I suck at Flipping, but I gotta keep going

[Jason Rivera]

I'm in the last week of my 2nd flip.  I stand to make a good profit as I did in my first flip but like my first flip, we spent way too much time on it.  The first took somewhere between 7-9 months while this one is going on 10 months.  Despite that, I will continue doing it because my wife and I recently had a child and we would like to move into a home w/ more rooms around the time that our kid turns 1 year old.  

So this flip was again plagued with bad contractors.  The guy who started the project was 4 months into the project and still wasn't done the framing.  The 2nd guy took over and we knew he was going to be slow.  He was the same guy that I used in the 1st project so I knew his 3 week estimate was going to be far more, and I accepted that, but I didn't think it would be 6 months.  He's good at what he does but is bad at managing his time and money, so I knew I was taking a risk.  

So what's next?  Well, my plan was always to flip 6 properties.  5 would go toward a new home and the 6th flip was meant to jump start my entry into rental properties.  I looked at a few multi-family properties to buy and live in but haven't pulled the trigger.  I recently started considering moving into an apartment with additional bedrooms which would solve our space problem within our timeline and I considered converting my home into a rental.  I'd essentially break even except for months with vacancies but I would have a rental property without needing a down payment.  I can then continue flipping and can take my time if I continue to strike out w/ contractors.  On the plus side, I've flipped 2 properties of different sizes so I understand what my costs will be.  I've met other investors and contractors in the area, so I know how much investors are paying and what contractors are charging.  So the math will be manageable, it's just a matter of finding good contractors.  

[J Scott]

Originally posted by @Jason Rivera:

The guy who started the project was 4 months into the project and still wasn't done the framing. 

...

The 2nd guy took over and we knew he was going to be slow.  He was the same guy that I used in the 1st project so I knew his 3 week estimate was going to be far more, and I accepted that, but I didn't think it would be 6 months. 

 

So, you waited 4 months to fire the first contractor, even though you knew he wasn't getting the job done.  And then you waited 6 months for the second contractor to finish that work, after that same contractor did the same thing the first time around?

The problem here isn't bad contractors -- the problem is that once you realized the contractors weren't holding up their end of the bargain, you refused to take control of the problem and solve it.