Rehab Tips - Celebration for 1000+ Post and 200 Votes

[Manolo D.]

Hello BP, I would like to celebrate and share my thoughts after 1000 posts and 200 votes, I have gained a lot of experience in looking inside an investor's mind, a knowledge that never occurred to me. It opened me to more opportunities and have had a good start with it, sure, it was a little bumpy ride, but it is well worth the experience and hopefully I will be an investor in 10-15 years, I am just waiting for the next market dip.

Being with BP gave me a lot of referrals, and been missing my rehab numbers bid, but I finally got to a point where I am comfortable with my numbers and lowered the expectations to make room for everyone to be happy. One mistake I made was I put too much time and made my bid pricey, after a few great comments, and giving out favors in exchange for feedback, we have adjusted to an "investor mindset" and have been hitting the sweet spot where it brings everyone to the same plate.

Lessons I learned during this learning curve was, not all want "retail" quality finishes (where all our commercial and government contracts are of the only concern), they are more concerned about time and money. In order for any job to be successful, you will need to balance scope/quality, time, and money, you cannot get the three but you can get two at a time. Taking into consideration and putting myself in an investor's shoes makes me understand how they think and can render pretty valuable inputs. Initially, we walk the site and talk to them what they want done, a simple bid right? It is the wrong approach. One thing that I do uniquely at the end of each walk, is ask the investor how much budget they are willing to spend, by taking that number, we could walk the site again and give them a list of what we could do with that budget. Surprises are still there, it is unavoidable, but being able to look at the two sides of the coin now, we can help the investor prepare for that.

In Addition to these tips, I have uploaded some files in the File Place here on BP, that I find it useful to all rehabbers. I have not touched any portions on new construction and GC's to Subs, but I find that these files are the most basic paperwork that a rehabber needs in order to protect themselves from liens, flaky contractors, and what they should expect from contractors. Most of the posts here are asking where to find contractors, vet them, or referrals, personally I think by giving these files to them but using them carefully will help you vet if they are flaky or not, companies or GCs that know how to fill these and can comply to this will be a bit pricey, but I am 90% sure that they are of medium caliber and will be reliable than your "2 guys with tools".

Files Uploaded:

CKCC Daily Sign In Sheet - MOST IMPORTANT DURING A FLIP

CKCC Project Budget Sample

CKCC TEMPLATE Payment Application Sample
CKCC Invoice
CKCC Conditional Waiver and Release on Final Payment
CKCC Conditional Waiver and Release on Progress Payment
CKCC Unconditional Waiver and Release on Final Payment
CKCC Unconditional Waiver and Release on Progress Payment

CKCC Residential Improvement Contract - Rehab Contract
CKCC Residential Time and Material Contract

Notices After Contract Signing

CKCC Certificate of Completion
CKCC Quote Request Form
CKCC Purchase Order Form

Good luck and happy hunting!