Need help with Contractors

[Andrew Grimmett]

Hey everyone.

Super new here so be gentle..... I recently got this house for 47k and am looking at getting it cleaned out and rehabbed to rent. There obviously were some squatters living here and am leaning towards a company I have talked to to clean it out and clean the floors and walls. Then I know it has got to have rodents and bugs in the property that will need taken care of ASAP once the place is cleared out. I got this house at such a discounted rate because of the shape that it is in and because it was a friend who I am trying to help out. My plan is to make it rentable and really just give him the profit minus vacancy and my expenses from the HELOC I am taking to make the repairs. The house is a 3 bed 1 bath 1200sq ft house on a concrete slab (no basement) and a detached 2 car oversized garage. I have attached some pictures for reference but they are pretty gross so be warned.



I really am new to all of this and really only got into it now to help someone out. I'll take any advice I can get on contractors and and best practices on getting this project done.

Thank you

[Brandon P.]

@Joshua Janus @Remington Lyman Both of these guys have a rolodex for people who can hopefully help you get your place in condition. 

[Peter Mckernan]

Quote from @Andrew Grimmett:

Hey everyone.

Super new here so be gentle..... I recently got this house for 47k and am looking at getting it cleaned out and rehabbed to rent. There obviously were some squatters living here and am leaning towards a company I have talked to to clean it out and clean the floors and walls. Then I know it has got to have rodents and bugs in the property that will need taken care of ASAP once the place is cleared out. I got this house at such a discounted rate because of the shape that it is in and because it was a friend who I am trying to help out. My plan is to make it rentable and really just give him the profit minus vacancy and my expenses from the HELOC I am taking to make the repairs. The house is a 3 bed 1 bath 1200sq ft house on a concrete slab (no basement) and a detached 2 car oversized garage. I have attached some pictures for reference but they are pretty gross so be warned.



I really am new to all of this and really only got into it now to help someone out. I'll take any advice I can get on contractors and and best practices on getting this project done.

Thank you

 What is your question, where to start and what to do? 
The contractor you pick and hire can hire, or has a clean out crew along with demo crew. That is something that will be in the bid, and for the rehab you'll have to do everything top down. I have flipped a good amount of houses like this one (without the snow issue lol).

Get 3-4 different contractors to bid the job and then get started on it ASAP. Call agents locally that are doing 25-30+ deals a year and also property managers.. Also, use Yelp.. Interview the contractors and get a good contract in place.. Do not give the contractor more than about 20-30% of the total amount of the job to start (I try to find a contractor that I can pay 10% then go up as they do the work). Meet the contractor each week to confirm progress to give them their payment for that week, checkpoint. 

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Brandon P.:

@Joshua Janus @Remington Lyman Both of these guys have a rolodex for people who can hopefully help you get your place in condition. 

 Thanks! for the referral!

Happy to help you out with some contracting referrals here in Ohio

[Jennifer Stevenson]

I've only rehabbed two properties so I'm far from an expert.  But I quickly learned that something that seems so simple and obvious is key.  Clear communication for the scope of work and EXACTLY what your expectations are vs what your contractor thought you wanted.  Ask for clarification on absolutely anything that you're not 100% clear on.  And I would also encourage you to communicate in writing if at all possible whether it's text or email.  This protects you and your contractor.  Also, as someone recommended above, check in with the contractor frequently.

Best of luck to you!  

[Zac Mckenzie]

Hi Andrew it looks like you have a nice project on your hands. I agree with most of what has been said minus you having to check on your contractors. Your contractor should have at minimum a weekly status update mandatory dictated by them. you need to make sure an in depth scope of work and evaluation is performed especially because you have little experience in evaluating these types of projects. Please feel free to reach out if you have any other specific questions or if our GC team can be of any assistance. 

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @Jennifer Stevenson:

But I quickly learned that something that seems so simple and obvious is key.  Clear communication for the scope of work and EXACTLY what your expectations are vs what your contractor thought you wanted.  Ask for clarification on absolutely anything that you're not 100% clear on.

This^^^^^ ....The problems all arise from not having a crystal clear Scope Of Work. Everything should be in writing, down to the type and name of the kitchen cabinet handles, the tile name/brand/color, the texture of drywall,....everything that will be a part of this project must be in writing attached to the contract and signed by both parties. Write everything down.

This is a Tile Spec - 1 page of 4 of a project I did, you can see the detail....it may seem like overkill to some, but there are good reasons to go into this kind of detail.

