Thinking of self managing rehab property

[Brian Buckley]

I just met with three different sets of general contractors to get an idea on the costs associated with the rehab, and I wound up with three completely different estimates. Contractor A gave the property a good walk through, but seemed more of a handy-man fix it kind of guy, but didn't write anything down and didn't give me any idea on price. Contractor B had the type of vehicle you might expect an established contractor to have, spent a substantial amount of time in the place, but missed things that seemed obvious to me, and I don't have much experience in the construction field. Contractor B gave me a ballpark of 70-100k and when I mentioned flooring options he told me that he "forgot" about flooring. Contractor C looked at the property for less than 5 minutes, didn't seem interested, but told me he used to flip homes until the market softened and now works for banks handling their REO rehabs and at a minimum it would cost 125k. A little background on the property, its extremely old, unknown the year it was built, but it was the house my grandfather grew up in and was left to a cousin who unfortunately couldn't maintain the property. Everything would need to be gutted and the layout redesigned, floor joists are an issue that need to be corrected, as the floors are sagging and there are cracks in the beams, soup to nuts the house needs it all except for a roof which was recently done and the siding just needs to be patched up. I'd probably agree that it would be on the higher end near 125k, but I'm the type that likes to deal with someone who writes things down and calculates, not just winging it on site after barely inspecting it. I'm considering hiring all the trades to come in myself and not pay someone for managing the work being done. I have time on my side because I believe I can work out seller financing with the executor of the estate and then use my own cash to rehab the property. It is a tremendous undertaking, but I didn't get the sense from these three contractors that they'd have my best interest at heart at the end of the day. I don't mind paying a premium for work, but none of them won me over on their business acumen. Shopping for skilled labor in my opinion would allow me to limit my exposure to bad work, and then I can take it one step at a time. Sorry for the long post, but interested to see what everyone in the BP Community thinks!

[Bob Okenwa]

@Brian Buckley

Most people here would say to interview a MINIMUM of 3 GC's before making a decision, but I'd suggest you try to find a few more. The thing with self managing is that you seem to be someone who is a fan of the details (as am I) and you'd probably want to interview a few subs for each trade as well rather than just accepting the first guy you find. If that's the case, you'd need to interview 3 tile guys, 3 drywall guys, 3 electricians, 3 plumbers, etc. to be as thorough as possible. If you have patience and the proper amount of trade-scheduling skills, then being your own GC can work. Also keep in mind that in some states only a licensed GC can pull permits and I can tell you're going to need quite a few permits and you'd also need to be present for inspections since you are managing the project. Good help is hard to find and you may need to look a little harder or make sure you have all your ducks in a row to manage a project of that scope. A 125k project requires a ton of material, people, and moving parts. Best of luck with the project.