BRRRR while working a demanding full time job- Who's done it?

Question

Hey guys. My original plan was to buy and hold a rent ready rental, but I came across a nice 4BR/2.5BA SFR that had an appealing price point. This particular property has been listed for over a year now, and the price I am thinking to offer could make it a really good deal through the BRRRR method.

The thing is, with work and commute, I am occupied 55-60 hours per week. I work in an office, but I cannot freely call somebody with real estate manners whenever I wish either(That would have to be saved for 10am breaktime, lunch, or 2:30pm breaktime, but I could take the occasional call if urgent). The reason I am mentioning this is that I plan to contract out a majority of the rehabbing out. I'm not sure how much time you need to manage contractors to take calls, and if a good amount of it can wait till the evenings or weekends- maybe someone can shed some light on this. I also live very closely to this property.

The state of the property is not bad. All major things like roofing, electrical, plumbing are all intact. Other than ripping out carpeting, putting in some floors, touching up the kitchen, fixing up the blinds and some other smaller touch ups, the rehab is not that grand in scale. It's worth to mention the sump pumps are failed, but replacing sump pumps is not that costly or difficult to do. I plan to do the smaller touch ups and painting on the weekends/weekday evenings and leave flooring and kitchen stuff to the contractors.

Has anyone done something of this sort here with similar circumstances? I'd love to hear your story, and even if you haven't please let me know your thoughts on this! I appreciate it BP.

Darren Budahn · Answer

Adam Juodis Sure it can be done if you have people you trust to do the work or manage the project. But even if you plan on being mainly hands off and it's not a major renovation, i guarantee it will still take way more time than you think it will at this point :). Just the nature of the business. But you will never know until you jump in and do it. Good luck!

Stephen Dickey · Answer

I am in a similar situation, and i have to admit, having a fully dedicated partner is huge! I have been investing for a little over a year, but most of the work I am currently handling is on the back end. The repairs you mentioned seem modest, so i would recommend using your evenings to shop contractors and finding deals on the material you will need. If you can get the material at a good price, use your resources to find someone who can do each part of the job. You might even find out that a contractor isn't even necessary, if you can find laborers to do this work.

Peter Tverdov · Answer

Do everything via text. That's what I do. I have 12 hour days between my regular job and commuting. I also manage a handful of properties and then manage my own properties and then look for more real estate. It's easy to answer a text on your own time, I rarely answer the phone.

Jerry W. · Answer

Sorry, I should have added that flooring for the most part is going to the store or looking online and ordering the supplies and buying the install from the store and setting a time to let the worker in. It is the easiest part of a rehab. Make sure to do any drywall repair and painting before you install your new floor though.

Jerry W. · Answer

I did this early on in my investing career, but in fairness I had a partner also. I worked about 50 hours per week then and had 2 young children at home. I work way more hours now, but a fair part of that time is real estate involved. Personal phone calls were to be rare back then, and brief. Now I am the boss at work and do a fair bit of real estate during the day that would have been impossible back then.

Joseph Weisenbloom · Answer

I've done rehabs at a distance with the repairs you are describing. My properties are an hour away from me and I work 60 hours a week. I depend heavily on my team to complete things for me. I have a general contractor, property manager, and agent that work together to get things done. The GC manages the laborers. The agent checks up on the GC and does drive bys on the property. The property manager knows when the rehab will be complete so he can get it filled with tenants. I check in with my team every few days to see how it's going. Everyone knows that efficiency will ultimately will lead to more business and more money in their pocket.To answer your questions what your describing can be done but you need boots on the ground to get it done. Start by networking with investors in your area to find the "rock star" members to add to your team. Give people more business if they do good. Fire them if they don't do good.

Stephen Dickey · Answer

@Adam Juodis, my partner is a full time investor, so he is pretty hands on when it comes to the rehabilitation. This does not necessarily mean you need to have a partner. From what i have learned through him, the best advice is to just go out there and do it. From the repairs you stated, it doesn't seem like too much of a high-end job. If you go to any home improvement store and tell them what you need, show them pics, etc, they can easily help you get the material. Then ask them for a deal, everything can be a bargain. Once you get that, shop around skilled laborers to do the floors, and most of the other cosmetic work you could probably do yourself. This will save you money by cutting a contractor out. I'd say just go out there and do it! Like @Darren Budahn said, you never know until you jump in!!

Adam Juodis · Answer

@Stephen Dickey good points. When you say fully dedicated partner, do you mean another investor that invests full time? I have never done a deal/project like this before, so I'm not sure how to find that dedicated partner without any history. I plan to do a lot more projects in the future, but starting off, I don't know if an investor or general contractor is going to give me dedicated commitment if I'm somebody with no prior experience with this.