Help selecting a GC - frustrated with lead times and lack of info

[Joe T.]

Hi,

I'd love some input from experienced investment property owners on selecting contractors.

At the beginning of June, I bought my first duplex here in central PA. Nice stable neighborhood, and a property which has not been kept up or improved over the years. As a result, rents far below market. I bought with the intent to upgrade one side at a time and bring rents to market, and the purchase price reflected that. All good so far.

One of the tenants moved out in July, so it's renovation time. I expect the project to be about $50,000, so it's not a small job -- kitchen, bath, floors, plumbing, windows, walls, ceilings. I've been surprised at the difficulty of lining up a general contractor, and even more-so at the difficulty of getting meaningful info out of them.

After touring the unit with 4 or 5 GC's, here's what I've got:

From all but one, I have confidence they can do the job, but they are booked up and can't begin work until Oct/Nov and in some cases not until January. This would mean I can't rent the unit until spring of 2020. Also, they have not been very responsive, and have not yet provided anything tangible to me in terms of estimates. They all seem busy enough that they have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude for new work.

One contractor has been very responsive, eager for the work and is able to start in 2 weeks. However, this is a relatively younger guy with a small team. He's clearly trying to build up his business whereas the other guys are already established. He has walked through the unit several times, visited a kitchen supplier with us, and done some legwork with the town on permitting. He believes he can have the project done by end of October. I am getting some references out of him shortly.

Also, I'm not getting more out of all of these guys than rough verbal quotes, so I can't even price compare between them.

I'm torn here -- I either have to wait on one of the more-established GC's and thus sit here with a vacant unit well out into 2020, or take some risk on the eager-but-less-established guy and potentially be renting 6 months sooner.

Any advice or comments from your experience? How do you select your GC?

Joe