[James Kojo]

Hey, BP'ers. I need some advice.

I'm in contract for some units within a community. Each building within the community is a row of 6 attached townhouses, all identical with the exception of the end-units only sharing 1 wall, while the other share 2. The interior layouts are pretty much all the same.

I'm not quite done with inspections yet, so I don't know the condition of the electrical and mechanicals, but I do know the that the interiors all need updating (floors, cabinets, counters, sinks, paint, etc.)

The problem is is that I'm out of state. How would suggest I manage the rehab? A couple of options that I can think of, but please feel free to suggest others.

1) My local PM who will manage this property has an in-house maintenance crew. He says he can use them for cabinets, floors, etc, and then subs-out trades (hvac, electrical, plumbing, etc.) We have a good working relationship, and they have my trust, but it's a relatively smalls shop and I haven't worked with them that long, much less used them to rehab.

2) Find a GC myself, and pay my PM to oversee the project.

3) Ask the PM to sub-out all of the work to specialists, and have them to act as GC.

or some combination of the above.

Advice and experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks!

James

[Matt Shields]

Personally, I would never do a rehab by remote control. I do flips and dealing with contractors is the hardest part of the business. I'm convinced that contractors are the worst people in the world. I just had a roofer try to rip me off for $1000. A couple of weeks ago I had to fire my carpet company after two shoddy installs. Last year I tried hiring a GC so I could concentrate on real estate. The rehab took months and the GC showed up three times total. Once to bid the job. Once because I complained enough about a problem. And once to collect a check. If I'm not on site almost every day everything starts to go to hell. Sorry if I sound like a downer, but just search the forums for contractor nightmares.  Good luck.