FHA 203K Renovation Loan - Questions

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Hello BiggerPockets family!

I have a house under contract that I am using an FHA 203K loan to purchase. I am completely new to all of this and was hoping to get some advice from everyone here.

My first questions is: Can I use any contractor to get estimates for the repairs or do I need an FHA approved contractor?

Second questions is:  Can anyone provide contractor referrals for NE Florida - Crescent City?

Thank you in advance!

[Matthew Porcaro]

@Nick Powers

Congrats on the deal! Hope it goes well for you!

There's no such thing as an FHA approved contractor. Any licensed, insured, and bonded contractor can work for you. They're ultimately vetted by your bank.

I’d work on sourcing multiple contractors ASAP, and while that’s happening, get your 203k hud consultant in the property to do a feasibility and SOR.

The SOR is a scope or work that will also give you a rough idea of budget. Then, you have a set scope of work that you can easily shop out to multiple contractors to make sure the bids are apples to apples.

You want to find the best contractors you can afford. This loan isn’t friendly for fly-by-night guys. They need their ducks in a row, they need to be bonded, and they preferably should have someone to do paperwork for them.

Too often people get locked into one contractor and they feel rushed by the loan officer, so they just go with the lowest hanging fruit contractor and end up getting beat down the road for not have any comparisons to other better contractors they could have used.

Best of luck! This loan was a huge jumpstart for me and so many others that get their start in the REI game!