Need advice local GC rates & Approach for Fixing Up Foreclosure

[Liz Murphy]

Hi - I recently bought a foreclose in Lakes Region (Gilford) that I am planning to rent to my Mom (so not looking to cut corners too severely).  The house has work needs to be done with support beams (rotted) and a lot of rotted siding spots where new wood, insulation and vapor seal need to go up.  It is too hard for the contractors to estimate so they are asking to bill hourly.  

#1 - How do I know what a fair rate is for decent GC's in Lakes region (Is $80/ hour a fair rate?)

#2 - How do I structure this project so I don't get taken advantage of (I won't be on the property every day so won't be seeing their actual hours)

TIA and advice on doing this best way possible!

[Steven Lowe]

Originally posted by @Liz Murphy:

Hi - I recently bought a foreclose in Lakes Region (Gilford) that I am planning to rent to my Mom (so not looking to cut corners too severely).  The house has work needs to be done with support beams (rotted) and a lot of rotted siding spots where new wood, insulation and vapor seal need to go up.  It is too hard for the contractors to estimate so they are asking to bill hourly.  

#1 - How do I know what a fair rate is for decent GC's in Lakes region (Is $80/ hour a fair rate?)

#2 - How do I structure this project so I don't get taken advantage of (I won't be on the property every day so won't be seeing their actual hours)

TIA and advice on doing this best way possible!

 I don't know what local rates are for a GC in your area so I cannot comment on that.  

How not to be taken advantage of...I could write an entire novel on this topic...but it starts with the following:  hire reputable people, pay them well, make sure expectations are being met, and that you are communicating clearly.  

I would get several bids from local GC's and provide them all with a bid template so the bids are uniform, otherwise they will come in all different formats and it will be difficult to compare everything.

Resist the temptation to go with the lowest bid.  If you get too cheap on the labor and you end up hiring someone that does a bad job you will end up paying someone else to come in and fix it.  So just pay for good quality labor up front and it will save you time and money.  

What a GC charges for their work is highly subjective, meaning there is no standard rate that someone would charge.  It is influenced be a number of factors including time of year, how the project is financed, how long the project will take, and even how difficult the owner will be to work with.