[Aaron Schrader]

Great advice to have all that detail in the scope of work.  It will give you something to fall back on should the work not be done how you want and gives a contractor clear expectations, which is all-around helpful.  I'd say that in your scope of work to make sure timelines are a part of it as well, and that you make it a goal of yours to never have the house "empty", meaning there's not a day that a worker of some sort isn't scheduled to be in there.  This will help keep the project from dragging on.  Even one day here and two days there can add up to a month pretty quick, a whole month of an empty house.  

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @Aaron Schrader:

Great advice to have all that detail in the scope of work.  It will give you something to fall back on should the work not be done how you want and gives a contractor clear expectations, which is all-around helpful.

From a Contractor's point of view: I used it (detailed Scope Of Work) to hold the customer accountable and keep the job moving. Literally every time a job went south, it was on the customer. Changing the Scope. So by putting everything down on paper, you can easily correct the client and keep things moving.

You mentioned timelines....those are hard to get everyone to agree on in the original contract because a Contractor knows that a customer nowadays will start changing things as soon as they watch that episode of HG TV with their glass of wine.

I included on my Change Orders a line to add time to the project in addition to the added dollar amount.

[JC Coskun]

If you have time, hire guys from home depot and pay them by the day. Bring a dumpster and take out all your trash to save on your demo costs. Plus your sweat equity, you should be able to save some to get yourself started. Best of luck with your project.  

[Andrew Grimmett]

Thank you for all the advice everyone! I took a lot of the advice given and am almost done with the rehab phase of this project. All in, it should cost me around 35k and the mortgage is 45k at 5.75% with a payment of around 645 and HELOC I used for repairs at around 350. I am going to attempt to rent this property in Hilltop for around 1450 a month. I know this may be a hard question, but I am hoping there is someone out there that is renting in Hilltop. Will 300 a month for maintenance/vacancy with 150 cash flow be okay for this property?

[Andrew Grimmett]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Jennifer Stevenson:

But I quickly learned that something that seems so simple and obvious is key.  Clear communication for the scope of work and EXACTLY what your expectations are vs what your contractor thought you wanted.  Ask for clarification on absolutely anything that you're not 100% clear on.

This^^^^^ ....The problems all arise from not having a crystal clear Scope Of Work. Everything should be in writing, down to the type and name of the kitchen cabinet handles, the tile name/brand/color, the texture of drywall,....everything that will be a part of this project must be in writing attached to the contract and signed by both parties. Write everything down.

This is a Tile Spec - 1 page of 4 of a project I did, you can see the detail....it may seem like overkill to some, but there are good reasons to go into this kind of detail.

 I really liked your spreadsheet and tried to mock it a bit with my own flare.

Thank you for the tip! 

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @Andrew Grimmett:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Jennifer Stevenson:

But I quickly learned that something that seems so simple and obvious is key.  Clear communication for the scope of work and EXACTLY what your expectations are vs what your contractor thought you wanted.  Ask for clarification on absolutely anything that you're not 100% clear on.

This^^^^^ ....The problems all arise from not having a crystal clear Scope Of Work. Everything should be in writing, down to the type and name of the kitchen cabinet handles, the tile name/brand/color, the texture of drywall,....everything that will be a part of this project must be in writing attached to the contract and signed by both parties. Write everything down.

This is a Tile Spec - 1 page of 4 of a project I did, you can see the detail....it may seem like overkill to some, but there are good reasons to go into this kind of detail.

 I really liked your spreadsheet and tried to mock it a bit with my own flare.

Thank you for the tip! 

 Great job! Everyone should do that!

[Andrew Grimmett]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Andrew Grimmett:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Jennifer Stevenson:

But I quickly learned that something that seems so simple and obvious is key.  Clear communication for the scope of work and EXACTLY what your expectations are vs what your contractor thought you wanted.  Ask for clarification on absolutely anything that you're not 100% clear on.

This^^^^^ ....The problems all arise from not having a crystal clear Scope Of Work. Everything should be in writing, down to the type and name of the kitchen cabinet handles, the tile name/brand/color, the texture of drywall,....everything that will be a part of this project must be in writing attached to the contract and signed by both parties. Write everything down.

This is a Tile Spec - 1 page of 4 of a project I did, you can see the detail....it may seem like overkill to some, but there are good reasons to go into this kind of detail.

 I really liked your spreadsheet and tried to mock it a bit with my own flare.

Thank you for the tip! 

 Great job! Everyone should do that!

 Thank you, sir!

If you have any other tips send them on over. Getting up to speed to be all grown up in real estate like you is going to take all the help I can get! :)