Pensacola GC Recommendations

[Mark Manship]

Good Morning BP, My wife and I went under contract on a triplex property near downtown Pensacola this past week, and are looking at accomplishing some cosmetic renovations before we move into one of the units ourselves to "house hack." Originally, we were going to simply purchase the property using a conventional loan and a higher down payment under an "investment" construct, but because of some other factors, have now opted to use an FHA loan and owner-occupy. We are also looking at potentially using the 203k program to roll our renovation costs into the loan and possibly aid in getting the reno work done by professionals in order to alleviate having to live in a work site (which we've done before and now dread). The property will be free of tenants to allow us to do a full renovation of all the units before raising the rents to the appropriate values for the current/future market. With that in mind, we have our inspections and walk throughs scheduled for this week, which may reveal more costly repairs, but assuming the major categories check out (roof, foundation, structure, permitting/coding, plumbing, electrical), we're wondering if any of you have recommendations for contractors that could assist us in getting this property turned around on-the-quick. Numbers-wise, we're looking at putting in no more than 35k in to keep the project "streamlined." Without going into all the details, the scope of work includes: - Approximately 2850 sqft (2500 of which needs work) - New flooring throughout (combination of laminate/carpet in living/bedroom areas, floor tile in bathrooms and kitchens) - 3 "new" kitchens to include cabinets/counters (initial thoughts are entry level plywood/wood combo boxes and doors + entry level granite or other hard surface). - 3 "new" bathrooms to include vanities and shower wall tiling (again, budget-level materials) - Interior paint to include ceiling, walls, baseboards/trim and window casings Yes, I understand this is a LOT of work with a ton of variables that revolve around the choice of finishings, but I'm looking to gauge feasibility for labor costs associated with this type of "cosmetic+" job. We are definitely open to getting our hands dirty to help offset the labor costs, as we've done similar work in the past, but would like to have AT LEAST one of the units to call home so that we don't have to go to bed each night breathing in concrete/drywall dust and new paint, ha! Any information or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! We look forward to sharing our progress. - Mark